SoMa’s 40-year-old sports club Bay Club Tennis dug in its heels and pushed back against developer plans to slash five-sixths of their court space last year, bringing in former Mayor Art Agnos to rally community support.
Now twin developers Alexandria Real Estate and TMG Partners, who began negotiations over the site at 645 5th Street (now dubbed 88 Bluxome for development purposes) last summer, have served up a second round of plans to the city, and it’s not immediately apparent what the future of the tennis club would be under this proposal.
ARE and TMG now envision 88 Bluxome as a 2.6-acre, mixed-use development that will host office space, retail, and PDR (production, distribution, and repair) sites, as well as "a land dedication to the city for a 100 percent affordable housing project." The press release notes that the site is on the same block as the future 4th and Brannan Central Subway station.
There’s no direct mention of the Bay Club, although a "community recreation center" is referenced. It’s also possible the club would simply take up space in the commercial area, although the sticking point may be exactly how much space.
Developers have long assured the neighbors that they mean to keep the tennis courts, but last year’s proposal dropped 20 of the Bay Club’s 24 courts. Requests for comment from the Bay Club, TMG, and Alexandria were not immediately returned. We’ll update you when we find out more.
The Bay Club maintains three other sites in San Francisco, none of which are presently on the block for development.
- Game, Set, Match For Tennis Club? [Curbed SF]
- Office Complex Keeps Tennis in Play [Curbed SF]
- Alexandria, TMG Submit Revised Plans [PR Newswire]
- Original 88 Bluxome proposal [Document Cloud]
- Central Subway alignment [Central Subway SF]
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