News

Farella Assists Developers in Winning Balboa Reservoir Housing Project Approval

August 13, 2020 Announcement

Project to create a diverse and vibrant new San Francisco neighborhood

SAN FRANCISCO, August 13, 2020: Farella Braun + Martel represented a partnership of AvalonBay Communities and BRIDGE Housing Corporation in securing approval from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a 1,100 unit mixed-income housing development at the 17-acre Balboa Reservoir in south-central San Francisco. Project approvals included General Plan, Planning Code, and Zoning Map amendments, a Development Agreement, and the sale of the never used reservoir site from the City to the AvalonBay/BRIDGE partnership, following the rejection by the Board of Supervisors of an appeal of the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

The project will be 50-percent affordable, with 150 units of those units earmarked for City College and San Francisco Unified School District teachers and staff, and include 4 acres of open space, a community center, child-care center, new streets, sidewalks, and utilities, as well as off-site transit and transportation improvements.

“This project is a victory for San Francisco and our residents,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Led by Steven Vettel, the Farella team included CJ Higley, Brent Saldaña, Ashley Breakfield, Nicholas Moore, and Jonah Trotz.

Farella Braun + Martel is a leading Northern California law firm representing corporate and private clients in sophisticated business transactions and complex commercial, civil and criminal litigation. Clients seek our imaginative legal solutions and the dynamism and intellectual creativity of our lawyers. We are headquartered in San Francisco and maintain offices in the Napa Valley that are focused on the wine industry.

Contact:
Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
[email protected] / 415.954.4433

Firm Highlights

Publication

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Passes Housing Fee Reform Legislation

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors took the first of two votes to approve housing fee reform legislation last week. The legislation reduces by as much as a third the affordable housing fees and...

Read More
Publication

California Court Issues First Decision Addressing Builder’s Remedy; Decision on Related Lawsuit Pending

The first California court decision to issue declaratory relief to a developer under the “builder’s remedy” appears to be on the horizon. The builder’s remedy has garnered significant attention over the past two years...

Read More
News

Lawdragon Names 7 Farella Lawyers Among “Leaders in Environmental Law”

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that seven lawyers were selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law . Farella lawyers selected for inclusion: Sarah...

Read More
Publication

AB 1633: The Housing Accountability Act

The Housing Accountability Act (HAA) requires local agencies to approve housing projects that meet objective zoning, general plan, subdivision, and design standards unless there is a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety...

Read More
News

Ashley Breakfield Elected 2024 President of CREW SF

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that real estate and land use partner Ashley E. Breakfield has been elected president of the Commercial Real Estate Women of San Francisco (CREW SF) Board...

Read More
News

Affordable Housing Outlook: What Challenges Will 2024 Pose?

Real estate partner CJ Higley provided expert commentary in the Multi-Housing News article "Affordable Housing Outlook: What Challenges Will 2024 Pose?" The article is available here .

Read More
News

Farella Braun + Martel Earns 2024 Best Law Firms® Rankings

Read More
Publication

Add Value to Your Winery by Monetizing Land Use Entitlements

With today’s emphasis on increasing the bottom line of winery businesses, winery owners often overlook a simple strategy for increasing their revenue and the value of their investment: the land use entitlements process. Wineries...

Read More
Publication

Downtown San Francisco Adaptive Reuse Legislation Slated To Go Into Effect

As we alerted you on May 9 , legislation to incentivize office and commercial building conversions to housing had begun working its way through the Board of Supervisors after approval by the San Francisco...

Read More
Publication

Achieving Compatibility Between Solar Project Developers and Mineral Estate Holders

By Dirk R. Mueller , Alyssa Netto , and Will Russ Texas and California lead the country in terms of solar energy generating capacity while also maintaining major oil and gas production operations, which...

Read More