San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Matt Dorsey introduced legislation Tuesday to ensure that Treasure Island, the single largest source of new housing in the Bay Area, stays on track and continues to deliver new homes at all income levels.
Last year, Mayor Breed launched Housing for All, her plan to meet the requirements of the City’s Housing Element, which requires San Francisco to plan for over 80,000 new homes by 2030. With more than 8,000 units of new housing in the pipeline, Treasure Island represents the largest quantity of San Francisco’s efforts to meet its housing goals.
The package of project agreement amendments is designed to ensure the redevelopment of Treasure Island undergoes a smooth transition from Phase 1, which began in 2015, to Phase 2.
Treasure Island, which includes adjacent Yerba Buena Island, is a former U.S. Naval Base that has been steadily transitioning to City jurisdiction since the late 1990s. A 2011 Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) called for the eventual re-envisioning of the island as a new San Francisco neighborhood with more than 8,000 homes at all income levels, more than 300 acres of parks and open space, and new amenities and infrastructure designed to make it a model of sustainability and social equity.
Over the past three years, nearly 1,000 new homes have been built, opened, or are under construction. A new seawall and ferry terminal have been built, and regular daily ferry service is ongoing from Downtown San Francisco. New public parks have opened and more are underway. A variety of new businesses are locating on the island as the new neighborhood evolves.
Mayor Breed’s legislation is designed to ensure the momentum continues through a Phase 2, which is expected to include 1,000 new homes, along with a variety of public amenities and parks.
The DDA amendment legislation involves:
- Maintaining the existing public benefits package that was approved in 2011
- Maintaining the affordable housing requirement (27.2%)
- Updating sections of the DDA that don’t align with the project’s current schedule and don’t align with other, more recent development agreements in the City
- Accelerating Treasure Island-generated tax revenues to finance the project through current economic conditions
- Deferring costs where possible to improve near-term financial feasibility
- Accelerating permit review processes and other City-driven deliverables
“Treasure Island, and the thousands of new homes being built there, is key to San Francisco’s economic recovery,” said Mayor Breed, who once lived and worked on Treasure Island. “At this critical moment for our City, we cannot risk slowing or stalling due to infrastructure delays or the short-term challenges of the current economy. We need to advance as much housing as possible, so we can create jobs, new homes, and a new neighborhood to keep our city moving forward.”
“Treasure Island is the City's largest housing project under way in a moment when there is a tremendous push, not only to build new housing, but to boost economic activity, in San Francisco,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “At the same time, Treasure Island’s continued growth will have a net positive impact on the City’s economy and generate thousands more construction jobs. It’s a no-brainer.”
There are 24 construction trades currently working on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, with more than 1,400 union workers logging more than 300,000 hours already.
“Treasure Island is a crucial part of San Francisco’s post-pandemic recovery and crucial to helping thousands of San Francisco trades workers put food on the table for their families,” said Rudy Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council. “We are proud of the work these skilled and trained craftsmen and craftswomen in bringing housing on-line and rebuilding Treasure Island for the 21stcentury. Keeping this project moving at full speed is vital to their and San Francisco’s well-being.”
The City’s private sector partner, master developer Treasure Island Community Development (TICD), has already delivered hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new infrastructure and homes to ensure the island’s future. TICD supports the updated DDA.
“TICD and the City are doubling down on the project with a series of thoughtful planning adjustments that stay true to the spirit of the original plan, while affirming our mutual commitment to Treasure Island’s next chapter,” said Chris Meany, principal of TICD.
Key elements of the revised Disposition and Development Agreement include:
- Amending the TI financing plan to front-load City-supported capital funds (e.g. Certificates of Participation or “COP”) to accelerate funding for Stage 2 infrastructure;
- Bonds would be structured over the next 3-5 years based on development milestones and would pay for eligible infrastructure costs that this City is already obligated to finance;
- The financing plan already contemplates various sources of public financing for the project and the COP revenue would fit into this definition.
- Recognizing the post-pandemic slower development pace (which has delayed the need for certain public amenities) by allowing construction to start on a new Police/Fire station when 4,000 new homes are built, instead of a trigger at 2,500 units. The same trigger is applied to a requirement for SFUSD to obtain a building permit on a new K-5 SFUSD campus.
- Deferring 27 inclusionary units from Stage 2 to future stages on a pro-rata basis while maintaining two 100% affordable housing projects with 250 units total and a 240-bed behavioral health project in Stage 2.
- Redefining the AMI range of inclusionary units (“up to 100% AMI” revised to “60-100% AMI, with average 80% AMI).
- Updating building design controls to improve constructability and to respond to building code changes since 2011.
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