the 49ers remain intown

The new 68,000-seat stadium, which appears headed to SantaClara, was to be the centerpiece of a redevelopment that is stillslated to include a multi-sport arena, new market rate andaffordable housing, retail and entertainment uses, public parks andopen space, and improved access to the San Francisco Bay shoreline.The nagging question now is what might replace the stadium, but thepresentation was made as if the stadium was still going tohappen.

"The presentation was an effort by Lennar as well as the city topublicly show the depth and scale and progressiveness of the plan,"a source representing Lennar tells GlobeSt.com. "There was no infoon what might replace the stadium because we all remain hopefulthat the 49ers will change their mind and remain in SanFrancisco."The current plan calls for 6,500 new homes, a new 8,000to 10,000 seat arena, approximately 400,000 sf of retail andentertainment uses, 150,000 sf of office space, a new 200-roomhotel, and over 150 acres of parks and open space. As for the NFLstadium, the presentation trumpeted the "urban tailgatingopportunities," otherwise known as eating and drinking in thevarious sports bars, restaurants and live music venues that areslated to be clustered along a retail street leading to the stadiumplaza. For the traditional tailgaters--who cook and drinkstore-bought drinks and food in the acres of surface parking thattypically surrounds stadiums--the plan includes fewer than 3,000surface parking spaces, a fact that the San Francisco 49ersbemoaned when they announced the stadium would not be built atCandlestick Point.