Residents and business owners near the planned Transbay Transit Center are grumbling a bit — some about about being forced to move, others about not being fairly compensated for being manhandled by the government. What it all comes down to: it's all eminent domain-able because 1) the existing Transbay Terminal is "outdated ... unattractive and seismically unsafe," and 2) a lot of post-Loma Prieta Embarcadero Freeway parcels are still, 20 years later, vacant. That adds up to, in the case the Redevelopment Agency's making, blight, blight, blight. So the people associated with the adjacent 26 businesses, eight parking lots, and "at least" 24 live-work lofts are being forced out. But, says the co-owner of the restaurant Zebulon: "I'm not opposed to the project, it’s progress. But I feel the city is boxing us into closing by not paying us proper compensation." The figure they were offered: $100K. And on 17,500 square feet, they say they should get something in the ballpark of $4.3 million. Too bad no one's made of that kind of money anymore.
· New transit center to displace SoMa neighbors [SF Public Press]
· Inside the Plan for a Dramatic New Downtown South of Market [Curbed SF]
· Rendering Revelation: Transbay Transit Center & Funicular Extravaganza [Curbed SF]
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