Planning Commission Gives First Civic Center Building Go Ahead

By Jorge Casuso

After two months of delays, tweaking and charges of conspiracy, the first project slated for the Civic Center site was given final approval by the Planning Commission Wednesday night, in time to meet a looming Dec. 31 deadline.

Although the commission voted 5 to 1 to deny an appeal of the Architectural Review Board's approval, it incorporated a menu of changes to the four-story commercial building, which will be flanked by 11.3 acres of land recently purchased by the city from RAND for $53 million.

The final changes - spurred by the appeal and agreed to by the developer, Maguire Partners, -- include adding windows, a stairway, stairway landings, a door, trellises, planters and a decorative loading dock door, as well as widening an elevated walkway or arcade. The features are meant to make the 68,000-square-foot building more welcoming to pedestrians.

"The applicant has done an exemplary good-faith job," said Commissioner Eric Parlee, who made the motion to deny the appeal and incorporate the changes.

Before the final votes were cast, the meeting dragged on, as additional changes were proposed, discussed, tweaked and, finally, discarded.

Efforts by the appellant, Ellen Brennan, to combine the garage and loading dock entrance failed. As did a related request to move the parking and loading dock to carve a corner for a coffee shop - changes the developer opposed, saying they were unworkable and violated the development agreement.

"This building doesn't exist," said Commissioner Kelly Olsen, who pushed unsuccessfully for several additional changes. "This building is going to be there. This building is going to be there for a long, long, long time, longer than we are. Why make a mistake and then say, 'Oh, darn.' Wouldn't it be great if we had a project that was 100 percent there and not just about there."

Councilman Ken Genser, who testified in favor of the appeal, also pushed for moving the loading dock, which he had previously compared to an "anus" and which he called the "most egregious part of the building."

"If that means going back to ground zero" and redesigning the building," Genser said, "so be it."

The majority of the commissioners, however, didn't buy into the additional changes.

"Let's eliminate the automobile and have the perfect building in the perfect city," said commission Chair Ken Breisch, referring to moving the loading dock. "We want everything to be clean and perfect. It's a tempest in a teapot. It's a good building, they came back with good changes, and now we're obsessed with this small corner."

Despite the changes, Brennan felt the commission missed an opportunity to push for a design worthy of the prominent location the building will occupy. She asked the commission to "ameliorate the time crunch" and delay the vote, but staff noted that delaying the Dec. 31 deadline was beyond the commission's powers.

"It is the first building in the city's new Civic Center," said Brennan, who chairs the South Beach Neighborhood Association. "It will set a tone for the surrounding area."

Wednesday's meeting capped two months of speculations and allegations, with the developer accusing city officials - specifically Genser and Olsen -- of purposefully dragging their feet. Maguire's attorneys threatened to sue the city, saying the delays were intended to kill the project so the city could purchase the three-quarter acres of land.

Genser and Olsen called the charges ridiculous and noted that the developer had been given ten years to obtain the necessary approvals.

The final planning commission vote is no guarantee the structure will be built. Maguire Partners, which has a 90-year lease on the land, has been trying to sell its rights but without success. Wednesday's vote will increase the value of the property but not guarantee it will be developed or the rights sold.

The city has expressed interest in the prime property, which would round out the purchase of the RAND land.