Seawall Lot 337
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STATEMENT OF DEVELOPER QUALIFICATIONS SEAWALL LOT 337 Submitted by Submitted to the Port of San Francisco February 14, 2008 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER February 14, 2008 BOSTON PROPERTIES, INC. WILSON MEANY SULLIVAN LLC KENWOOD INVESTMENTS LLC San Francisco Port Commission Attention: John Doll Port of San Francisco Pier 1, The Embarcadero San Francsico, CA 94111 RE: Response to Request for Qualifications for Seawall Lot 337 Dear Port Commissioners: We are pleased to present to you our preliminary plan for the development of Lot 337, a project that will bring new life to Mission Bay’s “south of channel” neighborhood. Our vision for Lot 337 involves a mixed use neighborhood that celebrates and highlights the arts of San Francisco within a waterfront setting that adopts the historic Pier 48 as its centerpiece. Working from the concept that San Francisco has been, and today even more than before, is a center for great art, whether visual, media, performance or interpretative, we envision Lot 337 as a place for people to create, enjoy, work, live and visit - all with an emphasis on the water. Residents and visitors will come to Lot 337 because they are drawn to the complexities of the experience - arts, sounds, water, and people. New homes can be built that will compliment the area. Jobs will be created. The arts will be our anchor and will be layered throughout our neighborhood. New open space and promenades will highlight the water. Lot 337 will become a place where locals and visitors can experience the best that San Francisco has to offer against the dramatic backdrop of its urban waterfront. Pier 48 will become the centerpiece of a new working waterfront—only in this millennium it will be a place where art is created and the public is invited to participate. The Black Rock Arts Foundation will be an important collaborator in our project and can play the vital role of working with us in programming Lot 337 for art and artists. We imagine Pier 48 alive with activity, sculptures and painters, musicians and dancers, where large art pieces can be constructed, installations created, and interactive art completed. Ned Kahn, the internationally known environmental artist, and Walter Hood, an award winning Bay Area landscape designer, are other important collaborators with us on this proj- ect. Imagine the excitement that a significant piece of environmental art, like a Ned Kahn installation of water, light and fire, would immediately bring to Lot 337, the Mission Bay community and the region as a whole. Lot 337 will highlight the artist communities of San Francisco in a way that has been long overdue. We propose a gallery walk that begins on Pier 48 and continues west, through the development to Third Street. This vibrant link to the waterfront will link the working artists studios on Pier 48 to galleries, retail, restaurants, bars and the community performance theater on the east end. It will become a weekend destination for artists and art lovers, much like the Ferry Building has become for organics and great food. Lot 337 will also feature over 5 acres of open space that can include active outdoor performance spaces, more passive art installation locations, gentle walking paths, and serene native bird habitats. The open space program will show- case the San Francisco Giants’ Hall of Famer Willie McCovey statute, and the Junior Giants Field. Our urban water- front will be programmed to allow for everyone’s use. The mix of opportunities for walkers, bikers, artists, perform- ers, residents and visitors, will help Lot 337 become one of the great districts along the City’s waterfront. The neighborhood spine of Lot 337 will be the new Third Street rail line. From that central location, connecting Lot 337 to the rest of the City, other active uses will radiate including a new Pier 48 Street and the retail opportunities that flow from it. Additionally, office buildings will be built to support the already growing business of Mission Bay and new retail, including galleries, performance space, bars, restaurants, shopping, and music and art venues of all kinds will be established. New homes will also be built, some low, some high, but throughout new opportunities will be created. Finally, a center for neighborhood performance arts will be found at this site. Transportation opportunities and parking innovations will be highlighted at Lot 337. Our plan embraces the exten- sive transit opportunities within the immediate project area. The Third Street Rail is our neighbor, the MUNI 10, 30, 45 and 47 run with great frequency, CalTrain, MUNI Metro and even BART are all within easy walking distance of Lot 337. Given the numerous transit options, proximity to the water and already growing job base in the area, Lot 337 is a place where more and more people will choose to live and visit—it will truly be a place where we can walk, bike or easily ride transit to work or play. Lot 337 is this site. Of course the San Francisco Giants want to retain