Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/19/2016 12 Yakima Central Plaza Update and Next StepsITEM TITLE: SUBMITTED BY: BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDASTATEMENT Item No. 12. For Meeting of: January 19, 2016 Yakima Central Plaza Update and Next Steps Sean Hawkins, Economic Development Manager, 575-6274 SUMMARY EXPLANATION: The attached memo provides Council a brief status update on the Yakima Central Plaza project including how the project was initiated, why a plaza was identified in the revitalization process, a description of key project elements, an update where we are today in the design process, an update on the public private partnership process and next steps towards the completion of the design process. ITEM BUDGETED: STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Economic Development APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: Interim City Manager STAFF RECOMMENDATION: BOARD/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Description DI Yakima G: ear al° IPII<am r i ane Mom° Upload Date 1/13/2016 Type Cover Memo Memorandum To: Yakima City Council and City Manager From: Sean Hawkins, Economic Development Manager Date: January 19, 2016 Subject: Yakima Central Plaza Update and Next Steps How We Got Here In 2013, the Yakima City Council initiated a multi -step public process to create a Downtown Master Plan to guide future development activity in Yakima's downtown district. Over the course of several months, five comprehensive public meetings involving hundreds of people, numerous small stakeholder sessions, and an extensive examination of available opportunities to enhance the ongoing revitalization of Yakima were conducted. As a result, a downtown plaza was identified by community members as the highest priority project to be implemented as part of the plan. In 2014, the Yakima City Council initiated a competitive RFP process and selected Gustafson, Guthrie, Nichol (GGN) and Graham Baba Architects to design a downtown plaza. The principals of both firms are Yakima natives. GGN and Graham Baba conducted five public meetings and received over 1,600 public comments, which influenced the concept and current design of the Yakima Central Plaza. The entire project, including design and engineering for not only the plaza but associated upgrades to surrounding streets and sidewalks, is estimated to cost $14 million. On November 10, 2014, the Yakima City Council voted 6-1 to approve including the Yakima Central Plaza project in a $17 million capital improvement strategy that also includes the SOZO Multi - Sports Complex and the YMCA Aquatics Center. Why A Plaza While a plaza certainly serves as a gathering place, its primary benefit is as an economic development tool. A plaza is a magnet that draws people to a downtown district, people who need and want to visit surrounding businesses. As stated in the Yakima Downtown Retail Plan completed by Thomas Consultants in 2013, "Downtown Yakima has a good potential to create a distinctive retail experience that capitalizes on its built heritage, local agri and viticulture, local talent and entrepreneurship, local food and beverage, community facilities and events programming, all of which are necessary ingredients and demand drivers to support a viable and sustainable Downtown retail environment. Initially, retail revitalization should be focused on a central area in the heart of Downtown Yakima and perhaps around a game -changing project such as a plaza to create critical mass or 'body heat' of activity that will help attract investment and catalyze further retail growth." Yakima Central Plaza Key Elements 1) Flexible plaza space - As designed, the Yakima Central Plaza will be an "outdoor convention center", flexible enough to host a wide variety of events ranging from concerts to markets to ice skating. A great deal of time has been invested by GGN and Graham Baba to ensure adequate infrastructure will be available to host events that take place in Downtown Yakima today as well as new events. 2) Performance Stage - A permanent stage will be part of the Yakima Central Plaza and will be available for concerts, speeches, fundraising events and more. All the necessary power sources will available to host activities as large as the Yakima Symphony or as small as a one-person band. 3) Fountains - 15,000 square feet of fountains will be a main feature of the Yakima Central Plaza. The fountains are designed for children and families to cool off, relax and simply have fun. When a large event is held, the fountains can be turned off to add significantly to the available event floor space. 4) Market Hall - The Market Hall will be a shaded, open-air venue designed to host the Yakima Farmers Market and other outdoor markets throughout the year. Market Hall will contain full power options for vendors and men's and women's restroom facilities. 5) Parking - When not in use for events, the Market Hall will accommodate 54 parking spaces. Reconfiguring a portion of South 2nd Street will also provide 12 new angled parking spaces. 6) Other details - Alley access as it exists today will remain unchanged and provide for deliveries and other business services. A trash service area for nearby businesses and the plaza itself is also designed into the project. Where We Are Today As of January 12, 2016, 75% of the engineering work for the Yakima Central Plaza had been completed. Engineering work is expected to be completed in early spring. Construction costs for the entire project are estimated at $11,500,000, which includes a $735,000 contingency fee. The construction cost estimate does not include soft costs or construction supervision services. Public Private Partnership This Yakima Central Plaza is conceived as a public-private partnership under which the investment of public funds will be matched equally by private sector donations. As of January 4th, 2016, private sector pledges from a total of 21 local Yakima families and businesses to the Yakima Central Plaza totaled $3,938,000. Additional private sector pledges will be announced soon. Next Steps In mid-March, the Yakima Central Plaza project engineering work will reach its 90% completion milestone. At that point, it is suggested that bringing Kathryn Gustafson from GGN to make public presentations to the Yakima City Council and the community to discuss the full details of the design and its estimated costs would be appropriate. Distributed at the.t• Meeting- () January 19, 2016 Comments regarding the plaza (typed as submitted and in order received) Thursday, January 14 Patrick Smith, Patrick smith@loftusranches.com Dear Council, I am Patrick Smith, Vice President at B T Loftus Ranches In addition to our hop farm here east of the City, my family owns and operates Bale Breaker Brewing Co in Moxee and is involved in the ownership groups of many other companies in and around the Yakima area, such as Olympic Fruit Co , Sage Fruit, and Yakima Chief Hopunion ("YCH") which is headquartered at 203 Division St in Yakima, located in Council District 4 Our family, through B T Loftus Ranches, has pledged $250,000 in support of the Gustafson -designed plaza and I expect YCH to make a significant contribution