Housing Leads Construction Industry to Moderate Growth in 2014, According to McGraw Hill Construction

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Housing Leads Construction Industry to Moderate Growth in 2014, According to McGraw Hill Construction

Dodge Outlook Report Predicts Rise in Construction Starts for Housing, Commercial & Manufacturing Building Sectors; Stability for Institutional Building After Lengthy Decline; Weaker Activity for Public Works & Electric Utilities

Washington, D.C. – October 25, 2013 – McGraw Hill Construction (http://www.construction.com/), part of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), today released its 2014 Dodge Construction Outlook, a mainstay in construction industry forecasting and business planning.  The report predicts that total U.S. construction starts for 2014 will rise 9% to $555.3 billion, higher than the 5% increase to $508 billion estimated for 2013.

“We see 2014 as another year of measured expansion for the construction industry,” said Robert Murray, McGraw Hill Construction’s vice president of Economic Affairs.  “Against the backdrop of elevated uncertainty and federal spending cutbacks, the construction industry should still benefit from several positive factors going into 2014.  Job growth, while sluggish, is still taking place. Interest rates remain very low by historical standards, and in the near term the Federal Reserve is likely to take the necessary steps to keep them low.  The bank lending environment is showing improvement in terms of both lending standards and the volume of loans.  And, the improving fiscal posture of states and localities will help to offset some of the negative impact from decreased federal funding,” said Murray.

Based on research of specific construction market sectors, McGraw Hill Construction’s 2014 Dodge Construction Outlook details the forecast as follows.

 - Single family housing will grow 26% in dollars, corresponding to a 24% increase in units to 785,000 (McGraw Hill Construction basis). The positives for single family housing are numerous – the pace of foreclosures has eased, home prices are rising, and mortgage rates remain near recent lows. However, the demand for housing will continue to be restrained by careful bank lending practices towards issuing mortgages.

 - Multifamily housing will rise 11% in dollars and 9% in units. While growth continues, the percentage gains will be smaller than the previous four years, reflecting a maturing multifamily market. This structure type is still a favored investment target by the real estate finance community, which in the near term should lead to more high-rise residential buildings in major cities.

 - Commercial building will increase 17%, a slightly faster pace than the 15% gain estimated for 2013. Both warehouses and hotels will continue to lead the way, while stores and office buildings pick up the pace. The positives for commercial building are improving market fundamentals and more bank lending for commercial development. Next year’s activity in dollar terms will still be 28% below the 2007 peak.

 - Institutional building will edge up 2%, turning the corner after five years of decline. For the educational building category, colleges are revisiting capital expansion plans, and passage of recent construction bond measures in several states should help K-12 construction projects. Healthcare construction is expected to remain flat, given continued emphasis on cost containment.

 - Public works construction will drop 5%, pulling back after a 3% gain in 2013 that was lifted by the start of several large highway and bridge projects. More focus on deficit reduction will limit federal support for environmental public works, although the improved fiscal position of state and local governments will help to cushion the extent of the public works decline.

 - Electric utility construction will retreat 33%, continuing the 55% correction estimated for 2013 that followed the current dollar high reached in 2012. Capacity utilization is down sharply, limiting the near term need for new generating capacity. The need for transmission line work remains strong.

“The 2014 picture bears some similarity to what’s taking place during 2013, with single family housing providing much of the upward push; multifamily housing showing a slower yet still healthy rate of growth after four years of expansion, and commercial building gradually ascending from low levels,” added Murray. “One change that’s expected for 2014 is that institutional building will no longer be pulling down nonresidential building and total construction.”

The 2014 Dodge Construction Outlook was presented at McGraw Hill Construction’s 75th annual Outlook Executive Conference in Washington, D.C.  Copies of the report with additional details by building sector can be ordered at http://analyticsstore.construction.com/2014-dodge-construction-outlook.html?sourcekey=PRESREL.  Additional reports and projections are available from McGraw Hill Construction Research and Analytics, http://construction.com/market_research. 

