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Commission approves Chinese consulate addition at 85 St. Elmo Way with neighbor protections
Summary
After extensive neighborhood opposition over inspections, access and bulk, the commission approved the Chinese consulate's proposed addition at 85 St. Elmo Way with added conditions including voluntary inspection history, 24‑hour contact info for emergencies, and a preconstruction existing-conditions evaluation to protect adjacent properties.
The Planning Commission voted 4–1 on Aug. 10 to approve a proposed addition at 85 St. Elmo Way for the People’s Republic of China’s consular presence, after intensive public comment from neighbors who opposed what they described as a compound-like proposal and after the sponsor and neighborhood negotiators reached several accommodations.
Neighbors raised multiple concerns: a detached addition that they said looked and functioned like multi‑unit housing, lack of mandatory city inspections due to sovereign immunity, potential blocked access during construction, excavation/shoring impacts on an adjacent historic building and sewer capacity. The sponsor’s counsel and Deborah Stein (representing the consulate) said the consulate historically has voluntarily allowed DBI inspections in past San Francisco projects and agreed to provide 24‑hour contact information for emergency offices.
The commission accepted staff’s recommended conditions and added a preconstruction existing‑conditions evaluation (a mutually selected engineer to document current conditions of adjacent structures) with copies filed with DBI and Planning. The motion included the sponsor’s agreement to hire a licensed architect who will perform construction administration and to provide emergency contact information acceptable to the State Department. Commissioner Moore dissented, saying the project still felt too large for the location; Commissioners Lee, Antonini, Segaya and Olague voted to approve with the added neighbor protections.
The commission emphasized that DBI, DPT and other city agencies retain authority over excavation, shoring and construction-period impacts and that the preconstruction condition was intended to protect neighbors from construction-related damage and to document baseline conditions.
