Committee forwards Oceanwide street‑vacation and preservation‑fund measures; ordinance referred to Board for July 19 hearing

The Land Use and Transportation Committee on June 7 advanced actions related to the Oceanwide Center (50 First Street), accepting City Attorney amendments and moving forward on a street‑vacation resolution and an ordinance to establish a Downtown Neighborhood Preservation Fund funded in part by project fees and the sale of vacated street property.

Jeff Buckley of the Mayor’s Office described 50 First Street as a mixed‑use development at First and Mission with roughly 1,000,000 square feet of office space, about 265 residential units, a 169‑room hotel and ground‑floor retail. Buckley said the street vacation of portions of Jesse Street and Elm Alley is necessary to construct the First Street Tower as planned under the Transit Center District Plan adopted in February 2012.

Buckley estimated the project could generate about $117,000,000 in one‑time impact fees (with line‑item estimates included in the presentation). He said the negotiated purchase price for the portion of Jesse Alley is approximately $22,600,000 (rising to a higher price if the closing does not occur within nine months). He also said the buyer agreed to increase the inclusionary affordable‑housing payment from the typical 20 percent to 33 percent and that the city has agreed to waive certain fees in exchange for directing funds into a downtown preservation fund administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

Tuya Catalano, representing the project sponsor, told the committee that vacating portions of the streets would not reduce public access and that a series of easements will preserve pedestrian and vehicular access through the site while enabling creation of a publicly accessible open space the sponsor calls the "urban room." Architect Kevin Yi described design moves such as turning Jesse Street 90 degrees, retaining emergency access, and an Urban Room approximately 116 by 248 feet and 68 feet high, with about 26,000 square feet of open space.

A number of community organizations and neighborhood representatives spoke in support of the project and the fund, including Christy Wong of SPUR, Michael Warr of the Museum of the African Diaspora, Misha Olivas of United Playaz and Nora Barrington of At the Crossroads. Grace Ma, a resident, raised concerns about truck routing and existing congestion on nearby streets if Jesse Street is rerouted.

Deputy City Attorney John Malmott proposed amendments clarifying that the Downtown Neighborhood Preservation Fund would receive no less than $40,000,000 — a floor that depends on final project build‑out and design. The committee accepted the City Attorney’s amendments. The clerk recorded that Item 2 was forwarded with a positive recommendation and Item 3 was referred without recommendation to a Board hearing scheduled for July 19, 2016. The City Attorney’s amendments were accepted unanimously on the committee floor; the transcript does not provide individual roll‑call tallies.