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About McGraw Hill Construction: McGraw Hill Construction provides essential data, news, insights, and intelligence to better inform construction professionals’ decisions and strengthen their market position. McGraw Hill Construction’s data, analytics, and media businesses – Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, and Engineering News-Record – create opportunities for owners, architects, engineers, contractors, building product manufacturers, and distributors to strengthen their market position, size their markets, prioritize prospects, and target and build relationships that will win more business. McGraw Hill Construction serves more than one million customers through its trends and forecasts, industry news, and leading platform of construction data, benchmarks, and analytics, including Dodge MarketShare™, Dodge BuildShare® and Dodge SpecShare®. Construction data is available for North American and global markets.  To learn more, visit http://www.construction.com/.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power, and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 27 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

Media Contact: Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications, McGraw Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy.malangone@mhfi.com

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New housing units in S.F. are filling up fast

Seeing as San Francisco's housing and cost-of-living issues are getting a lot of press attention these days (New York Times: "Backlash by the Bay: Tech Riches Alter a City"), here are a few recent bulletins from the front:

Venn on Market, a 113-unit apartment building at Market and Octavia, which won't be completed until January, is more than half leased and some tenants already have moved in, according to Spencer Moore, a spokesman for the developer, San Francisco's MacFarlane Partners.

Rents range from $3,075 for a one-bedroom - up from $2,900, the figure published earlier this month - to $5,000 for the three-bedroom units. Only one of the three-bedroom units remains. "Demand has gone up," Moore said.

Not surprising given Venn's location, at the intersection of trendy Hayes Valley and the north end of the Mission. Nearby, on the south side of Market Street, sit the headquarters of Twitter and Square.

Cash in hand: Farther south in the Mission, a 17-unit "balanced blend of urban living and comfortable luxury" at 3500 19th St. (at Valencia) is reportedly 60 percent sold, little more than a month after going on the market.

Condo prices there are listed between $1.6 million and $2.3 million. Calls and e-mail to the developer, Vanguard Properties, were not returned on Monday. One of Vanguard's agents told the San Francisco Business Times last month that the buyers are "new money, old money, techies, finance. It's people with money - everybody so far is paying cash."

Chic retreat: With Valencia Street, the focus of much angst, filling up, more attention is focusing on Mission Street itself.

The 202-unit Varas, a "chic retreat located in one of San Francisco's most desirable neighborhoods" - at Mission and 15th streets - opened in July, with 40 percent of it preleased. Now it's 85 percent full, said a spokeswoman for Behringer Harvard, a Dallas real estate investment trust that bought the property from the original developer, San Francisco's Avant Housing.

Last we checked, rents for the one- to three-bedroom apartments were similar to Venn on Market, ranging from about $2,500 to $7,000 a month. Vara also has 40 below-market rental apartments, ranging from $939 a month for a studio to $1,309 for a three-bedroom.

Cool and transformational: A perhaps more significant game-changer is under construction farther down Mission Street, where the Giant Value store once stood between 21st and 22nd streets.

In its place: a $70 million, eight-story, 114-unit development of market-rate condos. Next door, the historic, long-shuttered New Mission Theater is being replaced by the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission, complete with five screens and digital projection, plus dinner, drinks and live events. As part of the development deal with San Francisco's Oyster Development, 14 below-market-rate units are to be built elsewhere in the Mission.

It's a project of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema of Austin, Texas, which specializes in first-run independent, alternative, classic and foreign films, called by Wired magazine "the coolest theater in the world."

There are more plans for that strip of Mission Street, once called the Mission Miracle Mile. "What's going on is transformational," said Philip Lesser, executive director of the Mission's Business Improvement District.

Y'all ready?

On the other hand: The San Francisco International Arts Festival is ready to roll out its latest initiative, "I.D. for the New Majority," a television series designed to "focus on the ramifications of the shifting demographics of the United States electorate."

First up, a pilot program mixing interviews with local residents, politicians and officials with artistic performances by SFIAF contributors illustrating "a community response to the current housing crisis facing the San Francisco Bay Area focusing on the situation in the Mission District."

More information and an edited preview of the broadcast is at www.sfiaf.org.

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @andrewsross

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Plenty of upscale housing in S.F.'s Upper Market

Whole Foods Market's newest San Francisco store opens Wednesday, with a customer base at the ready.

