The 1,100-unit Balboa Reservoir housing development is all but under construction.
As work crews deliver materials to the site in preparation for the groundbreaking in a few weeks, representatives from the development team’s design, architecture and general contracting firms held a public meeting to answer questions and share information.
About 50 community members stopped by Unity Plaza on Saturday, Aug. 30, to view the project’s latest drawings and voice concerns. Among them was Excelsior resident Theo Randolph, 41, who said he wanted assurance that construction would begin as planned rather than face more delays.
“We need a lot more affordable housing,” Randolph said. “My concern is if construction efficiency goes down, the cost per housing unit escalates higher and higher.”
The plan for the reservoir is broken up into three phases. Phase one includes buildings E, A, and all necessary roads and infrastructure for the project.
“It begins with taking down the berm and building the hills that E will sit on, as well as creating the connection between Lee and Ocean Avenue,” BRIDGE Housing’s Ernie Theurer said.
Lee Avenue will be extended past the east side of Whole Foods Market to connect to the adjacent reservoir and will serve as the project’s main trucking entrance.
BRIDGE Housing's Ernie Theurer. | Ingleside Light
The development team meets with City College of San Francisco on a weekly basis to coordinate its construction with the upcoming Diego Rivera Theatre and the proposed parking facility.
The close proximity between the college and the reservoir on Lee Avenue necessitates an ongoing collaboration between the two parties, including the installation of all new utility infrastructure for the college along the shared street. New bike lanes are also being established as a part of the development.
The second phase of construction will include the reservoir’s two-acre, central Reservoir Park, as well as two lower buildings, C and D. Phase three will complete the development with G, F, B and around 100 townhomes.
Residents concerned with pollution can rest assured that the dust and noise mitigation plans are already in place, as dictated by the city.
“In general, the winds travel from the ocean to the bay, so we've set up our dust monitor to capture both dust entering and exiting the site,” Theurer explained.
Watering will take place during the movement of materials to minimize any visible dust. If noise and dust monitors detect any unwanted disturbance, then the data can be coordinated with contractors to adjust their work as needed.
Also, the team is coordinating the shipment of materials in and out of the street that runs alongside Archbishop Riordan High School, soon to be called Diego Lane, to avoid conflict with the pickup and drop-off times.
The team believes that revenue from buildings E and A, once completed, will jump-start the development of the subsequent for-profit buildings to be led by AvalonBay Communities.
John R. Adkins is a San Francisco-based journalist and storyteller living in Ingleside. He is editor-in-chief of City College's student-run publication The Guardsman and reports on higher education, politics and the arts.