at its next board meeting I wanted to introduce myself to you, and also voice my clear support for this plaza at this time I have been working with members of the plaza committee to raise funds from other leading businesses in the Yakima area, including YCH and John I Haas, and hope to build on the tremendous success we have had in private fundraising in recent weeks I was inspired to contribute to this project not only financially, but with my personal time and energy, for many reasons First and foremost, it's about quality of life I grew up here, but left after high school to pursue a degree at the University of Washington and lived in Seattle for nine years In 2009, I made the decision to move back home to Yakima, rejoin my family's businesses, and start my own family here Like many families in this valley, we have deep roots here My family has been farming this same land just east of the City since 1920 When I decided to leave Seattle, a city I love, and move home I knew I was making the right decision but also a permanent one What I see in Yakima is what many others see, a land of tremendous gifts and opportunities But also a place that has let many opportunities slip by Yakima has been left behind economically at various times through the years and consequently our downtown core has suffered I believe, as many others do, that we are currently in the early stages of a wonderful transformation here in our valley Small towns all over this country are finding out the same things we are, that the quality of life in our small and mid-sized cities often exceeds that found in places like Seattle and Portland The transformation of small and mid-sized cities takes a lot of work and often that change is led by private industry partnering with forward -thinking political leaders In this plaza project, we have an amazing opportunity There is nothing else that could galvanize such a large group of Yakima business leaders in such a short period of time In barely one month, we have raised over $2 5 million, in addition to the original $2 million donation from -the Plath family, and we expect many more contributions in the coming weeks We are far from done Here, we have the present and future leaders of our community coming together and pledging millions of dollars for what will be an amazing, City -owned, public space to benefit all of the citizens of our City for generations to come The future economic impact of this project is incredible, as this is but the first big step in the transformation of our City's heart. It's incredible, really, that we have seen such support in such a short period of time As mentioned previously, I'm assisting the plaza committee with the fundraising effort and the success of that effort has exceeded even my most optimistic projections This is hard proof that the city's -private business leaders strongly back this plan and I have little doubt that the remainder of the $7 million in private funding will be pledged in the coming weeks Whatever stance you campaigned on with respect to the plaza project, you have to admit that the fundraising effort has been impressive During the election, no one could have foreseen a show of support like this from the business community Let's build on that. As politicians and business leaders, we all maintain the right to change our minds as we are presented with new information, new facts In my business, I do it all the time While politics is not business, we all learn as we go and the opinions we hold and decisions we make evolve over time If you watched both the President's State of the Union address and the Republican response earlier this week, you may have picked up on some themes that are applicable to this project and our collective efforts to improve the quality of life here in Yakima First, the President spent a significant part of his address talking about cooperation If we want to accomplish the goals we commonly share we will need to work together The Council and private industry no doubt share the common goal of wanting more for Yakima To accomplish this we will have to work together Private industry has voted on this project with their dollars and the results are overwhelmingly in favor We need your cooperation to make it happen In Gov Haley's response to the President's speech, she stated that in times of change, "it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices We must resist that temptation " Certainly there have been a number of loud, angry voices opposing this plaza from day one While these members of the community are entitled to their opinions, so far they have contributed little in the way of solutions or alternatives that have even a fraction of the promise that the current plan has Meanwhile, a broad consortium of Yakima's leading businesses and citizens have quietly and respectfully voted in favor of this plaza by contributing over $4 million in private funding It's one thing to say that you are in favor or oppose something, and maybe taking 10 minutes to write a letterto the newspaper, but there is no vote as meaningful as putting one's money where their mouth is And Yakima's business leaders are putting their money behind this project. No one, even the biggest supporters of this plaza such as myself, believes that the plaza is a panacea for Yakima's current (and temporary) shortcomings We have a lot of work to do in other areas and fortunately the City is very strong financially Project such as parks especially in East Yakima, public safety, and road and infrastructure improvements are areas of interest to us all But none of these projects are mutually exclusive and accomplishing all of the City's goals is going to take the cooperation of private industry This is the largest single financial contribution my family has ever made to any cause The same can be said for a number of other supporters of this project. My fear is that if the City tells many of its leading businesses that their money is unwanted, the collaborative relationship required between the City and its industry leaders may be set back for some time, making it harder for all of us to accomplish the things we want to accomplish for the City we share and call home All of us have a common goal and share a love and optimism for our City Let's work together to take this project over the finish line while looking for other places we can work together and build a City we can all be proud of for decades to come Thank you for your time I look forward to working with you on this project and others to come in our future Dan Plath and Leslie Johnson, leslieplath[@gmail.com Dear City Council, I am Leslie Johnson, and my brother, Dan Plath, and I have pledged $80,000 to the Gustafson -designed plaza The money we are hoping to donate will come from a fund at the Yakima Valley Community Foundation The fund, the Lynn Hanses Katz Fund, was established after our mom passed away a few years ago We are proud of the other contributions we have made through my mom's fund to local organizations such as the YWCA, Carroll Children's Center, the Yakima Valley Hearing and Speech Center, and the Yakima Union Gospel Mission to name a few Donations have always been focused on local organizations