The 30,000-square-foot store, at Market and Dolores streets, sits on the ground floor of a new eight-story, 81-unit apartment building, with an herb garden, butterfly habitat and on-site car sharing - "the place for your urban lifestyle," according to its calling card. Tenants started moving in Friday.

Two blocks west, at Market and Sanchez streets, is a new, five-story, 22-unit condo complex called the Century. One block farther west, at the intersection of Market, Noe and 16th streets, sits Icon, consisting of 18 new "luxury residences" - all sold within two months - atop a Bank of the West branch.

To the east, within easy walking, biking or car-sharing distance of Whole Foods, are three more residential and retail complexes close to completion, with sales offices already open. "We're already about 30 percent sold, and ahead of expectations," said Hugh O'Donnell, sales manager with Polaris Pacific, which is marketing Linea, a nine-story, 115-unit glass-wrapped condo complex at Market and Buchanan streets, built by Brian Spiers Development.

While some of the biggest recent changes in San Francisco have occurred South of Market and Mid-Market, the commercial strip stretching from Octavia Boulevard to Castro Street, known as Upper Market, is also undergoing a transformation. An outgrowth of the six-year Market & Octavia Area Plan, the housing and retail developments - with more to come - have dramatically altered Upper Market's skyline as well as the neighborhood below.

"The changes have been in the pipeline for some time, but now you see them, the difference is palpable," said Dan Safier, founder and president of Prado Group, which developed the Market and Dolores project in what used to be the S&C Ford showroom and is now called 38 Dolores.

"It's exciting to see underutilized gas stations and car dealers and holes in the ground turn into vibrant new places for people to live and shop," Safier said.

But the changes come, literally, at a price. Rents at 38 Dolores range from $2,950 a month for a studio and $3,500 for a one-bedroom to $8,100 for a three-bedroom. Pets are extra: cats, $50 a month; dogs, $75 or $100, depending on weight. Rents are a little lower at Venn on Market, a 113-unit building on the corner of Market and Octavia, which is scheduled to open in January: $2,900 for a one-bedroom, $5,000 for a three-bedroom.

Condos at Linea, formerly a Union 76 gas station, are selling in "the low 600s" (thousand) for one-bedrooms to the "mid-800s" for two-bedrooms, said O'Donnell. Prices at Icon, the site of a burned-down church and then a community garden, also closed in on $800,000 before they were all snapped up.

"The market is so different in San Francisco," said Suzanne Gregg of San Francisco Realtors Gregg-Gorski, which handled the Icon sales. "There are so many young people with very good jobs."

Is she referring to techies? "Yes, they were the target market, and that's what we saw coming through." Plus, she said, older folks from Noe Valley and Corona Heights downsizing from larger homes who want to stay in the city.

They and many others moving into Upper Market (UpMa?) may be downsizing quite a bit. Units measure as small as 450 square feet - "teeny-weeny floor plans," as one real estate blog described them.

"There are a lot of changes, and a lot of them are positive," said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Upper Market area and has owned a small condo in the Castro district since 2004 ("I would not be able to afford it today."). In addition to more housing, "we're adding a lot more retail, streetscape, lighting and safety improvements."

"Although it's not competing with the older housing stock, the new housing is very expensive and out of reach for many people. It again points to the urgent need for new affordable housing." Wiener said.

Wiener wants to alleviate some of that shortage in his district by allowing mother-in-law units to be added to existing structures.

There are a handful of below-market rental units mixed in with some of the new developments. To meet the city's affordable housing conditions tied to the Linea project, Brian Spiers Development recently completed work on the 24-unit below-market-rate condo complex at 1600 Market off Franklin Street. Vouchers for the units, priced between $201,000 and $224,000, have just started to be issued.

For the 38 Dolores project, Prado Group paid $5 million into the city's affordable housing fund. "The city can leverage that money into other (below-market-rate) projects ready to go," said Safier.

"We're very engaged in helping the city to build a broad range of housing. But there are a number of levers that need to be pulled. The process needs to be streamlined, to get more supply faster."

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com Blog: www.sfgate.com/blogs/bottomline Facebook: sfg.ly/doACKM Twitter: @andrewsross

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Bridge Housing breaks ground on 90 Oakland units

Lots of talk about the affordable housing situation these days and, as Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, told The Chronicle this week, the "need to bring all our stakeholders together" to address it.

