Mid-Market's mall messiah, CityPlace, had a brief public hearing at yesterday's Planning Commission, opening the window to comments from the public and from the commissioners themselves. There were the project boosters. Randy Shaw of Tenderloin Housing Clinic, for example, who hasn't showed his face at a Planning Commission meeting in years: "The fact that this site has lay fallow for so long has really hurt the Tenderloin community." The debate was light but was, as expected, mostly about the issue of underground parking. One commissioner wondered whether a basement garage would be necessary, given that the nearby 5th and Mission parking garage only reached 63 percent occupancy even in better economic times. Counterpoint: underground parking makes plenty of sense if a shopper's going to be buying large, boxy items like TVs, or Fisher-Price Hummers for the kids. Verdict's still out, as everyone will reconvene when the environmental impact report gets certified. In the meantime, as the president of the commission says, the "concept of improving this section of Market Street is obviously long awaited." Long, long awaited.
· CityPlace Looking for Toys R Us and Off 5th, Cars Still an Issue [Curbed SF]
· Spotted at the CityPlace Meeting: 'BikePod' Planters for Alley [Curbed SF]
· CityPlace Is Headed for the Spotlight, and So Is All That Parking [Curbed SF]
· CityPlace: 7 Juicy Stories of "Value" Retail for 2012 [Curbed SF]
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