Last month, SF Weekly writer Joe Eskenazi investigated the uncanny abilities of downtown condo developers, many of which seem to have skirted the city's building codes in order to build the likes of One Rincon Hill and The Infinity. Stern warnings were issued, yet to whom, exactly, remained a mystery: Eskenazi didn't name names per se (as if he even needed to), a maneuver that proved too shifty for some. Readers take this stuff seriously, as we well know here at Curbed SF; enter one "greatly concerned" Lauren Ladd, who is, like, totally not having this bullshit:
it greatly concerns me that the author's investigative skills were not sufficiently acute to ferret out more particulars on the identities of the mysterious "influential developers" who have allegedly "chilled the discussion of whether San Francisco should improve its [high-rise building] standards." Also, there is an element of unsettling innuendo when the author states, in juxtaposition with the above: "Calls to multiple developers about their position were not returned by press time. The Residential Builders Association [RBA] also didn't call back." Ladd isn't the only one upset with Eskenazi's skillzz— the RBA isn't so thrilled about its portrayal, either. Says the "little guys," as SF Weekly calls them:
The Residential Builders Association agrees with most of Joe Eskenazi's article. We do not agree with how he portrays the RBA. Eskenazi unfairly clumped the RBA with the "multiple developers" he claims are threatening to stop building in San Francisco if higher seismic standards are set. He then implies that these developers along with the RBA are "flexing muscle" to prevent improvements in seismic standards. True, Eskenazi did make one call to our office for comment, but it was during the rush of Christmas week and we did not have a chance to respond.And finally, Eskenazi himself steps to the plate: I would like to assure Ms. Ladd that my investigative skills are "sufficiently acute" to pick up a copy of the San Francisco Business Times. Yet randomly listing the city's biggest developers is not the same as identifying the specific developers who worked with the Tall Buildings Initiative — and whom TBI officials declined to name. . . As for the Residential Builders Association, when I phoned them in the week of Dec. 10, I specifically stated that I wanted to talk to developers of high-rise condos. I was told such a person would contact meMy fault, your fault, their fault. Bounce, bounce, bounce. Howsabout we let the next earthquake ref this one? Or perhaps we might host a softball game between the sales offices of One Rincon Hill and The Infinity? Winner takes all.
· Readers Respond to Article on SF's New Seismic Standards, or Lack Thereof [SF Weekly]
· Hellfire, Brimstone: Warning Delivered to SF's Tall Buildings [Curbed SF]
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