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When San Francisco voters strongly endorsed Proposition B, giving themselves the right to approve or disapprove of any waterfront development above existing height limits, some folks predicted that this would create a lot of new business for lawyers, media and political consultants, and local power brokers. Skip three letters and this November voters will be asked to approve Proposition F, a project that wants to develop above height limits.
Forest City Enterprises is seeking an OK to develop its big mixed-use housing and office project at Pier 70 to 90 feet; it had already scaled down the height from the original 230 feet. Forest City says nearly one-third of the 1,000 to 2,000 housing units will be affordable to low- and middle-income individuals, and there will be a walkway along the waterfront. It will include between 1–2 million square feet of commercial and office space. The project’s sponsors tout support from the Sierra Club, SF Beautiful, and the San Francisco Taxpayers Association. They also say the project will spin off $20 million for better transit and nine acres of parks and open shoreline with “permanent public access.” They hope all of that will convince voters to support Proposition F and thus this development.
No word yet if this means the city will be able to save money by laying off all of the professionals who were hired or elected to make these decisions themselves.
