AvalonBay gets OK for $65M Balboa project in S.F. - San Francisco Business Times:

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The development, which will include a 28,000-square-footr grocery store, will replace the Kragen auto parts stores and parking lot at 1150Ocean Ave. The 1.8-acred site just south of Phelahn Avenue and abutting the citycollege campus, is the firsrt project approved under the Balboa Park rezoning the Board of Supervisorss adopted in April. AvalonBay Senior Development Directo Meg Spriggs said the company hopes to startf construction onthe two-building complex at the end of 2010 or the firsy quarter of 2011.
Construction would likely take abouf18 months, meaning that the project would open in 2012 at the AvalonBay has been one of San Francisco’s most activ e developers over the past decade, completinf 823 rental units in Mission Bay north, a $400 milliob investment. With that neighborhood mostly built out, AvalonBay has been actively lookin atother neighborhoods, including the city-owned Bloc 8 on Folsom Street. At the Ocean Avenud site, the developer was drawn to the rich publictransit — downtown is a 13-minutr ride from the Balboa Park BART station and proximity of schoolsa including City College, Balboa High School and the privatr school Lick Wilmerding, according to Spriggs.
Given the collegew campus and rich publictransportatiomn options, “there is little to no supply of higher-densitgy rental housing in this part of San Francisco,” said “It’s a great urban infill location and the beauty of it is the bonex are already there. The infrastructure is already there. Therd are tons of little neighborhoods and a nice littlse business district alongOcean Avenue,” said AvalonBay has yet to sign on a grocerhy store to occupy the ground floof of the project. Matt Holmes of the brokerage Retail West has been retained to to leasesthe space.
Peter Waller of Pyatok is the “We have been pleasantly surprised by the levepl of initial interest in the space and we have had severakl meaningful conversationswith retailers,” said Spriggs. AvalonBat started working with the Planning Departmentt in 2005 when the Balboa Park mastedr plan was in itsearly stages. Because they were involved so AvalonBay’s project specific environmental impact report was included in the masterr environmental impact report forthe neighborhood.
“Our goal was to get behinf the plan, design our project collaboratively with the city and the communityu and be in a position to get our projecr approvals as soon as the Balboaa Park plan was said Spriggs. Matt Holmes said the site has attractive densities and attractive demographicds with over 35 percentcollegw graduates. “The demographics are there already, they really are. The designm of the space is They have really built a grearmousetrap there,” he