Ahead of CityPlace's Planning Commission hearing at the end of this month, the city's released the latest packet of public comments on the project (PDF). As expected, the two levels of proposed underground parking continue to be an issue. The draft environmental impact report has added a "reduced parking" option, with just one basement level of parking, rather than two — compared to a possible "no garage alternative" that would otherwise send all potential car-based shoppers to nearby garages. A few comments also bring up the historic nature of the St. Francis Theater, which would be demolished for CityPlace — it's so nice and historical, they say, why destroy it? Even a planning commissioner's skeptical of the EIR's treatment of the building, saying the St. Francis's historical "integrity" should be investigated underneath its plywood mask. Wouldn't it be better, a couple commenters chime in, to restore the existing buildings instead of building a brutish contemporary one? Department staffers say meh: "the Mid-Market area is not a designated historic district nor has any area within the Mid-Market corridor been identified as a potential Mid-Market historic district." End of discussion?
· CityPlace Now Open to Comments, Will Underground Parking Survive? [Curbed SF]
· CityPlace Looking for Toys R Us and Off 5th, Cars Still an Issue [Curbed SF]
· CityPlace: 7 Juicy Stories of "Value" Retail for 2012 [Curbed SF]
Filed under:
Loading comments...