Fully Entitled India Basin Project is City’s Largest Opp Zone Site
The entitlement process started well before the opportunity zone legislation was contemplated, and now India Basin is the only opportunity zone site in San Francisco that is ready to go with Shipyard’s delay.
SAN FRANCISCO—With San Francisco’s approvals secured, residential developer BUILD’s vision will transform a former gravel yard in the India Basin on the waterfront into a pedestrian-oriented walkable residential village. BUILD and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department have formed a public-private partnership to transform approximately 39 combined acres of privately owned vacant land and publicly owned but under-utilized former industrial parcels into a mixed-use waterfront community connected by a network of public parks.
Originally 30 independent parcels have been combined into one master project. The development lies within a designated opportunity zone, as established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which allows for significant tax benefits to the investment. The size of the development and its location in an opportunity zone is particularly noteworthy in San Francisco, a city known for its scarcity of available real estate.
The land is entitled for approximately 3.4 million gross square feet of new development, including approximately 1.5 million gross square feet of residential space. Once constructed, the mixed-use village will include 1,575 residential units, 200,000 square feet of commercial space, expansive recreation space, enhanced waterfront access and underground parking.
India Basin is in the Eastern Waterfront immediately south of the Dogpatch and Mission Bay neighborhoods and allows for access to downtown and the Peninsula, including burgeoning life science hubs in both Mission Bay and Oyster Point. Nearby, new commercial space and housing are in development at Hunter’s Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point to the south.
HFF is working on behalf of BUILD to arrange investment partners for the construction phase of the development. The HFF equity placement team representing BUILD included senior managing director Charles Halladay, managing director Jordan Angel and senior director Chris Gandy.
“BUILD, in partnership with HFF, is seeking investment partners for the construction phase of this unique development,” said Scott Eschelman of BUILD. “We are excited to build this fully entitled parcel in such an incredible neighborhood and look forward to bringing in new partners to make our plans a reality. From the beginning, BUILD has worked closely with neighbors, the city and the broader community to ensure that this project in India Basin is a welcome addition to San Francisco’s Eastern Waterfront.”
Gandy says the site’s location and size provide a once-in-a-lifetime chance to develop an entire community within San Francisco.
“India Basin represents a unique investment prospect in a transformative development on the Eastern Waterfront of San Francisco,” Gandy points out. “The long-term nature of the entitlements and location in an opportunity zone will provide investors with tremendous optionality for value creation over time in one of the most constrained residential real estate markets in the world. This site represents one of the best prospects in the United States to take advantage of the significant tax benefits available through opportunity zone investment.”
Angel echoes the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the project, both in scope and entitlement completion.
“The entitlement process started well before the opportunity zone legislation was contemplated,” Angel tells GlobeSt.com. “It is the only site of scale available in an opportunity zone in San Francisco that is ready to go with Shipyard having been delayed.”
India Basin has a reputation for being one of the sunniest and picturesque neighborhoods in San Francisco, with a storied history and a rich ecology along the shoreline. India Basin and the surrounding Hunters Point neighborhood share a similar storied history. Much of the peninsula and tidal flats remained uninhabited until the 1860s when proximity to a booming San Francisco made the area a strategic location. Construction of the California Dry Dock Company at the eastern tip of the peninsula in 1866 presaged the growth of maritime manufacturing and commerce. Beginning around 1870, the bay scow schooner building industry began relocating to India Basin from Potrero Point and Islais Creek. Attracted by the availability of inexpensive land with deep water access, boat builders lined the southern edge of India Cove with boatyards alongside several Chinese shrimp camps, GlobeSt.com learns.
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