Let's make sure Bridge Housing is brought to the table.

On Friday, the San Francisco affordable housing nonprofit is being joined by a passel of local officials and bank executives at the groundbreaking of its latest project - 90 below-market-rate rentals at the MacArthur BART Station in Oakland.

The $44 million residential building, named Mural, is merely the second phase of a $400 million transit-oriented development, appropriately named MacArthur Station, that will include 624 new market-rate and below-market-rate homes, commercial and retail space and other community facilities. Partners include the city of Oakland, BART and local banks that helped finance the project.

"As the first housing development in the transit-oriented master plan for MacArthur Station, it's the realization of a 20-year dream and very important for Oakland," said Bridge Housing CEO Cynthia Parker.

Since its launch in 1983, Bridge Housing has developed or co-developed 14,000 homes, mostly in California, more than one-third of them in the Bay Area. And there's more coming, including a 60-unit below-market-rate complex being leased on Natoma Street in San Francisco's South of Market, and 62 affordable apartments at the former St. Joseph's Home for the Aged in Oakland.

In collaboration with San Francisco's Community Housing Partnership, Bridge Housing developed the Rene Cazenave Apartments, also in SoMa - 120 supportive housing units for formerly homeless people. First move-ins: early next month.

Monthly rents at Mural range from $450 for a studio to $1,100 for a three-bedroom apartment, open to residents with annual incomes between $28,000 and $47,000. One suspects they'll go very fast. The 60-unit Natoma Family Apartments, with rents from $711 to $1,569 (move in: late December) garnered 2,793 applications.

"There's an endless demand plus the rising cost of housing," said Parker. "We're already seeing rent growth outside of San Francisco extending into Oakland. We're seeing a big jump all over the Bay Area."

-- Stakeholders and others concerned about affordable housing might want to check out Bridge Housing's recently published book, "Smart Living, Smart Growth," a free download at www.bridgehousing.com/news-media/publications.

For a hard copy, e-mail info@bridgehousing.com.

Big, bigger, biggest: Google just keeps rolling along.

The Mountain View company said Thursday that it is once again going into the solar power business with private equity giant KKR, this time investing in six solar power projects - five in Southern California, one in Arizona - powering 17,000 homes beginning in January.

In 2011, Google struck a similar deal with KKR and San Francisco project developer Recurrent Energy to finance solar power in the Sacramento area provided by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The latest deal brings the value of Google's investments in renewable power projects (14 at last count) to more than $1 billion.

Hardly surprising, then, that the proprietor of the world's biggest search engine is looking for more office space, including 360,000 square feet in Midtown Manhattan, along with 807,000 square feet it already has in Chicago. Add that to the 350,000 additional square feet it leased at San Francisco's Hills Plaza and the 901,000 square feet it leased in Mountain View this year.

"Google is a monster engine everywhere, and we're pretty thankful they're in our world," Bob Chodos, a principal at Colliers International in Chicago, told Bloomberg.

And local brokers may be more thankful if, as is being reported, Google is once more nosing around Baghdad by the Bay. Two million square feet in Mission Bay (on land now owned by Salesforce)? Some - surely not all! - of the 80-story, 1.3 million-square-foot Transbay Tower South of Market? According to published rumors, it's being discussed.

All this and barges, too.

Helping hand: Add Wells Fargo to the list of Bay Area organizations contributing to Typhoon Haiyan relief.

The San Francisco bank is kicking in $250,000, half to the American Red Cross and half to the International Medical Corps. It's also temporarily waiving remittance fees for money being sent to families in the Philippines via its ExpressSend service.

"Wells Fargo is committed to helping the community recover," said Aveek Mukherjee, a senior Wells Fargo executive.

Teach your listeners well: Being a fan of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, not to mention the Hollies, I (yup, aging Baby Boomer) have to take note of the Commonwealth Club's departure from the usual roster of business and political thought leaders.

On Friday, Graham Nash "gets wild" with the Commonwealth Club audience, meaning he'll be talking about his autobiography, "Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life" and other matters of social import, and signing copies of the book.

