Combined Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard Environmental Review Begins.

Conceptual Plan for NFL Stadium, Parks, Jobs and New Housing for Southeast San Francisco Continues to Move Forward

SAN FRANCISCO -- EIP Associates/PBSJ, a leading environmental consultant group with decades of experience working in San Francisco, has been selected by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the combined redevelopment of Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point Shipyard.

Formal work on the EIR began this week and is expected to be completed by mid-2009. The action builds on Lennar's proposal to build new homes at Candlestick Point and the former Hunters Point Shipyard in addition to a new football stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.

Lennar is proposing a mix of market-rate and low-income housing, environmental sustainability, shopping and entertainment opportunities, a new NFL stadium and office space amid two new waterfront communities at Candlestick Point and the site of the former Hunters Point Shipyard.

"We have created a plan that provides much deserved housing and economic opportunities for people living in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood while providing the 49ers their best option to remain in the city where the team has created so many great memories," said Kofi Bonner, President of Lennar Urban's Bay Area Division. "With the start of the EIR, San Francisco has signaled to the community and the 49ers that the redevelopment of these neighborhoods is a priority."

The conceptual plan includes a shoreline park and trail system combining the best features of Crissy Field and Golden Gate Park. The neighborhoods will feature pedestrian walkways providing direct access to recreational and natural areas.

The combined plan encourages public transit or alternative forms of transportation. Walkable neighborhoods will allow greater interaction among residents. And renewable energy sources are being considered with the goal of preserving natural resources.

With better use of public transit, football fans and current and future residents will enjoy improved connections to Caltrain, light rail and bus rapid transit routes. The development plan also includes improved traffic flow, parking and game-day experience for 49ers fans traveling to and from the new stadium.

The design for a new stadium will eliminate the need for acres of blacktop parking lots, utilizing instead dual-purpose grass fields where fans can park on game days. When the stadium is not in use, the fields will remain open to the neighborhood for active recreational uses, including soccer, baseball and football.

The combined plan for Candlestick Point and the former Hunters Point Shipyard will create approximately 9,000 new homes, an 8,000-12,000-seat performance venue, approximately 700,000 square feet of retail and entertainment uses, 2 million square feet of commercial office space and more than 350 acres of parks and open space. Central to the development are new artist studios and an International African Marketplace possibly adjacent to a planned Cultural Heritage Park. Additionally, the plan offers to rebuild the Alice Griffith Housing Project in a manner that ensures all current residents will be provided improved low-income housing without being displaced.

Founded in 1968, EIP is a leading provider of environmental, urban planning, water resource planning, and natural resources services in California and specializes in integrating science and planning to improve urban and natural communities.

EIP has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Pasadena. Recently the company merged with Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc., known as PBS & J, which is a major architectural and engineering consultant.