Supervisors Send Contested Potrero Hill Tactical Unit Lease to Full Board After Heated Public Debate

The Board of Supervisors’ committee voted to send to the full Board a proposed 10‑year lease, with a 10‑year option, for roughly 52,125 rentable square feet at 1700–1740 Seventeenth Street to house the San Francisco Police Department’s Tactical Company, including SWAT, the bomb unit, the Honda motorcycle unit and homeland security functions.

City property director Amy Brown told the committee the site meets the tactical company’s needs for about 30,000 square feet of office space, 25,000 square feet of warehouse space and secured parking for about 50 vehicles. Brown said the owner offered tenant improvements valued at about $1.8 million and is willing to amortize any additional improvement costs over the first five years of the lease at prime plus 5%.

Commander Tong, who would oversee the unit at the new site, and Captain John Ehrlich of SWAT said the location shortens response times to parts of the city where violent crime has recently risen, and provides a Department Operations Center that is more secure and seismically sound than the temporary facility now used at Pier 96. “Our DOC is a place you walk into and are fully operational,” Commander Tong said, adding that having an established DOC will reduce setup time in major events.

Neighbors and community groups delivered lengthy public comment both opposing and supporting the proposal. Tony Kelly, president of the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association, told the committee the neighborhood was disadvantaged by the transaction process and urged the city to locate the tactical unit at another site in the area. “This is a terrible land‑use decision for the middle of a developing commercial and residential corridor,” Kelly said. Several speakers representing neighborhood organizations and merchants said the site is slated for transit‑oriented neighborhood development and said a tactical facility would disrupt that plan.

Other residents and business owners urged approval. John Jensen, representing owner David O’Keefe, said he collected 578 signatures in support from residents and merchants. “We have signatures from all corners of the neighborhood,” Jensen said. Supporters emphasized the property is currently vacant and that locating the unit there would bring an occupied use and landlord‑funded improvements.

The committee debated trade‑offs including long‑term cost comparisons between leasing and buying, the impact of relocating other police operations (including the crime lab), and the timeline pressures related to vacating Building 606 in Hunters Point. Brown acknowledged some city space needs (the crime lab and medical examiner’s lab) will require separate relocation plans and potentially more costly, specialized lab space, and she said the city is negotiating Mission Bay lab options.

After extended discussion, the committee majority concluded the site met an urgent operational need, noting the landlord’s tenant‑improvement offer and the difficulty of finding an alternative that combined warehouse and office space with secured parking. The committee sent the lease to the full Board with a recommendation for approval and asked staff to provide additional information about the long‑term costs and the status of related relocations before the full‑board vote.

Next steps: the full Board will consider the lease and any accompanying amendments; staff were asked to provide additional cost comparisons (purchase vs. lease) and details on relocation plans for the crime lab and related functions.