the parking, so we have accommodated their needs so that even on game days, demand will not outstrip supply (Wilbur Smith & Associates Memorandum Dated December 3, 2007). Given that data, our plan calls for a program of “shared parking” between the SF Giants, and the mixture of uses that will occur over time at Lot 337. Lot 337 will create hundreds of new jobs for San Franciscans, both during the construction phase and the permanent built out phases of the project. We would expect to collaborate with the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and other City agencies on hiring issues consistent with applicable City requirements and subject to prevailing wage requirements. We are submitting twenty (20) numbered sets and an electronic file of this Response, as requested, along with a cashier’s check payable to the Port of San Francisco in the amount of $10,000, representing the Earnest Money De- posit. We look forward to working with the Port, the City and the neighborhood on this exciting new project. Sincerely, Bob Pester Chris Meany Darius Anderson Senior Vice President Partner President Boston Properties, Inc. Wilson Meany Sullivan LLC Kenwood Investments LLC View down Pier 48 Street looking East. View down Terry Francois Street looking towards the Bay. TABLE OF CONTENTS 9 A. PHASE I DEVELOPER QUALIFICATIONS DEVELOPMENT ENTITY 17 A. PHASE I DEVELOPER QUALIFICATIONS DEVELOPMENT TEAM EXPERIENCE 21 A. PHASE I DEVELOPER QUALIFICATIONS FINANCIAL CAPACITY & CAPABILITY 23 B. PHASE I DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT 59 EXHIBITS DEVELOPMENT ENTITY 1. IDENTIFY THE LEGAL ENTITY CONSTITUTING THE DEVELOPER THAT WILL ACCOMPLISH THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MIXED USE PROJECT, AND IDENTIFY THE LEGAL ENTITY, IF DIFFERENT, THAT WILL CONTRACT WITH THE PORT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT AND LEASE, INCLUDING ALL JOINT VENTURE AND LIMITED PARTNERS, INDICATING THE PERCENTAGE INTERESTS AND CAPITAL/EQUITY COMMITTED TO THE ENTITY. The partners will form a new limited liability company Lot 337 Community Developers, LLC to be the master community developer of the project. The partners of Lot 337 Community Developers are Boston Properties, Inc., the owners and operators of The Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, Wilson Meany Sullivan LLC, the award winning San Francisco company that suc- cessfully developed the Ferry Building and other important projects in the Bay Area, and Kenwood Investments LLC, a local company with extensive public/private development experience. Lot 337 Community Developers will undertake the project as a horizontal land development model and will establish sublease agreements with partner affiliates or other Port approved tenants to develop and/or operate the vertical projects after build out. Bio- graphical information on each company is attached. One of the unique aspects of Lot 337 Community Developers is that the partners have all worked together successfully for many years. We have not just been brought together for this project. Instead, we have long stand- ing relationships with one another. Each of us individually, and all of us collectively, are headquartered in San Francisco. We are not “out of town” companies with no history of success in San Francisco, but instead make San Francisco our home. We understand the local development issues and con- straints, understand the political and neighborhood issues that will inform the development of this site, and have found solutions that actually make projects work. 10 SEAWALL LOT 337 Boston Properties, Inc. is one of the most prominent and widely respected real estate companies in the United States with a market capitalization ap- proaching $10 billion. It has impeccable financial standing even in today’s difficult marketplace, has top tier credit ratings by the various agencies and as a publicly traded company on the NYSE its financial capabilities are trans- parent and receive the utmost scrutiny. Boston Properties, Inc. owns and operates The Embarcadero Center, San Francisco’s premier office address. Boston Properties, Inc. and Kenwood Investments, LLC were partners on the first phase of the Transbay Terminal bid. Wilson Meany Sullivan LLC is one of San Francisco’s leading real estate development and investment companies. WMS’ record of success is truly legendary in San Francisco, including successfully developing historic struc- tures like The Ferry Building, One Powell, and The Flood Building, mixed use projects like Bay Meadows, in San Mateo and working with the Port on the relocation of The Exploratorium to Piers 15 & 17. WMS and Kenwood Investments are partners on the Treasure Island project and The Docks, a 23-acre mixed use riverfront site along the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Kenwood Investments, LLC is a San Francisco based company that has distinguished itself in creating successful partnerships on large public private projects such as Treasure Island, The Docks, El Cerrito BART Transit Vil- lage and the Anaheim Packing House.