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CalPERS Headquarters
Expansion Master Plan
Workshop #5: Preliminary Master Plan Presentation
February 17, 2000
On February 17 over 35 people attended a presentation at Lincoln Plaza of the latest preliminary master plan for CalPERS headquarters expansion project. The presentation included an update of the planning process; a brief overview of the previous community workshops; and a presentation of the strategies that have been considered. The attendees asked questions about and commented on this version of the master plan.
The Master Plan Strategy
The master plan strategy referred to as "verde", evolved from a strategy favored by workshop participants called "green", and later refined as "teal". The strategy includes the following features:
- Housing along R Street from 3rd to 7th Streets
- Office space along Q Street
- 4th Street that is open to traffic
Workshop Summary
The attendees asked a variety of questions. These questions, and the CalPERS team responses, are summarized below categorized by program, design and housing.
Program
Is there a childcare center in the plan?
Answer: Yes. The exact location is yet to be determined. It may be located off 4th Street.
Will there be public art?
Answer: We have not dealt with it in a concrete way. As a public project, we assume there will budget for art.
Is there off-street parking for the retail?
Answer: We assume not. The retail is intended to serve the neighborhood and employees. So, it will use on-street parking.
Can CalPERS move somewhere out of the Downtown that is safer and has more parking?
Answer: No. CalPERS is committed to a downtown location and to the existing Lincoln Plaza building.
What is CalPERS investment policy regarding infill development?
Answer: There is a new investment program focussing on infill projects in Northern California. And, CalPERS may look at this project. However, we have a fiduciary responsibility regarding CalPERS retirement fund investments. Projects need to be a prudent investment and meet the criteria of the investment program in order to be funded.
Will the building be a "green" project?
Answer: The project will have a high standard for landscape, as the Lincoln Plaza building does. In addition, the use of sustainable design principles, in terms of materials and energy efficiency, are going to be employed.
Design
Is the office building over the height limit?
Answer: No. The project will stay within the height limits defined by the R Street Plan.
Will there be retail on the ground floor?
Answer: Yes.
Is there parking under the retail?
Answer: Yes. Currently there are two levels of parking below grade. However, the parking is designated for either residential or CalPERS use and not for the use of retail customers.
Where will the parking for the housing be located?
Answer: Under the housing.
Will residential and office share parking access?
Answer: No. CalPERS has very specific security needs that require separate parking solutions.
What will happen to 4th Street? Will it be open to traffic? How about access east and west to the court yards? Will 4th Street be safe for a childcare center if traffic is allowed?
Answer: The current plan leaves 4th Street open to traffic. It will be designed in a way that traffic is slowed down (as it is on the reopened 13th Street by the Convention Center). The traffic will make the street feel safer because it provides social surveillance. There is a drop-off area indicated in the master plan strategy.
Is the space between the housing and office active or private space? How close together are they? Will it block the sun to the courtyards?
Answer: The housing is shown approximately 40' away from the office. It will be an active and programmed space. We have not done shadow studies yet. They will be done as part of the EIR process.
What does the landscape plan look like?
Answer: The landscape plan has not been prepared yet. If you look at the amount and quality of landscape of Lincoln Plaza, it is evident we are committed to a quality landscape plan. We do have a heritage tree on 4th Street we are incorporating into the plan.
Will the new office building be connected to Lincoln Plaza? Will this require City approval?
Answer: CalPERS wants to connect the buildings to each other and Lincoln Plaza. This could be done as sky bridges or below grade. The below grade solution may require a great deal of utility relocation and disruption. We still need to study our options further. We will work with the City regarding the various ways we can connect the buildings.
Why are all the plans so symmetrical?
The plans have been only massing studies examining the practicality of different approaches to larger planning choices. As the design is refined the expression of the building will reflect a greater range of issues.
Where are the service and loading areas for the office buildings?
Answer: The loading and service areas are intended to be located on 3rd Street. Most of the service activity will be relocated to the new building.
Are the alleys going to be removed?
Answer: Yes. Access to the parking is likely to be at the current alley locations.
Housing
What did Post Properties find to be challenging about stacking uses?
Answer: The office and commercial uses disrupted the residential occupants. The after hours sound of periodic tenant improvements (construction) has been a problem. CalPERS does move working groups as we grow and this would become a problem. Post Properties found by moving the housing next to, instead of above or below office, made it easier to rent.
Will the housing be constructed at the same time as the office (as required in the R Street Plan)?
Answer: The market will determine when housing can be built.
Will the office move ahead without the housing?
Answer: The timing of the housing depends on when other projects come on the market. The R Street Plan does require the concurrent development of housing and we are working with housing developers, like Post Properties, and the City and Redevelopment Agency in an effort to make that happen.
How many units of housing will there be?
Answer: There will be about 160 units of housing.
How tall will the housing be?
Answer: The master planning assumes there will be three or four stories of housing over a level of retail on the CalPERS block between 3rd & 5th Streets.
Will the housing be affordable?
Answer: We do not really know yet the proportion of housing that will be affordable. If the City participates, there will be a requirement for affordable housing.
Will the housing be subsidized?
Answer: Most likely, yes. Central City housing built in recent years has required some sort of public subsidy to be financially feasible.
Will the layout of the housing make it more affordable?
Answer: The planning assumes the housing located next to the office buildings will be single loaded (that is, without an internal corridor). Not stacking the housing over or under the office does make the housing more marketable, as we mentioned before.
What is the layout of the housing on the other blocks?
Answer: The block between 5th and 6th Streets has a narrow width and will also to be single loaded. The block between 6th and 7th Street is wide enough to have a corridor be double loaded.
Comments
In addition to the questions asked by the attendees, they offered several comments regarding housing and the design.
Housing
The healthy market for housing in Midtown and other neighborhoods has resulted in low vacancy rates. CalPERS should not wait for the market to reach $1,200/month rents, but build the needed housing before the rents are so high.
We hope CalPERS does not put barriers in place to keep the housing from moving forward with the office building.
Affordable housing should be included in the project.
Design
Make sure the project design considers safety. Do not have isolated spaces and times of use that make it unsafe.
Make sure there is a drop-off area on 4th Street.