Jun 6 2008 11:00AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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I see that San Francisco voters approved Proposition G -- meaning that Lennar Corp. can move ahead with a huge redevelopment project in San Francisco. Lennar plans to build as many as 10,000 homes on the site of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and adjacent Candlestick Point area. (Read about it here, here and here.) It's said to be the biggest redevelopment effort in S.F. since World War II.

Under Lennar's plan, up to 3,500 of the 10,000 planned units will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. The project also includes large tracts of commercial and retail space. And the builder has agreed to set aside land for a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers -- plus kick in $100 million to help build it.

My initial reaction was "Finally, some good news about a home builder." The Hunters Point project will inject thousands of affordable homes into one of the nation's least affordable housing markets. It will clean up an area that has suffered from decades of blight and bring in much-needed improvements such as parks, walking and biking trails and a bus rapid-transit system.

But there's always a down side. Detractors worry that Lennar now controls much of the remaining undeveloped land in San Francisco, giving the builder as much clout in City Hall as elected leaders and voters. They say it's financially imprudent to have the fate of so large an undertaking resting on a single company's shoulders. Residents of neighboring Bayview are concerned that rising property taxes might force them out of their homes. The list of criticisms goes on, but in a nutshell, some are afraid that Lennar (not the citizens of San Francisco) will reap most of the benefits of the project.

I've visited San Francisco many times but since I don't live there, I'm not as tuned into local political sentiment. What do Bay area home builders -- and others in the industry -- think about Lennar's new deal? Does history reveal a mostly positive outcome from ambitious redevelopment projects like Hunters Point?