The MLB Giants' plan to build a new neighborhood across from AT&T Park "appears headed for smooth sailing at the ballot box in November, following a marathon deal-cutting session between team executives, affordable-housing advocates and the restaurant workers union," according to Matier & Ross of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Monday's closed-door meeting centered on how much of the $1.6B housing, retail and office project "should be set aside for affordable housing, and what the income ceiling should be for qualifying." Giants President & CEO Larry Baer said, “We started during batting practice for the Seattle game and ended as the seagulls were taking the last bites of whatever was left in the stands." Matier & Ross note under Proposition B, approved by city voters last year, "all waterfront projects that exceed current height limits must go on the ballot." That would "include the Giants’ plans for a pair of 24-story towers, so it’s in the team’s interest to head off any hint of opposition." The towers, with a total of 1,500 units, "will stay," but the number that would be "deemed 'affordable' was boosted to 600 from 495." The Giants also "agreed to guarantee union benefits for food service workers at the ballpark, no matter who wins the next concessionaire contract" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/17).
