The Real Story

Rebuilding a community

The Real Story — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:47:18 +0000

In talking with Kofi Bonner about Lennar Urban’s plans to create a mixed-use urban master-planned community on the site of the old Hunter’s Point Shipyard, The Real Story got a view of the housing side of the equation.

According to Kofi, the subject of housing diversity—in size, in style, in price—has engendered much debate: What is the right mix of market rate to affordable housing? How can new home price levels be created without displacing residents already living in the area? How do you build—or rebuild—housing and keep the existing residents on site during the process?

Big questions, one and all. But from all of the questions have come many great ideas that reflect the many neighborhoods of San Francisco. For example, Lennar is planning housing for working families—people whose earnings are too high to qualify for the affordable homes, but not enough to make the stretch for a market-rate mortgage. There is also a fund to assist people living in the area with their housing purchases. There is a plan for deed restrictions to keep a supply of affordable homes affordable for the long term.

With so much news about The Shipyard this week, The Real Story suggests that you go to the community web site and see the renderings of what is being planned.

Making every detail count

The Real Story — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:26:43 +0000

The Real Story has been talking with Kofi Bonner, Executive Vice President of Lennar Urban, about the planning of The Shipyard at Hunters Point. Kofi, himself an architect and planner, has been working with a master architect and a team of architectural firms to see how the master plan might get translated into specific blocks of development—taking the planning from the macro level to the pedestrian level.

In an exercise in real-life modeling, Kofi assembled a team of architects to design two blocks within a representative 12-block section of the plan, and gave them the same general directions and specific design guidelines. He also gave them a short time frame for their first conceptual approaches. The result? A new realization that more information is going to be necessary to create buildings, streetscapes and the scale of the city blocks in better relation to each other. The interconnection of the pieces doesn’t happen on its own: Kofi talks about this as a valuable lesson learned—before the first building breaks ground.

Image courtesy of Lennar Urban.

Flying high in Berkeley

The Real Story — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:27:39 +0000

The summer skies over the Berkeley Marina will be filled with hundreds of kites this weekend. The marina’s Cesar Chavez Park is the setting for the 2010 Berkeley Kite Festival, a fun and free activity for all ages.

Kites bigger than a house and longer than a train will take to the breezes. Giant creature kites and the world’s largest octopus kite will be featured. Competitive kite teams will demonstrate the speed, excitement and artistry of multiple kites in choreographed routines and kite battles.

Hands-on activities include free kite making, kite flying lessons and candy drops. Adding to the festivities will be Taiko Drummers, arts and crafts, food and music.

Berkeley’s waterfront location contributes to a fairly reliable constant breeze—an essential element for a kite festival. We are fortunate that the Bay Area has the geography and climate that lend themselves to this kind of event.

Again, admission is free, but there is a $10 charge for parking. Well-behaved on-leash dogs are welcome.

News from The Shipyard

The Real Story — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:58:24 +0000

Although today’s podcast conversation with Kofi Bonner of Lennar Urban gives details of the role of the arts community, the growth of a transportation network, and the importance of planning and building to LEED standards, The Real Story would like to share some news that supersedes the interview: last night, the Hunters Point project was approved.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported, “San Francisco supervisors ended more than a decade of hope and controversy Tuesday when they overwhelmingly approved a project to transform the abandoned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard into a new waterfront community of homes, businesses and green technology.

“The vote was also a victory for Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has called The Shipyard project a key to the city’s future.

“This is a proud and historic day for all San Francisco and for all those who have worked for years to achieve this milestone,” he said in a statement. “Together we have secured a critical engine for our city’s economic future and embraced a new vision of jobs, housing and hope for the Bayview-Hunters Point community.”

Image courtesy of Lennar Urban.

The long view

The Real Story — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:48:52 +0000

When one considers all that goes into the envisioning of a community like The Shipyard, it is clear that there are very few short-term decisions in the process. This week, Lennar Urban’s Executive Vice President Kofi Bonner is talking with The Real Story about the longer view—the ability to take the time required to plan and develop communities of vast size and layers of complexity.

Given the need for resources—both professional and financial—that large scale urban plans require, it is not surprising that there are only a few names in the national landscape capable of planning these large, mixed-use developments and seeing them through. Kofi explains that Lennar has the expertise and direction to focus on urban areas across the country, and is looking for opportunities to create new environments within existing urban settings, to become an engine for regeneration.

He also touches on the creation of jobs within The Shipyard community: from the immediate and ongoing positions in construction to move the project forward to the creation of an environment welcoming to clean-energy enterprises. The Real Story’s conversation with Kofi Bonner—touching on everything from architecture to transportation to park design to the existing arts community—continues all week. Follow The Real Story on KCBS.com/realestate or on iTunes.

Rendering courtesy of Lennar Urban

Real estate hot spots

The Real Story — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:17:00 +0000

According to the Q2 2010 Home Hunter report released a few days ago by ZipRealty, California can claim 91 of the 100 hottest ZIP codes for real estate.

“Hot” is defined as having the highest selling prices as compared to original list prices based on MLS data in 5,400 cities across the nation. In other words, California—and specifically the Bay Area—still leads the nation in buying/selling activity, with an abundance of multiple offers.

