4 ms·

I am not a resident, but have been there several times and have friends there. My understanding is that the issue has nothing to do with it actually being unsaf

by pitdesi 15y ago

I am not a resident, but have been there several times and have friends there. My understanding is that the issue has nothing to do with it actually being unsafe and more to do with zoning. Basically what was there previously was a restaurant and they converted it to office space without getting the proper permits from San Francisco. You can see something to that effect in Scoble's picture: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111091089527727420853/posts/PefH5XR1PFd https://plus.google.com/u/0/111091089527727420853/posts/PefH... Edit: great details posted by guelo suggests the story is not quite what I'd heard, the owner seems like a ridiculous person - it seems the city didn't care to certify his construction work at all at first but now wants to - http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-11-20/news/griftin-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/ http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-11-20/news/griftin-on-the-dock-... http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-05-29/bay-area/29596184_1_port-director-eviction-port-headquarters http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-05-29/bay-area/29596184_1_po...

mikeryan 15y ago
Zoning and unsafe tend to go hand in hand. From Scoble's pic they converted the space illegally to office space with no plumbing, electrical, fire etc. inspections done. Essentially the whole thing could be a fire trap with bare electrical cables running over gas lines. Or it could be bullshit, point being it seems that no one can prove that anything in there is up to code. Someone fucked up the conversion pretty hard.
- pitdesi 15y ago
  Re zoning and unsafe going hand in hand- that may be true in general, but typically a property like this that looks on the up and up is probably structurally sound. I have done a few significant conversions / redevelopments, and zoning issues I've faced had absolutely nothing to do with actual problems with the property. They are more often a way for city employees and the city to make some money, and often the city architects/building inspectors are in on the game. It is the only form of outright bribery I've seen firsthand in this country, but for my contractor friends it is a part of everyday life. Typically you pay some fee for the city to look at drawings before you do anything and then if you want the building inspector to actually show up and rate it well you might be asked to grease the wheels to speed up the process. It's pretty unfortunate and I didn't think these types of things happened but they definitely do. My properties are in Chicago and Pittsburgh and that is certainly the case in those cities (much worse in Chicago), not sure if it's the case in SF, but I would be willing to guess that it is.
  - juiceandjuice 15y ago
    Not to say this isn't the case, but San Francisco, in some cases, actually has a history of hostility towards developers. For example: Live/work conversions are banned in the city and have been banned since 1999. There seems to be a lot of bad blood dating back to the bubble burst and half-assed redevelopment of SOMA.
jpdoctor 15y ago
> Basically what was there previously was a restaurant or something and they converted it to office space without getting the proper permits from San Francisco. Translated: The proper bribes were not paid to city officials.
- WalterGR 15y ago
  What kinds of permits do you consider bribes?
  - jpdoctor 15y ago
    > What kinds of permits do you consider bribes? Just as engineering students learn skills while working summer internships, architectural students learn how to offer a bribe. As it was explained to me: Everyone in the transaction must maintain plausible deniability. For example: For a house inspection, move a $100 bill from one pocket to another when something out-of-code is found. If the inspector tell you he'll overlook it, then the $100 is dropped someplace conspicuous.
jeza 15y ago
Surely earthquake codes are a factor here?

by pitdesi 15y ago

mikeryan 15y ago

Zoning and unsafe tend to go hand in hand. From Scoble's pic they converted the space illegally to office space with no plumbing, electrical, fire etc. inspections done. Essentially the whole thing could be a fire trap with bare electrical cables running over gas lines. Or it could be bullshit, point being it seems that no one can prove that anything in there is up to code. Someone fucked up the conversion pretty hard.

pitdesi 15y ago
Re zoning and unsafe going hand in hand- that may be true in general, but typically a property like this that looks on the up and up is probably structurally sound. I have done a few significant conversions / redevelopments, and zoning issues I've faced had absolutely nothing to do with actual problems with the property. They are more often a way for city employees and the city to make some money, and often the city architects/building inspectors are in on the game. It is the only form of outright bribery I've seen firsthand in this country, but for my contractor friends it is a part of everyday life. Typically you pay some fee for the city to look at drawings before you do anything and then if you want the building inspector to actually show up and rate it well you might be asked to grease the wheels to speed up the process. It's pretty unfortunate and I didn't think these types of things happened but they definitely do. My properties are in Chicago and Pittsburgh and that is certainly the case in those cities (much worse in Chicago), not sure if it's the case in SF, but I would be willing to guess that it is.
- juiceandjuice 15y ago
  Not to say this isn't the case, but San Francisco, in some cases, actually has a history of hostility towards developers. For example: Live/work conversions are banned in the city and have been banned since 1999. There seems to be a lot of bad blood dating back to the bubble burst and half-assed redevelopment of SOMA.

jpdoctor 15y ago

> Basically what was there previously was a restaurant or something and they converted it to office space without getting the proper permits from San Francisco. Translated: The proper bribes were not paid to city officials.

WalterGR 15y ago
What kinds of permits do you consider bribes?
- jpdoctor 15y ago
  > What kinds of permits do you consider bribes? Just as engineering students learn skills while working summer internships, architectural students learn how to offer a bribe. As it was explained to me: Everyone in the transaction must maintain plausible deniability. For example: For a house inspection, move a $100 bill from one pocket to another when something out-of-code is found. If the inspector tell you he'll overlook it, then the $100 is dropped someplace conspicuous.

jeza 15y ago

Surely earthquake codes are a factor here?