{"id":27698,"date":"2023-08-01T17:56:35","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T00:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27698"},"modified":"2023-08-01T17:56:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T00:56:36","slug":"a-downtown-s-f-university-is-the-latest-hot-idea-how-feasible-is-it-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/01\/a-downtown-s-f-university-is-the-latest-hot-idea-how-feasible-is-it-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A downtown S.F. university is the latest hot idea. How feasible is it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>Noah Arroyo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 28, 2023 Updated: July 29, 2023 (SFChroncle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"UC
UC College of the Law San Francisco\u2019s housing project, at the intersection of Hyde and McAllister streets, is slated to open Aug. 4.Michaela Vatcheva\/Special to The Chronicle<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to revitalizing downtown San Francisco<\/a>, one idea has captured imaginations in several quarters: bringing in a major university campus<\/a> or extension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transforming emptied office towers and other buildings into a new campus would bring an influx of residential students and staff, diversifying the area\u2019s economy by injecting housing and attracting retail and other businesses big and small. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrankly, I think this is one of the best directions I\u2019ve heard recently for helping downtown,\u201d said UC Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti. \u201cThe potential economic benefits are substantial, locally and citywide, and regionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, Mayor London Breed<\/a> and City Attorney David Chiu have joined in, co-signing a letter to the state Board of Regents testing interest in the idea of another University of California campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBringing students into the heart of San Francisco affords a set of remarkable opportunities,\u201d the letter said. The move would give droves of young people access to \u201ca vibrant and world class metropolitan center, and could also serve to alleviate some of your critical student housing shortfalls at both UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president of the Board of Regents, which heads the public higher education system, has not analyzed the proposal yet, a spokesperson told The Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to jump-starting construction and other business activity in the still-hollowed-out downtown core \u2014 and shifting the city\u2019s economic dependence away from the area\u2019s office monoculture \u2014 a state university campus would have the advantage of streamlined bureaucratic rules. As a state entity, the university could conduct and approve its own environmental reviews, rather than being subject to challenges by the Board of Supervisors through San Francisco\u2019s review process. The city would probably need to make accommodations for any potential university project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even if the state decided to pursue the approach, it could take many years before potentially tens of thousands of students flowed into the business district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"UC
UC College of the Law San Francisco\u2019s new housing project includes 656 units for students.Michaela Vatcheva\/Special to The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would be surprised if you could do it within a decade,\u201d said David Faigman, chancellor and dean at UC College of the Law San Francisco, the downtown law school formerly known as UC Hastings. If a new university started with a few buildings and course offerings and gradually expanded, it might open within five years, Faigman said. \u201cAnything less would be heroic and unlikely.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the state would probably pay for the project, UC regents, legislators and the governor would all need to agree on a plan and its funding, Faigman said. This could be a time-consuming hurdle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, a more modest project \u2014 a 57,000-square-foot academic building for UC Law SF, at 333 Golden Gate Ave. \u2014 was finished in early 2020 and took about seven years from start to finish, and didn\u2019t get funding until the second year. Another building, called the Academe at 198, is slated to open Aug. 4, and will contain 656 housing units for students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s SFNext<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"SF<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SFNext is a Chronicle special project to involve city residents in finding solutions to some of San Francisco\u2019s most pressing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send feedback, ideas and suggestions to sfnext@SFChronicle.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to find more SFNext content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

@SFNext on Twitter<\/a> The \u2018Fixing Our City\u2019 podcast<\/a> Newsletter<\/a> Data and facts index<\/a> Get Involved Calendar<\/a> The SFNext team<\/a> More coverage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UC schools are not the only potential future candidates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A university interested in capitalizing on the growing artificial intelligence industry, or other technology sectors that have long had a presence in San Francisco and the region, might consider setting up a satellite campus in San Francisco\u2019s downtown area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, universities have created large college communities in several major cities like New York, Cambridge, Mass. (Boston), and Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some private schools already have a presence in San Francisco and the Bay Area, including Golden Gate University and the University of San Francisco, which might be interested in expanding into the city\u2019s downtown, said Kristen Soares, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which lobbies for and otherwise represents private, nonprofit colleges in discussions with government officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Stanford University would be a good fit, Soares added, with its strong programs feeding the biotech and tech industries. A school that already has a satellite campus in the city, such as Pennsylvania-based Wharton San Francisco business school, might also want to grow its presence, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"UC
UC College of the Law San Francisco\u2019s new housing project, the Academe at 198 on McAllister Street, includes a bar lounge.Michaela Vatcheva\/Special to The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Private universities would be more subject to bureaucratic delays than their state-funded counterparts, though they would not need to rely on the state for project funding. \u201cWe can move more quickly, as independent nonprofit universities, that much is true,\u201d Soares said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the work more doable, city officials could work directly with a private school to identify suitable buildings for costly conversions into classrooms, dorms and other purposes, and map out the entire development process and associated costs, Soares said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City officials have not contacted her about the possible work, Soares said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re eager to learn more and be involved in the discussions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chronicle requested comment from multiple private schools, including Stanford and Wharton, but they either declined to comment or did not respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether academic institutions had responded to Mayor Breed\u2019s letter, spokesperson Jeff Cretan said, \u201cI don\u2019t have an update on conversations we are having at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SF<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Get Involved calendar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Search for public meetings on top San Francisco issues so you can add your voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calendar<\/a> Submit an event<\/a> More coverage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is about recognizing the opportunities that could exist and showing the city\u2019s willing partnership to make these kinds of opportunities a reality,\u201d Cretan said in a statement. Downtown has \u201csignificant\u201d potential to see an academic presence grow, he said, and \u201cthere is no one building or set of buildings that this is limited to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the Academe, UC Law SF will also renovate preexisting housing in another building, and plans to create hundreds of new homes at yet a third property, for a total of about 1,000 potential housing units in San Francisco, Faigman said. The Academe\u2019s units are already more than 50% leased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re creating what we\u2019re calling the academic village,\u201d Faigman said. \u201cAnd the model is Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, Northeastern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard  University and Boston University are all in or near the Cambridge area. \u201cIt turns Boston into something of a university town that\u2019s surrounded by the history, culture and restaurants that it\u2019s famous for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If leaders in the UC system and the state Capitol quickly declared an interest in creating a university corridor in downtown San Francisco, it could boost the city\u2019s image and be a reason for businesses to stick around or consider settling here, Faigman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust imagine Market Street being the campus walkway from department to department, and from dorm to dorm. It is eminently walkable from the Embarcadero to the Civic Center, and you could take advantage of buildings on both sides of Market to build an extraordinary campus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Noah Arroyo:\u00a0noah.arroyo@sfchronicle.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written By Noah Arroyo<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noah Arroyo is a reporter examining the future of San Francisco. Before The Chronicle, he worked at Mission Local and the San Francisco Public Press and focused on the city\u2019s housing and homelessness crises \u2014 possibly two sides of the same coin. Noah takes a data-driven approach when possible and seeks out the sources who don\u2019t generally get quoted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noah Arroyo July 28, 2023 Updated: July 29, 2023 (SFChroncle.com) When it comes to revitalizing downtown San Francisco, one idea has captured imaginations in several quarters: bringing in a major university campus or extension.  Transforming emptied office towers and other buildings into a new campus would bring an influx of residential students and… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[876],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27699,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27698\/revisions\/27699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}