New R&D authorized for South San Francisco | Native Information

Plans for a new office and research and development campus on East Grand Avenue in south San Francisco have received planning commission approval, though concerns remain about over-parking on the site.

John Baker

The planning commission used its May 18 meeting to plan the 500,000-square-foot facility with three buildings and a parking garage at 120 E. Grand Ave. to discuss. Concerns remain about the 240,000-square-foot parking structure, which will require 756 planned parking spaces. 114 bicycle parking spaces and 76 charging stations for electric vehicles. Some, like Commissioner John Baker, supported the project but felt that the number of parking spaces encouraged people to drive rather than take the nearby Caltrain station, which is a few minutes’ walk from the site. Baker said the proposal doesn’t fit with a transportation-focused development, a goal of the city, especially since there would likely be 1,000 employees at the site and more parking spaces than needed.

“I really wish I could throw that back and save 250 parking spots because you make it way too easy to drive here,” Baker said.

Commissioner Sarah Funes-Ozturk agreed with Baker’s assessment and called for more charging stations for electric vehicles and ways to incentivize renters to use public transport.

“That’s a lot of parking near Caltrain.”

The new office and research and development campus, east of the Highway 101 transit core, will require approximately 500,000 square feet of office space across three buildings, according to city records. A building would have 11 stories and an area of ​​326,000 square feet with typical laboratory and office space on the third level and above, 160 through 180 Sylvester St. Building two is five stories with 150,000 square feet of laboratory and office space at 120 East Grand Ave. In contrast, the third building will be three stories and 26,000 square feet and planned as a leisure or retail space at the 145 Sylvester St. lot. The buildings would be all-electric and designed to meet environmental standards.

Project developer Trammel Crow Company will demolish the existing buildings. The 120 E. Grand Ave. would replace a warehouse owned by bespoke food co-packer Max’s Bakery and Kitchen. There are no current tenants for the new buildings. According to a staff report, the project involves the construction of new infrastructure within Sylvester Road, with new street trees, street lighting and sidewalks along the Sylvester Road property lines.

The site is close to several other commercial campus development proposals aimed at redeveloping the area near the Caltrain station. At its meeting, the commission unanimously approved the environmental analysis and the transit-oriented plan documents.