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War Memorial seeks final certificate-of-participation funds for Veterans Building seismic upgrade
Summary
The War Memorial and Performing Arts Center asked the Budget and Finance Subcommittee to approve the remaining certificates of participation funding for a seismic upgrade and building-wide repairs at the Veterans Building; private partners, including the San Francisco Opera and Arts Commission, will add tenant improvements. The committee moved the ordinance forward with the budget analyst’s recommended amendments.
The War Memorial and Performing Arts Center requested final city approval of financing for the Veterans Building Seismic Upgrade and Improvements Project, a multi-year rehabilitation of the 1932 landmark on Van Ness Avenue.
Beth Murray, executive director of the War Memorial, told the Budget and Finance Subcommittee the project’s primary objective is seismic upgrade and earthquake-damage repair, and that work also will include hazardous-materials mitigation, accessibility and code-mandated upgrades, and replacement of building systems such as water piping and fire alarms. “We are before you today to request your approval of the appropriation of the last amount of funding for the Veterans Building Seismic Upgrade and Improvements Project,” Murray said.
Murray said the War Memorial expects private contributions that will help reduce the city’s share: the San Francisco Opera plans a $15 million–$20 million investment to build two production facilities on the building’s fourth floor that will be available to other arts groups part of the year; the Arts Commission anticipates up to $1 million for tenant improvements and storage for the civic art collection.
City finance staff and the Controller’s Office explained the planned financing. Anthony Abouan of the Controller’s Office said the project was planned to be floated with commercial paper initially and taken out with a certificate-of-participation (COP) issuance timed to a large construction award. He confirmed the office’s assumption that COPs would likely be issued in December 2012 but said the sale could be delayed if market conditions warranted.
The budget analyst’s report reviewed project totals and recommended minor ordinance amendments to reflect fiscal-year timing changes and reported a total project budget shown in committee materials. Supervisors pressed staff on tenant-relocation funding and whether amounts in the mayor’s budget duplicated relocation appropriations; Kate Howard, the mayor’s budget director, said the dollar cited for the law library’s relocation covered tenant-improvement costs specific to that move, not the War Memorial tenants’ relocations.
Following brief public comment and committee questions, Supervisor John Avalos moved to accept the budget analyst’s recommendations and forward the ordinance; the committee approved the motion without objection. Committee members asked the department to provide the clerk with revised redline ordinance copies for timely scheduling to the full Board.
Next steps: the committee sent the amended ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration and inclusion on the July 24, 2012 Board agenda.
