The MLB Giants' "long-planned mixed-use development across from AT&T Park will have twice as much affordable housing and significantly shorter buildings under a revised scheme that city voters will have a chance to vote on in November," according to a front-page piece by J.K. Dineen of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The team will "submit a ballot measure to the city attorney" today for Mission Rock, "a 28-acre redevelopment that will include 1,500 units of housing, eight acres of parkland, 1.5 million square feet of commercial space and a new brewing facility for Anchor Brewing Co." City voters in '13 "soundly rejected a plan to build condominiums at 8 Washington St., a parcel across the Embarcadero from the Ferry Building." After those votes, the Giants "decided to lower heights of some of the buildings from 380 feet to 240 feet." Three of the buildings, all slender residential towers, will "hit the 240-foot mark." New buildings are proposed for "only 10 acres of the site, with heights ranging from 90 to 190 feet for office buildings and 120 to 240 for housing," and "nothing will be constructed within 100 feet of the bay." The team also "decided to increase the percentage of below-market-rate units" from 15% to 33%, which "matches Mayor Ed Lee’s affordable housing goals." The open space will include a "five-acre waterfront green space as well as a more intimate 'town square'-type park that will be ringed with residential buildings and retail." Giants President & CEO Larry Baer said that the club will "create a community benefits district to maintain the park privately." He added that the open space will be an "important part of the Giants’ fan experience, giving families a place to picnic or throw a baseball around before or after games" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/5).