with the hope of primarily benefitting women and children in the community We were inspired to donate to the plaza for many reasons Dan and I feel the plaza would be a family friendly catalyst for growth and economic development downtown, providing affordable and accessible entertainment and recreation for all community members It would draw people in for events, promote Yakima as a regional travel location, and encourage businesses to open to serve the increased population downtown My mom was lively and social She brought people together and made everything she touched brighter and happier We feel the plaza will be a great representation of who she was and an asset for all of our community We look forward to following this project towards completion Saturday, January 16 Mike Poppoff and Gay Dorsey, gaydooRyahoo.com To the members of the City Council We are Mike Poppoff and Gay Dorsey, owners of Poppoff, Inc Concrete Contracting in Moxee We have pledged $100,000 from our business as well as $50,000 personally to advance the plaza project in Yakima Why do we support the plaza? We've been lucky enough to travel a lot in the past 10 years, both internationally and here in the U S Everywhere we've gone, the most memorable, beautiful cities and towns are the ones with vital', well- planned gathering spaces squares in the center of the city that are filled with flowers, with trees, with restaurants and bars, with fountains, and most importantly with people A plaza in the center of Yakima would be a meaningful, beautiful, action -packed gathering place that would elevate our city into a place where people who live here want to gather, and where people who visit here would want to live We love Yakima, and we want to see it become a hub for entertainment, sun, wine -tasting, and fun The plaza can help us achieve these goals, and entice more and more people to move here, work here, and raise their families here Please carefully consider this project and all the positive things it can bring to our community! Dave Edler, 1504 S 34th Avenue, pastordave@yakimafoursquare.org Dear Yakima City Council Members, As a former City Council member and former Mayor I want to thank you for your service to our community first. Second I want to get right to the point and encourage you to continue to support and pursue to reality the Downtown Plaza Your position today as council members is similar to the position I was in as entered the council in that the Downtown Streetscape project was not completely funded but moving towards that place At that time the Front Street Merchants were also pursuing the project that transformed that Historic District. What was not on the table was the continuing of the street enhancements on the west side of Yakima Avenue As representative to the West Side Merchants at an early meeting I asked them why they were not asking to be included? That began a process that led to the expansion of the downtown improvements through the west side of Yakima Avenue I'm reminded of two things that drove my thinking as I served as a council member The firm helping us rethink what we wanted out community to look like and experience telling us that the "downtown" is the living room of any community and needs represent what you want people to know about you and your community And, that the cities investment of public dollars will be followed by multiple times more private dollars As a former council member I take great pride in driving into downtown Yakima ma and especially the west side or Yakima Avenue There are many businesses there today that were not there before these street projects were completed And if I remember the math correctly there was close to five times the private investment in the downtown as compared to the public dollars invested I'll close with this I represented the 3rd District. None of these projects were in my district. But there were people who owned those businesses, worked in those businesses, and others who just enjoyed those new businesses and the other amenities that lived in my district. Please continue to support the Downtown Plaza Sunday, January 17 Richard DeZarn, 3701 Gun Club Road, YAKIZARN(c�yahoo.com Holly,Dulce, and Avina, Hold the line against the current plaza plan We attended the wonderful "Million Quartet" at the Capitol Theatre last Tuesday evening (Jan 12) We arrived an hour and fifteen minutes early Still we had to walk more than two blocks in snow & rain Not good for the elderly and or handicapped Imagine that parking area removed Not a pleasant thought. If a plaza is actually desired by the paying customers of central Washington area, approve the alternate plan (with parking) Richard & Judy DeZarn and Friends P S The show was delayed as folks struggled in from distant parking in bad weather Join SPUR today! SPUR is a member -supported nonprofit organization. We rely on your support to promote good planning and good government through research, education and advocacy. Find out more at spur.org/join. OSPUR 654 Mission Street San Francisco CA 94105-4015 (415) 781-8726 spur org Time -dated material Ideas + action for a better city 76 South First Street San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 638-0083 1544 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 250-8210 SK30 * * * * SCH 5 -DIGIT 94703 RYAN CALL 2040 ADDISON ST BERKELEY CA 94704-1104 �I! Nonprofit Org US Postage PAID Permit # 4118 San Francisco CA Distributed at the 40, Meeting I-}( ;SII !Hill!!! 11 111 1 1 0 O z 0 r Z o 171 ove ■ ur� Join SPUR. -fr SPUR SEPTEMBER 2015 News at SPUR Muni Forward Keeps Moving Forward As of September 26, Muni has deployed new buses, more service and new connections in San Francisco This latest set of improvements is part of the Muni Forward program, a series of capital projects and service changes — including new coaches, increased frequency on ten lines, extended hours of express service on two lines and faster travel times SPUR Studying the Future of 101 and Caltratn Highway 101 and Caltrain are essential arteries for every sort of trip through the Peninsula's three counties yet both have become completely congested. What actions can we take to move more people to their jobs, homes, schools and other important destinations? Together with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), Stanford University and the San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA), SPUR has initiated a major convening and policy research project to build consensus about the next steps for Caltrain and the corridor it serves. Our Peninsula/Caltrain Corridor Vision Plan will determine what the next generation of rail investments and highway policies could be and how we might pay for them Focusing on Downtown Oakland In September SPUR released its first major policy report in Oakland "A Downtown for Everyone," which is excerpted here. We believe downtown Oakland is poised to take on an 2 OCTOBER 2015 even more important role in the region and propose five big ideas for how to grow a downtown that reflects Oakland's character and provides benefits to all of the city's residents. SPUR s report frames key policy issues for the City of Oakland s newly launched Plan Downtown Oakland process which