Jun 4, 2008 5:45 pm US/Pacific
Passage Of Measure G Reopens Door On 49er Stadium
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
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Hunters Point sits just East of the current home of the 49ers at Candlestick Point.
CBS 5
The city's largest redevelopment project since World War II got a major boost after voters overwhelmingly endorsed plans to build new homes, office space and possibly a football stadium in a long-neglected corner of San Francisco.
Sixty-one percent of city voters approved Measure G, which endorses developer Lennar Corp.'s plans for a $1.2 billion development project on 770 acres at the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point in the southeastern part of San Francisco.
The project would transform the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, an area long coveted by developers despite its high rates of crime and unemployment, as well as high levels of industrial contamination left over from the Navy shipyard.
The plan calls for 10,000 residential units, retail shops, office space, a sports and performance arena, 400 acres of park and open space, and a new stadium—if the 49ers decide to stay in San Francisco.
The measure is not a legally binding agreement. All development plans will need environmental review and final approval from the city.
Miami-based Lennar, one of the country's largest real estate developers, spent about $4 million on the campaign to pass Measure G and hopes to break ground on the project in 2010.
Mayor Gavin Newsom called the measure's victory "a huge day for San Francisco." He said rebuilding a blighted apartment complex he called "one of the worst public housing sites in America" should be a top priority for the city.
Critics of the redevelopment project are concerned that the new housing will be largely unaffordable to low-income residents in Bayview-Hunters Point, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
San Francisco voters rejected a competing ballot measure—Measure F—that would have required that 50 percent of the new units be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents.
Supervisor Chris Daly, who spearheaded the competing measure, said the redevelopment is not being planned for the mostly black residents who already live in the neighborhood.
"The project will gentrify the city's last African American community," Daly said.
Lennar has pledged to set aside 32 percent of the 10,000 planned residential units for low-income housing, but critics says that's not enough.
Lennar and Newsom hope the measure's passage will convince the 49ers to stay in the city. In 2006 the team announced plans to move to Santa Clara, citing concerns about Candlestick Park's distance from freeways and the Navy's timeframe for cleaning up hazardous waste in the area.
Team representatives, however, say the 49ers remain focused on moving to Santa Clara.
"We supported the measure, but it doesn't change the situation," said 49er's spokeswoman Lisa Lang.
Lennar expects the project to be a solid, long-term investment. Despite widespread troubles in the real estate market, housing prices in San Francisco remain relatively strong.
"Our hope is that the market is at a better point in ten years when the project is complete," said Emile Haddad, Lennar's chief investment officer.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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