The two top California zips—Berkeley’s 94703 and Oakland’s 94621—made the list for entirely different reasons.

The 94703 neighborhood, located near the University of California campus, has remained fairly stable over the last few years. This ZIP features well-maintained homes, convenient retail and employment, and good access to public transit. The average list price was $575,095 and the average sales price was $619,574. Five foreclosures and just one short sale were reported.

East Oakland’s 94621, on the other had, has seen home values fall dramatically since 2007. Located around the Coliseum and Oakland International Airport, this ZIP had an average list price is $106,893 with a sales price of $113,236. Many of the sales are all cash, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which could indicate bargain hunting by investors (a good sign for the health of the market). ZipRealty reports 62 foreclosures and 23 short sales.

Other hot Bay Area zips in the top 10?
Oakland    94603
San Jose    95122
Rodeo        94572
San Jose    95111

There is some speculation that the expiring federal tax incentives fueled the flurry of buying activity that helped drive prices up, and we’ll be sure and watch for the Q3 results for comparison. But any increase in activity for whatever reason is good news.

Taking a look at The Shipyard

The Real Story — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:19:29 +0000

Kofi Bonner, Executive Vice President of Lennar Urban, met with The Real Story last week to talk about the opportunities and responsibilities inherent in planning approximately 800 acres of waterfront property—The Shipyard. Kofi, no stranger to the process of urban redevelopment, is both an architect and planner by education, and earned tenure in the city governments of San Francisco, Oakland and Emeryville, the latter as its redevelopment director.

The plan for The Shipyard includes an integration of homes, shops and businesses—including the potential for green and clean businesses—in the underserved southeast segment of the City. Parks are a big part of the vision—almost 300 acres of parks and open space, ranging from hardscape areas to green spaces to marina access to the waterfront.

In the planning, regional shopping is combined with entertainment and food, to create an amenity on-site and a destination for the surrounding communities.

One of the issues that comes up in every meeting on the project: change. A large community-in-the-planning sounds like a large change, according to Kofi, and that’s not easy for everyone to accept. But he points to the redevelopment of the South of Market area, of Mission Bay, and even the Embarcadero to call to mind some of the changes San Francisco has seen in recent years that have enhanced the appeal of the City. The Real Story interview with Kofi is available as a download on iTunes; be sure to listen in all week.

Protecting local government from the federal government

The Real Story — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:34:34 +0000

The Real Story has been talking with Cliff Staton from Renewable Funding about the untimely end to PACE (Property Assessment Clean Energy) programs throughout the country. What happened? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have determined that PACE assessments are actually loans that make their position in the mortgage-lending food chain risky.

The latest development in the saga is the lawsuit that California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed again the Federal Housing Financing Agency, which oversees the quasi-independent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The AG’s contention is that this is a case of over-reach—the Federal government is stopping a program that is within the jurisdiction of local governments.

At the same time, Congressman Mike Thompson of Sonoma County, has drafted the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010, asking for and end to discrimination against homeowners who want to take on the assessments and communities who want to provide PACE programs. Inasmuch as PACE is not considered a partisan issue, this piece of legislation should pass—IF it gets voted on in this session of Congress.

Who didn’t get the memo?

The Real Story — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:18:56 +0000

It would seem clear that if the administration is backing clean tech and alternative energy sources, that all of the various government agencies and departments would follow the leader, and plan their strategies accordingly. The only problem, says Cliff Staton of Renewable Funding, is that not everything that looks like a federal agency or department actually is one.

Case in point: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although they are currently overseen by the federal government, they are actually quasi-independent entities, responsible for half of the country’s home mortgages.

So even though the administration is clearly in support of reducing the carbon footprint of homes, and the Department of Energy has government stimulus money to award for PACE (Property Assessment Clean Energy) Programs, homeowners will NOT be able to fund their retrofits in solar, energy and water if they have a home loan that is under the Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines. For all intents and purposes, the PACE program is dead for now.

Some time in the next eight weeks, while Congress is still in session, there is an opportunity for a piece of legislation to save PACE programs to pass. Called the PACE Assessment Protection ACT of 2010, it has been written specifically to get the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac roadblock lifted, so that this program can get moving again, all over the country.

Ready, set, paint!

The Real Story — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:11:52 +0000

What’s your preference? Brush or aerosol? There’ll be plenty of both this Saturday afternoon when the paint flies at San Francisco’s Precita Park. Precita Eyes Muralists, a San Francisco community based arts organization, hosts its 14th Annual Urban Youth Arts Festival from 1 until 6 p.m.

Let’s pause and consider the function of public art. It encourages artistic self-expression and community dialogue, provides education and enjoyment, and enhances the physical environment. This event is perfectly aligned with all of the above.

More than 2,000 square feet of portable wall space will be set up in the park. Artists, would-be artists or those who just want to get creative are invited to have at it with free paint, brushes and spray cans. The best sections of the wall are shown throughout the year at various galleries.

Some 200 to 300 people join in and enjoy art performances, musicians, poetry slammers, breakdancers—plus a barbecue. It’s public art at its functional best, courtesy of the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department.

Source: Umbanhowar, Elizabeth, “Public Art: Linking Form, Function and Meaning”, Public Art and Ecological Process