will provide guidance on downtown s future, linking land use, transportation, economic development, public spaces, cultural arts and social equity In October, SPUR will host nine days of public charrettes where the public will have an opportunity to weigh on downtown s future Held at our new Oakland office at 1544 Broadway, these charrettes run October 20 through 27 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m All are invited to attend. SPUR Kicks Off New Housing Initiative in San Jose The City of San Jose is located in one of the most unaffordable regions in the entire country As more new jobs are created in Silicon Valley and regional housing production fails to keep pace, housing prices will continue to rise And after the elimination of state redevelopment funding affordable across the city transit network — all geared toward making Muni service more useful The Muni Forward projects were developed through the Transit Effectiveness Project, inspired by SPUR's 2005 report "Reversing Muni's Downward Spiral " We are pleased to see Muni taking these major steps toward providing San Franciscans with a safer, more reliable and more efficient way to get around housing resources have become scarcer than ever Despite this, San Jose is projected to add more housing units than any other city in the region over the coming decades. What is San Jose s role in addressing the Bay Area's housing crisis? And what steps need to be taken to achieve the San Jose's housing goals? SPUR's newly launched housing strategy initiative will address these important questions as they relate to the region's largest city Please check spurorg for project updates. The Urbanist is edited by Allison Arieff and designed by Shawn Hazen hazencreative.com T Vote Yes on Prop A Prop A will provide $310 million in bonds for the construction of new projects like this one (Mercy Housing on 4th Street designed by Mithun - Solomon and Kennerly Architecture) as well as the rehabilitation of low -and moderate -income housing; the repair and reconstruction of public housing and the creation of middle-income rental and home ownership opportunities for the city of San Francisco • THE URBANIST Photo by Bruce Damonte After years of struggling to ,,.ti• attract in downtown T{X;k and s �► is en- ying rens a _ OAKLAND A Downtown for Everyone Downtown Oakland is an opportunity to demonstrate that equity and economic growth can go hand in hand After years of struggling to attract investment, downtown Oakland is enjoying a renaissance Organic bottom-up growth and targeted public investment are resulting in new cultural events, art galleries, restaurants, bars and retail stores. The population and job base are growing companies are relocating or expanding downtown (including Uber which in September announced its purchase of the former Sear's building) and commercial vacancies are declining Oakland's urban center is poised to take on a more important role in the region. We believe that the best path forward is to plan for growth — and to shape that growth to make downtown Oakland a great place that provides benefits to all Downtown Oakland is an opportunity to demonstrate that equity and economic growth can go hand in hand Downtown faces key challenges today While the number of lobs is growing the economy remains fragile. Institutional lenders have been hesitant to invest in downtown projects, large anchor tenants are scarce and commercial rents are rarely high enough to cover the cost of new office construction Many in downtown, and Oakland generally, struggle to secure affordable housing and high quality employment Downtown s parks, plazas and streets need upgrading and maintenance Its centers of activity — such as City Center and Jack London — are spread out and density is uneven, contributing to a final challenge Public 4 OCTOBER 2015 safety concerns deter some from spending time and investing in downtown. SPUR's new report "A Downtown for Everyone Shaping the Future of Downtown Oakland " from which this article is excerpted looks at solutions to these challenges, as well as ways to take advantage of unique opportunities Unlike many urban centers, downtown Oakland has the infrastructure in place to support growth It is at the center of the Northern California rail network and has more BART trains pass- ing through it than any city in the region. Downtown's streets are largely without congestion and could be reimagined to provide more space for buses, bicycles and pedestrians There are also many acres of vacant land and surface parking lots right in the middle of downtown This means downtown could add thou- sands of new jobs and residents without displacing any current homes or businesses. Add to these oppor- tunities the creativity and energy of Oakland s resi- dents, and there is an opening for downtown Oakland to demonstrate a new path forward for cities. Our Vision. A Downtown for Everyone Oakland s downtown should reflect what is great about the city We believe it should be an economic engine that serves all of Oakland It should be a place where people from all over the city — and all over the Bay Area — come to spend time It should be a center for many of the city's jobs, institutions, governmental Summary: Downtown Oakland is poised to take on a more important role in the region But the future is not guaranteed SPUR proposes five big ideas for how downtown Oakland can grow while providing benefits to all By Egon Terplan FIGURE 1 The Geography of Downtown Oakland SPUR defines downtown as the area that stretches north from the Oakland Estuary to 27th Street and west from Lake Merritt to Interstate 980 Within this geography are numerous distinct neighborhoods, such as Jack London, Chinatown, Old Oakland, City Center, Uptown, Koreatown/Northgate (KONO), the Lakeside or Gold Coast and the Lake 880 Merritt Office District SPUR's boundaries for downtown overlap with three of the city's specific plan areas, all of the Downtown Specific Plan, the Valdez Triangle portion of the Broadway/Valdez Specific Plan and the western portion of the Lake Merritt Station Area Plan Egon Terplan is SPUR's Regional Planning Director THE URBANIST Source: Perkins 8 Will. DOWNTOWN OAKLAND 35 000 30 000 25 000 20 000 15 000 10 000 5 000 0 i Id! tIIi. ��. �a�\5 oca`S epi apaS apd� `ate oes apae aae arae `tion Q a ocs eS)6'1 e t,\oe a� a�\�Q,\oe a�\ooJso a��r Se tia�5esa� aceJsac s�t� Pa`c\c s rco`a5e � Se bac acOc Qo`� acpa`er �e Orec �() c)c) r\eS F`c\s, c deo P ° �t agencies and cultural resources To achieve this vision of a downtown for everyone, we have articulated a set of principles to guide new growth and change as they come to downtown over time • Downtown should welcome everyone. • Downtown should encourage a wide mix of jobs, residents nightlife and cultural activities • Downtown should strengthen its history culture and character as it grows. • Downtown should generate taxes and investment that allow everyone to benefit from economic growth downtown • Downtown should prioritize getting around by walking, biking or taking transit for everyone regardless of income • Downtown should embrace its role as an increasingly important regional center With these principles in mind, we propose five big ideas for how downtown can grow to better serve Oakland and its residents Big Idea 1• Grow 50,000 more jobs in downtown and create pathways to get people into them There are many ways Oakland can make its downtown a better place to form and grow businesses, including providing support to start-ups, establishing a "jobs squad" to help with hiring and bringing on a chief economist to analyze the economic impact of new legislation One important opportunity is the large amount of publicly owned property downtown The city and other public sector landowners should 6 OCTOBER 2015 All of Oakland Downtown I 1 J�\\`\es `oc ae Ps�ce �ac�JtcA a\�S�atie \co „,.