Friday, 6 p.m. Nourse Theater. Premium prices. More details at www.commonwealthclub.org/events.

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @andrewsross

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S.F.'s housing chasm growing even wider

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S.F.'s housing chasm growing even wider Andrew S. Ross Updated 7:25 am, Tuesday, November 5, 2013

View: Larger | Hide With an elevator broken at the Clementina Towers housing project in San Francisco's South of Market, waiting residents often crowd the lobby.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleWith an elevator broken at the Clementina Towers housing project in... Voters will decide Tuesday whether to allow construction of the 8 Washington condominium project, where a private tennis and swim club now stands.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleVoters will decide Tuesday whether to allow construction of the 8... Part of the 8 Washington development would rise to 136 feet. The developer got special approval to exceed the 84-foot height limit.Part of the 8 Washington development would rise to 136 feet. The... A new flier from 8 Washington supporters is heavy on chain-link fences and parking lots but only has one image of the controversial 136-foot tall condominium building — a small one on the back.A new flier from 8 Washington supporters is heavy on chain-link... Pedestrians walks along the Embarcadero at Washington Street past a parking lot at the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChroniclePedestrians walks along the Embarcadero at Washington Street past... A pedestrian takes a detour from the sidewalk on the Embarcadero near the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleA pedestrian takes a detour from the sidewalk on the Embarcadero... Captain Andres Vasquez of the Columbian Navy walks along a detour route near the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleCaptain Andres Vasquez of the Columbian Navy walks along a detour... Clementina Towers resident Michael Dismuke wipes down his kitchen shelves after having them treated by maintenance for cockroaches that he says have been a problem in his apartment since he moved in a year and a half ago on Thursday, October 31, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Dismuke said his apartment has been treated before but this time cracks where the roaches might enter his home had been sealed.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleClementina Towers resident Michael Dismuke wipes down his kitchen...

Clementina Towers residents Michael Dismuke (l to r) and Salomon Lopez talk in the lobby of their building next to a broken elevator on Thursday, October 31, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Several residents said the elevator had been broken over a month.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Clementina Towers residents Michael Dismuke (l to r) and Salomon...

Mrs. Huang is 80 years old and is tired of taking the stairs to her apartment on the upper floors Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleMrs. Huang is 80 years old and is tired of taking the stairs to her... Residents of Clementina Towers Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. have balcony areas adjacent to their apartments. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleResidents of Clementina Towers Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San... A woman named Alla (no last name given) waits for the elevator in the 330 Clementina Tower Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. she has lived in for years. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleA woman named Alla (no last name given) waits for the elevator in... The proposed 8 Washington project would replace a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero. This view shows the new triangular park, with existing buildings on the right.Photo: Skidmore Owings And MerrillThe proposed 8 Washington project would replace a parking lot and... Signage is seen outside a health club along Drumm Street for a health club at the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleSignage is seen outside a health club along Drumm Street for a... A pedestrian walks along Washington Street near the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleA pedestrian walks along Washington Street near the site of the... A lone tennis ball sits on the sidewalk along Washington Street between Drumm Street and The Embarcadero near the site of the proposed 8 Washington project on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.Photo: Lea Suzuki, The ChronicleA lone tennis ball sits on the sidewalk along Washington Street... The proposed 8 Washington project would replace a parking lot and health club with a 12-story condominium building, a rebuilt health club and a new privately maintained park along the Embarcadero. This view shows the playground portion of the new triangular park, with a cafe attached to the health club on the right and the Embarcadero beyond.Photo: Skidmore Owings And MerrillThe proposed 8 Washington project would replace a parking lot and... A broken elevator sign puts one of two elevators out of service which is difficult for seniors unable to negotiate stairs Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleA broken elevator sign puts one of two elevators out of service... Seniors often resort to chairs to wait for elevators, especially when one of two is out of order Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleSeniors often resort to chairs to wait for elevators, especially... For many of the residents at Clementina Towers, the elevators are the only way to get to the very top floors Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleFor many of the residents at Clementina Towers, the elevators are... A proposed project would redevelop the area along the Embarcadero north of Washington St. in San Francisco. Right now the land is home to a parking lot, tennis club, and open space.Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The ChronicleA proposed project would redevelop the area along the Embarcadero...

