Meet the Department of Building Inspection Pros’ Summit – 10/25
Well, check this out… The Department of Building Inspection is offering a FREE all-day slate of seminars on Wednesday, October 25th geared at both the non-professional (read: homeowner) and professional, in what appears to be an effort to educate and build goodwill in the community.
According to SFGov.org, they are offering:
• Free workshops for non-technical homeowners/non-industry people who need to understand the basics about permits, as well as DBI’s role and resources for the public; and• Free workshops for technical/industry participants who know DBI’s process and whom we want to update on current/upcoming issues, improve communications, and strengthen relationships.
Some of the sessions include:
• How to Obtain a Permit
• Condo Conversion
• Tenants-Landlords’ Responsibilities & Realities
• Hi-Rises and the Changing San Francisco Skyline
• Lead Paint Laws and Enforcement
• Commercial Renovation and Disability Access
• Residential earthquake preparation
• Code Enforcement
And did you notice that it’s FREE?
Get the full schedule with details on each seminar here.
Online registration is available on this page as well.
Meet the DBI Pros’ Summit [SFGov]
Department of Building Inspection Brown Bag Lunch Talks [SFHomeBlog]
More problems at DBI [SFHomeBlog]
Who’s going to work for the DBI, now? [SFHomeBlog]
Long-delayed Bayview condos to break ground
From today’s San Francisco Business Times,
A Houston developer backed by Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group has acquired a key seven-acre parcel near Monster Park and is set to break ground on a $90 million, 198-unit housing development.
James Noteware, a veteran Texas housing builder with condo developments in Houston, Las Vegas and Phoenix, is set to break ground at 833-881 Jamestown Ave., according to Claude Everhart, community outreach coordinator for Noteware Development San Francisco.
The seller was Jamestown Equity Partners, led by developer Matt Murphy, who endured a 15-year entitlement process, spanning several economic cycles. Noteware Development paid $18.5 million for the site.
Called the Jamestown, the 198 condos spread throughout 11 structures will cater to families, with 37 three-bedrooms, 149 two-bedrooms, and the rest one-bedrooms. There will be three play areas, a clubhouse, and 75,000 square feet of open space. Twenty-four of the units will be affordable. Everhart said in contrast to much of the swanky new high-end development South of Market and in Rincon Hill, the focus of the project is on creating a neighborhood specifically tailored to raising children.
Everhart said pre-construction work has already started on the site.
“We think it’s going to be a very exciting family neighborhood,” said Everhart, adding that Noteware is looking for other sites for “quality family housing in San Francisco.”
The Jamestown Avenue property, which was formerly used for overflow parking at Monster Park, will feature three-story “neo-Mediterranean” homes with 30-foot façades fronting Jamestown Avenue.
“From the street it will resemble the character and nature of a normal San Francisco neighborhood,” said Everhart. [more...]
And this is in addition to the other roughly 1400 units that are going in around (and replacing) the office park between Hwy 101 and Monster Park.
Long-delayed Bayview condos to break ground [SF Business Times]
Scrap the stadium and sell off Candlestick Point for housing? [SFHomeBlog]
Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition.
Lower Haight Block Party – October 22nd
I originally reported that the Lower Haight Block Party was to take place tomorrow (from info I got from Supervisor Mirkarimi’s newsletter), and was just informed that it’s actually NEXT weekend.
Here are the current details:
Lower Haight Block Party – Celebrate the Lower Haight!
The Lower Haight Merchants Association is hosting its first neighborhood
Block Party on Sunday October 22, 2006 from 11am to 6pm on Haight Street between Filmore and Pierce and Steiner between Laussat and Page.
The Block Party will feature live music, special events for families and children, and reasonably-priced booth spaces to accommodate local and emerging artists. The event will not include alcohol booths, and food booths are available only to the existing restaurants within the confines of the event.