<z>` tie �a �c develop a strategic vision for how to best use public land to meet goals like creating new jobs and raising revenue for city services Of equal importance to lob growth is job access and making sure new jobs are broadly available As companies and jobs grow, we recommend that the city and its partners work to create strong alignment between the education and workforce systems so that students and workers can get on pathways to these opportunities Big Idea 2 Bring 25,000 more residents to downtown at a range of incomes, and enable existing residents to remain Adding more housing and more residents downtown will make it more active particularly during evenings and on weekends. This will increase local amenities and public safety Over time it will also help lead to the growth of retail a critical gap To meet the goal of 25,000 new residents the city should update its zoning to allow more housing and improve amenities to attract new residents To make sure that downtown remains accessible the city should experiment with new housing models and secure more funding from a wide variety of sources to preserve and expand affordable housing downtown. The city must also do a better job enforcing current rent protections so that existing residents can stay in downtown as it evolves Big Idea 3: Set clear and consistent rules for growth to make downtown a better place for everyone. To add new residents and jobs, downtown Oakland will need a lot of new development The FIGURE 2 What Jobs Are in Downtown Oakland? Downtown's 84,000 jobs make up about 38 percent of Oakland's nearly 220,000 jobs (For the purposes of the SPUR report, the Kaiser Permanente medical complex located around Broadway and MacArthur Boulevard is not considered part of downtown Oakland.) Ninety-three percent of the city's jobs in public administration are located in downtown Major public sector tenants include the City of Oakland, the State of California, the federal government, BART, the University of California Office of the President, Alameda County, AC Transit and the East Bay Municipal Utility District, among others Additionally, 86 percent of the city's total jobs in management of companies, 69 percent of jobs in informa- tion and 65 percent of jobs in professional services are located downtown THE URBANIST Source SPUR analysis of 2014 data from Hausrath Economics Group and City of Oakland Soul Festival Off the Grid food truck pod, Uptown What Are Downtowns For? In previous SPUR publications we've made the case that downtowns are one of the greatest achievements of American urbanism' No other society has concentrated so much of a city's commercial activity — both business and retail — in a tight urban core Downtowns provide important benefits for both the surrounding city and the broader region They serve three key functions cultural and civic economic, and physical and spatial The Cultural and Civic Function Downtowns are a meeting ground, a stage Downtowns are a place to welcome everyone, a place to celebrate city life. They're where we gather to seek solace in times of crisis and where we come to speak our political opinions They re where people of different economic racial and cultural backgrounds spend time and share together In a downtown, there is no single civic voice it's a place where all voices representing the city's diverse communities have room to express their opinions The Economic Function Downtowns are an economic driver, revenue -generator and place of opportunity Downtowns are where many businesses locate, particularly those that value face-to-face interaction The density in downtowns supports the clustering of industries, putting companies in close proximity to many of their customers, clients, competitors, partners and suppliers This economic activity also provides revenue to support city services. And because downtowns attract a variety of industries, they provide a wide range of lobs and opportunities to a city's — and region's — residents The Physical and Spatial Function Downtowns are a place to concentrate higher densities around transit. Downtowns are places that support density and growth with the potential for lots of jobs and lots of housing Downtowns are where we usually focus our transit and encourage most people to arrive and move around without a car Growth in downtowns has a smaller environmental impact than growth in lower -density areas Downtowns are also where citizens and civic leaders accept and expect more experimentation and a greater mixture of uses. Other neighborhoods even dense urban ones would not permit a high-rise next to a one story historic building, a nightclub next to an apartment complex or a high school on top of a music venue Downtowns are fundamentally different from traditional neighborhoods and should be treated as such DOWNTOWN OAKLAND Downtown San Francisco Downtown Oakland Downtown San Jose 20% 30% rules governing new construction must take into consideration the needs of the community as well as the financial realities of development We recommend that the city set financially feasible impact fees in order to maximize revenue while enabling new investment to take place We think the city should take a market-oriented approach toward land use decisions in most of downtown but hold out for office uses near BART and maintain industrial uses in Jack London We also recommend that the city set performance targets and standards for downtown and adjust policies to keep Oakland on track to meet them over time Big Idea 4: Create inviting public spaces and streets as part of an active public realm Great downtowns are comfortable, clean and safe The ground floors of buildings are inviting the parks and public spaces are beautiful and visitors can easily understand how to get around To achieve great downtown status on these measures, we recommend that the city strengthen its urban design guidelines for buildings especially ground floors, and redesign its streets to be more functional and welcoming for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders. The city should invest in new and existing public spaces, improve wayfinding, and adopt Vision Zero policies to reduce traffic -related deaths and injuries Big Idea 5 Make it easy to get to and around downtown through an expanded transportation network Downtown Oakland is one of the most transit - accessible places in the region Yet only 24 percent of downtown employees take transit to and from work. Over time, downtown should strive to increase the share of commuters who take transit, walk or bike to