Not On My Tennis Court

Back in December, SF Tennis Club members were able to convince the 'Supes to pass a resolution creating a moratorium on any development that would eliminate a recreational facility.

That seems to be the nail in the coffin for Pulte Homes, which had been looking to put 500 condos on the site of the current SF Tennis Club at 5th & Brannan.

From today's SF Business Times,

Pulte Homes has abandoned plans to build 500 condos at the South of Market site of the San Francisco Tennis Club, a project club members had battled hard to defeat.

Pulte's decision was driven by ongoing discussions with the Western SoMa Task Force, a neighborhood planning group that is studying rezoning the area, according to Kim Diamond, senior manager of land acquisition and entitlement for Michigan-based Pulte. The Western SoMa Task Force is pushing for a development mix that reflects the neighborhood's low-key melange of industry, entertainment, office, housing and retail.

"The uses we intended for the site were different from what the Western SoMa Task Force wanted to put forth -- it didn't make any more sense to pursue it financially," said Diamond.

San Francisco Tennis Club, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Brannan streets, has 1,100 members and was built in 1974. Its owner, Dallas-based ClubCorp., bought the club in 1981. In December the private equity group KSL Capital Partners bought ClubCorp.

Doug Howe, president of the San Francisco Tennis Club, said the owner is "evaluating our options."

"I can't tell you with any certainty what we're going to do next," he said.

Lena Grotz of Save Our San Francisco Tennis Club committee said the group would now focus on pushing a new planning code regulating developers building on recreational facilities. Under the proposed code, any developer looking to build on the tennis club -- or any other recreational facility in San Francisco -- would have to replace the facilities "in kind." In December, the Board of Supervisors passed an 18-month moratorium on developing on recreational facilities.

"We do know from talking to ClubCorp and KSL that they are fielding phone calls from interested developers every day," she said. [more...]

So the 'Supes have ruled in favor of 1,100 tennis players instead of (roughly) 1,100 residents of housing. But I would be hard-pressed to see the investment group that bought the club in December holding for any longer than it took to find a builder that could work with the SOMA neighborhood...

Pulte drops condo plan for S.F. tennis club site [SFHomeBlog]
SF Tennis Club to become housing? [SFHomeBlog]