Committee forwards amended lease for Twin Peaks Auto Care at 598 Portola Drive despite analyst call for highest‑use review

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward with a positive recommendation a resolution to lease city-owned property at 598 Portola Drive to Twin Peaks Petroleum, Inc. (doing business as Twin Peaks Auto Care) for an initial five-year term with a five-year option.

Claudia Gorham, Assistant Director of Real Estate, told the committee the site has been operated and managed by current tenants Nancy and Michael Gareeb for more than 30 years, that the parcel’s use as a retail gas station and auto service is a grandfathered nonconforming use under current public zoning, and that the proposed rent—calculated from a 2013 appraisal—works out to roughly $6.96 per square foot per year (about $100,913 annually). Gorham said the lease includes an increased security deposit to $50,000 and additional insurance requirements, and that the city placed new conditions on the tenancy, including banning the sale of tobacco products on city property.

Gorham said Real Estate concluded competitive bidding procedures would be impractical in light of zoning and the established operation and recommended adopting the amended resolution. A Budget and Legislative Analyst’s representative told the committee the analyst’s office did not itself conclude bidding would be impractical; rather, the Board must make that finding if it wishes to approve the sole-source lease. The analyst recommended amending the resolution to (1) make the required finding that competitive bidding would be impractical or impossible and (2) urge the City Administrator to work with Real Estate to identify the site’s highest and best use and consider rezoning.

Three public speakers—George Whiting (resident), Joe Humphreys (homeowners’ association board member) and owner-operator Michael Gareeb—spoke in favor of renewing the lease. Whiting called the station a neighborhood fixture; Humphreys described it as the reasonable and highest use for that traffic node; Gareeb, who said he has operated the location since 1985, presented petition signatures of customer support and described daily customer volume.

A supervisor moved to adopt the amendments before the committee and approve the amended resolution to send to the full Board with a positive recommendation; the Chair said the motion was taken without objection. The budget analyst’s recommended language and the Real Estate amendments will travel with the item for Board consideration.

Key fiscal details cited during the hearing include the proposed annual rent derived from a 2013 appraisal (stated as approximately $100,913 and about $6.96 per sq. ft. per year) and a security deposit increase to $50,000. The analyst also noted the parcel was historically leased without competitive bidding dating back to the station’s original 1972 lease.