more than 50 percent To achieve this we recommend the city and transit operators redesign the local bus system, build out the East Bay bus and bus rapid transit network, create a world-class biking network, and close or remove some freeway off -ramps to regain land in downtown It will also be crucial for the city's new Department of Transportation to create a capital plan to prioritize and identify funding for the many 8 OCTOBER 2015 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Infrastructure projects currently under consideration downtown Big Ideas for the Future While Oakland and downtown have many immediate concerns that should be addressed right away, we think there are four game -changing long-range ideas that are worth beginning to plan for now These are the design and routing of a second Transbay rail tube, the redesign and reuse of interstate I-980 the undergrounding of freight and passenger rail in Jack London and the undergrounding of Interstate I-880. The freeways and associated auto -oriented planning of the postwar decades did significant damage to downtown Oakland and its surrounding areas. Turning those physical and psychological barriers into something positive will go a long way toward reconnecting downtown with West Oakland and the waterfront In the case of 1-980 the freeway right-of-way itself can be used to help bring vitality to areas west of downtown We encourage Oakland to think long term about the positive opportunity to remake its infrastructure These four big ideas for the future are not the only potential major investments or changes for Oakland but they would open up new possibilities for a city that bore the negative Impacts of freeway building urban renewal and other planning policies in the 20th century We put them forward to start the conversation about what is possible for Oakland and its downtown Citymaking is difficult It takes a long time It requires many different actors. And there is no silver bullet. Viewed against our current culture s celebration of disruption, downtown planning and revitalization can feel like an anachronism. But patience and long- term thinking are the key to creating and maintaining great cities. Downtown Oakland is already a great place within a great city But we believe it can be much better providing greater benefits to the residents of downtown the city and the region * To read all 30 of the report's recommendations, please visit spur org/downtownoakland FIGURE 3 How People Get to Work in Downtown Oakland Despite the confluence of transit in downtown Oakland, nearly 60 percent of workers drive alone to their jobs in downtown Oakland, with less than one- quarter of workers commuting on transit In comparison over half of commuters to downtown San Francisco take transit to work and only 8 percent take transit to their jobs in downtown San Jose = Drive Alone = Carpool = Bus •� = Rail / Streetcar / Ferry = Bicycle — = Walk = Other THE URBANIST an Community Survey 2006-2010, Five Year Estimates Special Tabulation Census Transportation Planning Source U S Census Bureau, Ame Source Colliers International FIGURE 4 Office Rents in Downtown Oakland and San Francisco Since 1993, rents in downtown Oakland have ranged from 8.4 percent to 77 percent below rents in downtown San Francisco They are also typically below what is needed to justify new Class A high-rise construction (which in 2015 is $5 per square foot per month) Downtown San Francisco MN Downtown Oakland $1 0 - Smallest Spread 8% Largest Spread 77% ($2 71 vs $2.50 per square foot) ($5 75 vs $3 25 per square foot) 44) ,�c,b ,9�5 ,946 �0j ��40 fop ,1‘0 9,0 �Oo� 1,0 1,0 �p043 1,0 1,0 �0�5 1,0 ,),0 �o�� LOCO �oDA �C�o I,��"� 1,��'L 9,��'S Why It's Hard to Develop Office Buildings in Oakland Downtown Oakland faces challenges in getting new office development, even during booms. Between 2000 and 2015 only one Class A53 speculative office building was built. 55512th Street, a 485,000 -square -foot 21 -story tower completed in 2002 Its original anchor tenant was Ask.com A smaller commercial development the 217,000 -square -foot addition to 2100 Franklin Street, was built in 2008.54 This means that over a 15 -year period, downtown saw an increase of only 700,000 square feet of new commercial office space. Getting major new office development requires three things of a market: a strong tenant base with growing firms, rents that are higher than construction costs, and investors who are willing to lend capital to finance new construction Each of these is a challenge for downtown Oakland. Here's why 1. There are too few potential anchor ten- ants to reliably fill new buildings. Downtown Oakland has only a few large firms, such as Kaiser Clorox and Pandora. Most tenants are typically not large enough, nor are they grow- ing fast enough, to be an anchor tenant for a new office building. This makes it harder to justify building a new speculative building, because it's not clear who will fill the space and how long it will take to secure a tenant. The result is a Catch-22: The small size of the office market makes down- town less desirable for potentially fast-growing firms, but the lack of growing tenants makes it harder to add new space 2. Market rents are lower than construction costs. Construction costs for new Class A space are approximately $550 per square foot (as of THE URBANIST 2015) which requires rents of $60 per square foot to be profitable to build In the middle of 2015, downtown Oakland rents remained below $45 per square foot.55 Construction costs reflect the combined costs of land, labor and materials. While land in Oakland is slightly cheaper than in other parts of the region, prices for labor and materials are comparable. There- fore, high-rise office construction in Oakland costs almost the same as in San Francisco, even though rents are as much as 77 percent less in Oakland Adding to the challenge strong demand in downtown San Francisco drives up labor costs across the Bay Area, thereby rais ing the minimum rent bar even higher for new construction in Oakland. 3 Institutional investors have been wary to lend in downtown Oakland. Developers can't build without financing. Institutional investors (such as pension funds or major banks) are typically the ones providing capital for major office developments. Many such investors are risk -averse and only want to lend where there is a strong past history of success. Oakland has had few commercial developments, and the last two (in 2002 and 2008) opened to markets where rents were dropping. This makes po- tential investors view downtown Oakland as a riskier investment that requires an even higher rate of return than more proven markets like downtown San Francisco or the South Bay. Perceptions about public safety and political leadership have impacted investment The good news is these historic challenges are changing. If several high-profile tenants sign leases at a competitive rate, market dy- namics can shift, increasing confidence among lenders and developers -4 r. �i toot, ■ip a r ,. ple + r it s • ,�ptTiaStreet a ti . 