The Lower Haight Merchants Association is a neighborhood organization whose purpose is to develop and maintain a thriving business environment within our membership area. We seek to provide a safe, clean and supportive atmosphere where businesses can thrive, working closely with city and state government agencies, community-based organizations and neighborhood residents.
Lower Haight Merchants Association 597 Haight Street San Francisco, CA 94117
Email: lowerhaightblockparty@gmail.com
Live Music & Performers
Hosted by MC Radioactive
Maestro Curtis, Kalimba Records recording artist
Music For Animals
Sugar & Gold
Miles Ahead 5150, Featuring Top Cat
D.J’s
djb.cause (4onefunk)
mikebee (amoeba / kusf)
DJ. B-Love (400 blk fool)
D.J. Disk (SF Turntablist Kings)
D.J. Lady Fingaz (SF Turntablist Kings)
Street Performers Include:
The Western Addition Steppers
Rock The Block B-Boy Street Jam
San Francisco Circus Center
Face Painters and balloon artists.
New Mission to have new use
From today’s Examiner,
Ornate vacant theater built in 1916 to be transformed into entertainment centerBeneath several layers of paint on a wall of the New Mission Theater is a patch of gold and silver left over from the Depression era, when the theater experienced its heyday.
The historically significant portions of the 1916 art deco theater, located on the 2500 block of Mission Street [@ 21st Street], are scheduled to remain intact under plans to transform the vacant space into a venue for dancing, live music, movies and dining. Next door, 95 housing units are planned in an eight-story development, the second piece of the project designed to help pay for the theater’s restoration.
The historic theater, which can seat up to 2,300, is one of the last remaining early movie houses in The City. Starting in 2000, dozens fought to keep the theater from being demolished and turned into a campus building for the City College of San Francisco.
In late 2003, developer Gus Murad & Associates bought the building from the college and now plans to create a separate bar area behind the auditorium designed to serve as a movie house, dance floor or dining area. An elevator would transport people up and down to the basement level where a kitchen, storage and bathrooms are part of the blueprints.
Construction, if approved by The City’s Planning Commission, will likely begin in about two years, Morris said. The environmental impact report is in the works, city officials said. The architect declined to disclose the estimated cost of plans, which aim to make the theater a destination for diners. Preservationists who fought to save the theater on the National Register of Historical Places praised the new blueprints. [more...]
This is right next door to Medjool and Foreign Cinema, and just across the street from 12 Galaxies, so there’s little doubt that this will add more activity and nightlife to an already popular block.
New Mission to have new use [Examiner]
What’s up with these unused buildings? [SFHomeBlog]
SoMa-to-Chinatown rail line to debut by 2016, Muni says
From today’s Examiner,
Central Subway to extend Third Street tracks, provide connection to BART, busesA new Muni rail line that will cut through SoMa up into Chinatown is expected to be online by 2016.
Transit officials on Thursday unveiled details of the $1.4 billion Central Subway project, which will create continuous rail service from Visitacion Valley to Chinatown and is expected to reduce the commute by half.
The 5.1-mile Central Subway is an extension of the newly created Third Street Light Rail, which runs from Bayshore Boulevard in Vistacion Valley to the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets. The $667 million light-rail project, which has been delayed for a year and a half, is launching with weekend rides Jan. 13, with full operation beginning April 7.
The Central Subway line will continue up Fourth Street across Market Street and end at Clay and Stockton streets in Chinatown. The subway will also connect BART and other Muni lines at the Powell Street station. Travel time from Third and King Street to Chinatown, which takes 20 minutes, is expected to be cut by more than half and only take seven minutes, according to John Fungi, the project manager.
A Muni official said the system, which is expected to increase systemwide ridership by 21,000 people a day when it is up and running, will help serve the 70 percent of the population living along the corridor that does not own a car. [more...]
Update: SFCityscape points out that there are four upcoming community meetings, if you care to attend…
SoMa-to-Chinatown rail line to debut by 2016, Muni says [Examiner]
The Stubway Revealed [SFCityscape]
Third Street rail on track for January run [SFHomeBlog]
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