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Committee forwards SFPUC property swap for 639 Bryant and 2000 Marin, with environmental safeguards and Flower Mart relocation plan
Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee voted to send to the full Board a resolution for a conditional land exchange that would swap SFPUC property at 639 Bryant Street for 2000 Marin Street; the developer will fund phase 2 environmental testing and relocation costs, and the Flower Mart could be temporarily rehoused at 2000 Marin.
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on July 18 forwarded to the full Board a conditional land disposition and acquisition agreement that would exchange the city-owned parcel at 639 Bryant Street for property at 2000 Marin Street, a swap the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) says will help consolidate utility operations and provide a temporary site for the Flower Mart.
Michael Carlin, deputy general manager for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told the committee the exchange involves a 1.4-acre site at 639 Bryant and a roughly 7.9-acre site at 2000 Marin; staff have appraised both sites at about $63 million. "This is an exchange between 2000 Marin and 639 Bryant Street," Carlin said, and described terms under which the developer would pay for phase 2 environmental testing, transactional costs and the PUC's relocation costs.
The Budget Legislative Analyst (BLA) urged caution. Dan Goncher’s office recommended amending the resolution to require a written report from the SFPUC general manager detailing the potential scope of power and water enterprise expansion — including expected infrastructure, staffing and fiscal impacts — and to ensure that the phase 2 environmental site assessment (ESA) is addressed before acceptance. The BLA warned that the appraised value for 2000 Marin "does not account for potential environmental contamination" and recommended that the developer fully mitigate contamination or that the exchange value be adjusted to account for remediation costs if the ESA finds the property unsuitable.
Community members tied to the Flower Mart pressed the committee to move quickly. Laurel Winsler, a floral designer and market tenant, said the 2000 Marin site "is really the only site that is feasible for relocating the flower market" during construction and urged prompt testing and remediation. Vance Yoshida, president of the San Francisco Flower Mart, said the market has struggled to find a relocation site and called 2000 Marin a "great place" for a temporary move.
Supervisor Erin Peskin offered de minimis amendments — including updated Central SoMa references and clarifications about short-term leases — that staff drafted with the SFPUC. The committee adopted the amendments and moved the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation, the motion taken without objection.
What happens next: The resolution will go to the full Board of Supervisors. The BLA’s recommended amendments ask for an SFPUC general manager report on expansion scope and require that any contamination discovered in the phase 2 ESA be addressed through remediation or a valuation adjustment before a final property exchange is completed.
