For over 100 years, the Japantown neighborhood has been the cultural heart for the Japanese community of San Francisco and the Bay Area region.  At the same time, Japantown has endured numerous challenges to its physical and economic environment. Over the last four years through San Francisco’s Better Neighborhoods planning process, community stakeholders have articulated their vision for Japantown’s future and recommended cultural and economic strategies to achieve this vision. The Japantown Cultural Resources and Economic Sustainability Strategy (JCHESS) is the result of this process to articulate community concerns, identify cultural resources in the area, and deploy public policies and funding tools to preserve and enhance cultural assets.

The upcoming 1/28/14 SPUR forum will present JCHESS, the first of its kind in the nation. Hear important lessons for other communities within San Francisco and beyond.

Seifel Consulting served as economic consultants assisting the City in creating a compendium of economic and other tools to help support the preservation and enhancement of cultural resources.

Details on the SPUR session located here.

Blogger Markasaurus asks in a recent post, “Why can’t developers build housing in San Francisco for the people who need it most instead of for the rich?” The price of housing in San Francisco is skyrocketing. An upcoming SPUR forum will address the question: why is it so expensive to build housing in San Francisco?

Panelists will examine the component costs of bringing housing to market and discuss how predevelopment costs, delays, and requirements for additional studies and parking factor into the cost equation. The session will conclude with a deliberation on what can be done to drive down land costs and change construction practices, as well as what local government’s role—if any—is in cost reduction.

Architect Mark “Markasaurus” Hogan will present his recent analysis on housing costs. Panelist Libby Seifel will compare housing costs to costs in other communities and present findings from the Inclusionary Housing Financial Analysis Report her firm prepared for the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Housing. Daniel Murphy of Urban Green DevCo and Blair Allison of Cahill Contractors will present developer and contractor perspectives on housing cost. 

Details on SPUR session.

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As the Bay Area continues to grow as one of the world’s most robust business centers and home to the nation’s most competitive technology sector, San Francisco is poised to make its next big mark on the world stage, and the Transbay Transity Center is one of the City's most important investments to assure long term success in an increasingly global economy. Creating a landmark multi-modal transit hub and a vibrant walkable neighborhood that features parks, public plazas, and retail, the Transbay Transit Center will foster activity, energy and vibrancy to downtown San Francisco while driving significant value premiums on surrounding properties. Improved transit access and additional public spaces and neighborhood amenities provided by the Transbay Project are projected to add $3.9 billion to the value of private property located within ¾ of a mile of the Transit Center. Additionally, redevelopment of public property once occupied by the former Transbay Terminal and abandoned freeway ramps is projected to stimulate over $4 billion in new development. A substantial portion of this new development is already in progress, including the 1.3 million square foot Transbay Transit Tower and more than 1,200 mixed-income residential units.

Research shows that knowledge service businesses thrive best in a compact, transit-rich environment. Better transit connectivity will help expand the regional labor market and make it easier for workers to reach jobs. Moreover, the use of transit instead of cars will foster increased physical activity, promote healthy living, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by removing thousands of vehicles from our streets and highways. Regionally, the Bay Area will benefit from the creation of approximately 8,300 construction job years, 27,000 permanent jobs, and up to $87 billion in gross regional product through 2030.

In November, Seifel completed the publication Transbay Transit Center: Key Investment in San Francisco’s Future as a World Class City as part of our economic benefit analysis work for the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). A combined effort on the part of Seifel, the TJPA, and other San Francisco offices, Transbay Transit Center highlights the numerous economic benefits that the Transbay Project will bring to San Francisco and the Bay Area region.

Transbay Transit Center: Key Investment in San Francisco’s Future as a World Class City is available to download here.