Clementina Towers resident Jamel Burrell makes his way into a working elevator next to a broken one as he heads to his apartment at Clementina Towers on Thursday, October 31, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Burrell said he was trapped in the elevator (at right) when it went out.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Clementina Towers resident Jamel Burrell makes his way into a...

Xue Li Liu, who is 77 years old, says the elevators cannot be relied upon many days at Clementina Towers Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleXue Li Liu, who is 77 years old, says the elevators cannot be... The only working elevator at the 330 Clementina Tower building is always crowded at the lobby level Wednesday October 9, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. Mayor Ed Lee promised to make life better for residents of the city's public housing stock, but tenants at Clementina Towers often have problems with broken elevators and filth.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleThe only working elevator at the 330 Clementina Tower building is... Over one hundred supporters gathered in front of the Lee's building on Jackson Street to support the family Wednesday September 25, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. The Lee family has lived on Jackson Street in San Francisco for decades and now is being evicted under the Ellis Act. Friends, politicians and religious leaders gathered at their home to show their support for the elderly couple and stand against evictions of longtime residents.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleOver one hundred supporters gathered in front of the Lee's building... The Lee family moves bedding in preparation for their forced move recently in San Francisco, Calif. The Lee family, who are being evicted from their San Francisco home of over 30 years, move some belongings to the street for pick up.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleThe Lee family moves bedding in preparation for their forced move... Mother Gum Gee Lee (left) and her daughter Shiu Man Lee wait in a bedroom with some of their belongings shortly before leaving their home Tuesday October 22, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. On the last night at their home, the Lee family packs up and leaves for a motel where they will stay until more permanent housing can be finalized.Photo: Brant Ward, The ChronicleMother Gum Gee Lee (left) and her daughter Shiu Man Lee wait in a...

 

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A tale of two cities brought to you by Monday's Chronicle front page.

On the right side, we have the fight over 8 Washington, the proposed condominium complex whose 134 units are tentatively priced between $2 million and $10 million.

On the left side, how San Francisco doesn't have the money to fix broken elevators at its public housing projects, leaving seniors and disabled residents "stranded in their apartments."

I'm not taking sides on Tuesday's election to determine the fate of 8 Washington. If I owned or rented one of the luxury apartments at Golden Gateway Commons, I would be angry at my $1 million view being blocked by a 12-story building next door. If I was Mayor Ed Lee, on the other hand, I'd be bullish on the aesthetic, commercial and revenue-generating benefits 8 Washington would bring to the city.

But the chasm is impossible to ignore. San Francisco, one of the richest cities in the world - and getting richer all the time - does not have $8.4 million, out of a $7.9 billion annual budget, to fix the broken elevators at Clementina Towers and other public housing projects in the city.

Isn't there something wrong with this picture?

News to mayor's office

Lee, who has referred to the projects as "poverty housing" and has pledged to eliminate them, knew nothing about the problem. Nor did his office, according to The Chronicle's Heather Knight, who broke the story.

But it seems to know plenty about 8 Washington - the mayor is its leading pitchman - and about the Golden State Warriors waterfront arena plan, featuring a 175-foot condominium tower, where, it's reasonable to conjecture, prices will be even higher than at 8 Washington.

Yes, we're shocked, shocked, and determined to do something, especially for the elderly and disabled at Clementina Towers - located in tech-heavy South of Market, by the way.

Perhaps the elevators will get fixed in relatively short order. (Although this is not the first time the powers that be have been alerted.)

Perhaps the $11 million that 8 Washington's developer would be giving to the city's affordable housing fund will, at some point down the road, help relieve the thousands of other San Francisco public housing residents plagued by mice, roaches, sewage overflows, mold, mildew, and regular absences of heat and hot water.

S.F.'s direction

But maybe some thought should be given to those San Franciscans as we ponder our vote on Propositions B and C Tuesday. And thought should be given, too, to the elderly Chinese American couple and their mentally handicapped daughter who were kicked out of their low-rent Nob Hill apartment of 34 years to make way for another batch of pricey condos.

And to where San Francisco, with all its glittering prizes, is going.

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @andrewsross

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