11`.4th Street J Oigth rest l►a 0O r R O 12th Sap treet Ef112th, S91 treet BARTa. r3 r 4 y OLdke Merritt BART - MIN ternatior • u ' ,- (— )Jack London are Embarcadero West Amtrak Station 0 1/4 1/2 Ferry Terminal N Miles FIGURE 5 Surface Parking Lots and Vacant Lots in Downtown Oakland SPUR has identified 40 acres of surface parking lots and vacant parcels in downtown that, under current zoning rules could accommodate up to 36,000 additional office jobs and 'Terplan Egon "Shaping Downtown An emphasis on placemaking and focused growth," The Urban- ist, February 1 2010 Available at: http://www spur (Ng/publications/article/2010-02 01/shaping downtown 19,000 new residents without displacing existing development! Allowing taller buildings could increase the total potential number of jobs and/or residents in downtown To identify possible sites for development, we analyzed satellite images accessed using Google Earth (on June 6, 2015) and identified parcels that were either vacant or surface parking lots. OCTOBER 2015 9 GOVERNANCE It's Official: SPUR is a Regional Organization! By Gabriel Metcalf This month marks a significant milestone in the transformation of SPUR Effective October 1 SPUR is operating under new bylaws that legally incorporate our San Jose and Oakland offices together with San Francisco Into our organizational governance structure This is the biggest change in SPUR's 105 -year history and a major step forward in the vision of SPUR as a regional organization that does deep work in the three major cities of the Bay Area. What started as an idea is now reality We see this evolution as a scaling -up of our work en- abling us to have a bigger impact on the things we care about This kind of change brings many challenges, of course but we believe that SPUR is now positioned to be even more effective as an organization over the next century The Central City Strategy Ten years ago the SPUR Board of Directors made a strategic decision to expand to take our knowledge of how to make successful urban places to San Jose and Oakland and strengthen our regional work through a central - city strategy We see these three central cities as critically important places for our region to grow in a way that increases sustainability and access to opportunity In January 2012, we launched a SPUR office in San Jose as a prototype We were incubated in the offices of 1stACT and received tremen- dous support from civic leaders, elected of- ficials, foundations businesses and residents in San Jose The last three years have been a huge learning experience for SPUR, and we are proud to have been able to contribute to important efforts in San Jose We ve published several major policy reports and weighed in on dozens of policy issues ranging from mobility to urban design to San Jose s 2040 General Plan. With increasing growth in membership and major support from the Knight Foundation, we 10 OCTOBER 2015 opened a SPUR San Jose Urban Center where we have thus far convened over one hundred educational forums and numerous workshops for a growing community of urbanists in the South Bay This year we launched SPUR Oakland We have a large community of Oakland members and our forums in Oakland are selling out weeks in advance Our first report, "A Downtown For Everyone," released in September presents a comprehensive set of strategies to help guide the evolution of downtown Oakland. This fall, we are opening a groundfloor space on Broad- way which will allow us to provide many more events educational programs and gathering space for partners to come together to hold essential conversations and debates about the city's future We enter into our work in Oakland as we did in San Jose, with great humility about how much we have to learn We are doing out best to bring our own knowledge about problems and solutions from cities all over the country and all over the world to bear on the key issues we face here in the Bay Area. The new organizational model SPUR's unique Board of Directors model has al- ways been a major source of our organization's strength In addition to performing the legal functions of a board and raising the money that allows us to do our work, SPUR Board members are active contributors to the task forces that develop SPUR's policy recommendations and support our education and advocacy efforts. The SPUR Board brings together many different voices and viewpoints to hold serious civic con- versations and exercise judgment about how to solve the issues our cities face The working board model is one SPUR wants to hold on to The organizational challenge was how to scale up SPUR's board governance model to a larger geography How do we converse on our large, diverse board to make decisions across three cities, as well as ones of regional import"? How do we stay coordinated across the region while recognizing that the real action is at the local level? How do we provide r� regionally consistent vision while still empower- ing leaders in each community to work out their own solutions? The model we've arrived at strives to find this balance The SPUR Board of Directors has now been expanded to formally include three City Boards — one each for San Francisco San Jose and Oakland — overseen by one regional Executive Board Each City Board has responsibility for setting strategy for the work done in their respective city and for raising the funds to support that work. The Executive Board brings together leaders from all cities to coordinate our work across the region We believe this model can support our vision to do deep work in the three central cities of the Bay Area while simultaneously working towards a coherent regional vision We will continue to fine-tune it as we grow and learn SPUR remains one organization, with one staff one board and one mission to promote good planning and good government. We are so grateful to our members for supporting this regional expansion, and it's because of the generosity of thousands of SPUR members and donors who have understood the potential of this vision This is only the beginning We've built an organization that will be able to have an enormous impact on the city and regional scale to promote a livable sustainable, prosperous urban Bay Area Thank you Gabriel Metcalf is President and CEO of SPUR THE URBANIST r- 2015 Sponsors: geti Jeffrey M. Johnson Publisher San Francis Event Chair %AUTODESK. FORESTCITY MWH 0 WEBCOR CONSTRUCTORS BUILDERS a constructionjo:nt venture ane3francisco Cbronide BANKT°iEWEST . c ' Dignity Health. BNP PARIBAS GROUP John Goldman WELLS FARGO SHOR E S TEIN Airbnb / Arup / Coalition for Better Housing / Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management / Emerald Fund, Inc / Facebook / David A Friedman & Paulette J Meyer / Genentech / Gensler / Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP / Google / David & Jane Hartley / Hathaway Dinwiddie Constructio Co / Hines / HOK / Kilroy Realty Corporation / Lennar Urban / Levi Strauss & Co / Lyft / Microsoft / Nibbi Brothers General Contractors / Perkins + Will / Port of San Francisco / Prado Group / Presidio Bank / Recology / Related California / Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP / Riverbed Technology, Inc / San Francisco Giants / San Francisco International Airport / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP / Solomon Cordwell Buenz / Tishman Speyer / Union Bank / Diane Wilsey AGI Avant Inc / Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc / Andy & Sara Barnes / Arent Fox / Bentall Kennedy / Boston Properties / BRIDGE Housing Corporation / Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP / Cahill Contractors Inc / Cannon Constructors North Inc. / Carollo Engineers / Cathedral Hill Plaza, an ADCO Company / Charles Salter Associates / CMG Landscape Architecture / Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP / Comcast / Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP / David Baker Architects / EHDD / Rob Evans & Terry Micheau / Farella Braun + Martel LLP / Gerson Bakar & Associates / Heller Manus Architects / Diane Fllippi & Ephraim Hirsch / Linda Jo Fitz / Anne Halsted & Wells Whitney / Hanson Bridgett LLP / Amanda & Vince Hoenigman / The John Stewart Company / John Kriken & Katherine Koelsch Kriken / Laborers Local 261 / Ann & Jim Lazarus / Lendlease / Richard & Marilyn Lonergan / MBH / MCK / Beverly Mills / MJM Management Group / Moscone Emblidge & Otis / Parsons Brinckerhoff / Perkins Cole LLP / Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP / ROMA Design Group / Paul Sack / San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency / San Francisco County Transportation Authority / San Francisco Parks Alliance / San Francisco Public Utilities Commission / San Francisco Travel / Lynn & Paul Sedway / SOHA/MEI Joint Venture / Steinberg / Sutter Health/CPMC / The Swig Company / TEF / TMG Partners / TRC / Turner Construction Company / Union Square Business Improvement District / Universal Paragon Corporation / WSP I Parsons Brinckerhoff A.R. Sanchez -Corea & Assoc, Inc / AECOM/Parsons / BCCI Construction Company / Black & Veatch / Brown and Caldwell / Jim Chappell / Claudine Cheng / EPC Consultants, Inc / Jean Fraser / Goodyear Peterson Hayward & Associates / Handel Architects LLP / Nina Hatvany / Stanley D Herzstein & Lynn Altshuler / Jurika Mills & Keifer Private Wealth Management / Keyser Marston Assoc, Inc. / Susan Leal & Susan Hirsch / Mercy Housing Inc / Mithun I Solomon / Jeanne Myerson / Northern California Community Loan Fund / One Vassar LLC / Pfau Long Architecture / N Teresa Rea / Red and White Fleet / Sack Properties / SF Electrical Construction Industry / Michael Teitz & Mary Comeria / Allison G Williams FAIA & Walter S. Cohen Bruce Agid / Veronica Bell / Fred W Clarke, FAIA, RIBA, JIA / Elizabeth Colton / Dr Laurie A Johnson / Toby & Jerry Levine / Tom Lockard / Marsharika Preiean Maddison / Adhi Nagra1 / Tom O'Connor / Regina Phelps / Raymond R Sullivan / Irene Lindbeck Tibbits / Will Travis / Jennifer Wolch Sponsors as of 9/25/75 Media Sponsor SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES Signage Sponsor Sponsorship Opportunities Available Ton Show your support of this year s remarkable honorees by sponsoring / `I ( Silver SPUR 20151 Pledge today at spurorg/silverspur For more `v information on sponsorship, please contact Vanessa Bilanceri at 415-644-4882 or events@spurorg 8I 1 i i b rte•- ' f if jr /� f f # ., yrt .aN-�ti` �r+l,"�rt T f fi•f-� �i�••�'s'�„Y�. i• - f ?f„--�+ J f ] • i ,� �' �'� C ` ,,i� , �.' a r -7 -417.y.._,....,% --,,--.--7;•-•',10...: C- =‘C.,:::':,•.$6::':.• :.•6t`' t 1 s ; �. q ' .ay. "..±'M.' y t -rirz- t'-tr%': v{+s. _ 2W.:,•.Ari. s�,;.. i'-141., *Ls- =L'rL'y= '; •.'�.-�'• +- - .•G -'s':.:4,...'""; .: �=%:•3!"r ;ra ',4 «�' a 14.r�.i;.'�' �..' �� ,--�' tea" _ti _ ' _ _ s. ,-,. 1. r iy 1• g t; r . 1 ' ...c \1/44.,. •� 1,,` � i 1 oGUSTiSON GUTHRIE NICHOL Graham Baba Architects Magnusson Klemencic Associates , City of Yakima, How We Got Here • Downtown Planning Process —Five public meetings —Numerous small stakeholder sessions —Examination of opportunities for downtown —Downtown Plan identified plaza as first project as part of Downtown Master Plan How We Got Here —Plaza Design • RFP process to hire Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Graham Baba Architects • Five public meetings • 1,600 participants in survey process • Council voted to include plaza in $17 million capitol improvement strategy that also included SOZO and YMCA. L L11_1 dE LIU — --0 -- - - --- ---1 ir 02 • •• ........ 2111•1•111,2•11/ • • n 1 ...—.11•• IA 14 e 13 Zont,..t? . 4 ••••• • • aa000 6110101 Arwo• J otr — KKK ir Blvd IIIL T [ II 1 1 141 ED Ertl 1 I 1 i I A The Mali In III 1 {FTI I • F -"Ii r CO Landscaped Median renter Yakima Ave Chestnut Ave Tr• uwm r Parks and Plazas Why a Plaza • Yes a gathering place but Economic ROI • Plan to induce demand for additional retail, restaurant activity • Downtown must generate "body heat" before retail and traffic will return • Product and experience are key Plazas — A Draw for People • Caras Park —Downtown Missoula, MT — Drew nearly 1,000,000 people to downtown Missoula in 2013. Event each Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all summer • Main Street Square — Rapid City, SD — Drew 700,000 visitors to Downtown Rapid City in 2013. Movies, concerts, ice skating rink are biggest draws Yakima Central Plaza Key Elements • Location • Flexible Plaza Space • Performance Stage • Fountains • Market Hall • Parking • Other details PROJECT CONTEXT The plaza site—currently a surface parking lot—is aced by some of the City s most significant historic buildings the Larson Building, Capitol Theater, and the Federal Courthouse YAKIMA CENTRAL PLAZA ridosh, . # * 4111% Pilot .• 41)4 V.� ��44:111 r ., .41.-, '' ., North 'Ridge' Lawn '- i Stage ▪ � , ri • Plaza Water Feature ./' •,' i: �:, • 411 ie .; • f #• aN 1 Market Hall 2 tk. 44 NJ 1 4b, J* * • PLAZA ELEMENTS - FLEXIBLE EVENT SPACE The team analyzed spatial programming for a variety of events. These diagrams represent Just two of the possible event scenarios that were evaluated N O NTS N Q NTS Farmers Market 100-10 x 10 Vendor spaces YAPUNA CENTRAL PLAZA I tr fl PLAZA ELEMENTS - WATER Channel Water Feature L 111111111111111111111 jlilii�( 1cl ONTS Spray Water Feature NTS Elegant and playful water features are designed with efficient recirculating systems to optimize water consumption while evoking this important element of Yakima's agricultural landscape MARKET HALL STRUCTURE The 13 00C SF Market Hall provides much needed shade and anchors the south edge of the plaza It will become home to the weekly farmers market Li at, scale 1/8" = 1 -0" 0 4 8' 16' 24 scale V = 50' Cr 0 25' 50' 100' 200' O YAKIMA CENTRAL PLAZA 9 MARKET HALL STRUCTURE The structure s form and materials take inspiration from the region s agricultural and warehouse vernacular architecture NTF. NTS YAKIMA CENTRAL PLAZA 10 Market Hall Other Details • Built to last • Men's and Women's Restrooms • No loss of alley access • Trash location for business and plaza is in design phase and will be part of the final design Where We Are Today • Design is 75% complete • Hard cost estimate of $11.5 million including $735,000 contingency Public Private Partnership • $7,000,000 to be raised from private sector • As of January 4th, $3,938,000 has been pledged with more to come Next steps • Mid March — 90% completion • Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Graham Baba Architects to host public session for community and council to see full details of design