»In which we cannot teach an old dog new tricks

The San Francisco Examiner captures some neighbourhood discussion of what to do with the former UC Berkeley Extension site at Haight, Laguna, Herman, and Buchanan. I especially like the plan for housing for aging transgendered folk, who "can age in place" according to the developer. Might as well just stick 'em in a pine box, wot? I realise that the turn of phrase is an epithet for having all of the necessary shops, doctors, and community services nearby, but it sounds so horrible. I still have aspirations of spending my golden years on a decrepit cork farm in Portugal, raising chickens and drinking vinho verde.

Plans to develop UC Extension project revamped
By Emily Fancher
Staff Writer

Developers of the historic former UC Berkeley Extension campus in the Lower Haight have agreed to build fewer housing units, make more of them affordable and add senior housing to the mix as part of a revised proposal.

The developers, for-profit AF Evans and nonprofit Mercy Housing California, also responded to neighborhood concerns about their revised proposal by reducing parking, creating more open space, and saving nearly all of a historic building that preservationists had rallied around.

In addition to 337 rental units, the developers are negotiating with Open House, a nonprofit organization, to build roughly 80 units of senior housing for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as part of the overall 5.8-acre project at 55 Laguna St.

The site has caused considerable controversy since UC closed its extension campus and announced it wanted to redevelop the site because it could not afford to seismically upgrade the historic buildings and needed to lease the site to support its other extension campuses.

Some neighbors have fought for the property to continue as an educational site and New College has expressed interest in the site.

Patricia Walkup, president of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, said the neighbors remain committed to the site retaining a significant amount of public space. Walkup said the neighborhood anticipates much higher density in the coming decade, making public spaces all the more important — she said recreation, particularly for young people, is needed.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi supports retaining the site for public use, and the proposal ultimately needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to rezone it.

But Ruthie Bennett, project manager for AF Evans, said at an event Wednesday that while it “remains no secret people want it to remain an educational use,” UC Berkeley is not considering that option. Bennett said to address the neighborhood’s concerns, the revised proposal does retain an auditorium that will be available for public use.

Walkup praised several aspects of the revamped project, such as the reduction in parking and the potential addition of senior housing by Open House.

Moli Steinert, executive director of Open House, said the nonprofit is still negotiating on the deal.

“There’s nothing final about this,” she said.

She added that the site is attractive because it’s nearby another location where the group is considering building roughly 80 units.

“We’re designing them with supportive services right on site so people can age in place,” Steinert said. “That’s the trend in the future.”

She said the hope is to have perhaps 20 percent affordable units on the UC site, which is near the LGBT Community Center and Market Street transportation.