The first phase of construction to transform Treasure Island into a new community began in March with the start of demolition of former Navy buildings on Yerba Buena Island. Approximately 94 acres on Yerba Buena Island and 367 acres on Treasure Island will become the site of a dense, mixed-use development with residential, commercial, cultural, hotel, recreational and retail uses centered around an intermodal transit hub.
The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council has endorsed three of the five local measures on the June 7 ballot. The Council recommends a “Yes” vote on propositions A, B and E. Delegates voted to remain neutral and take no position on C and D.
National Conference Stars Hillary, Other Allies
The 2016 legislative conference of North America’s Building Trades Unions took place in Washington, D.C. in April. Among the many speakers was Democratic presidential candidate and building trades supporter Hillary Clinton.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is expected to vote in April on extending the Project Labor Agreement governing work from its Water System Improvement Project (WSIP) to the work on its $6.9 billion Sewer System Improvement Project (SSIP). At the SFPUC meeting on March 8, staff recommended extending the PLA and presented information about the success of the WSIP PLA.
The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and the San Mateo County Building Trades Council hosted a series of meetings with Bay Area legislators in Sacramento on March 15.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously March 1 to place a measure on the June 7 ballot that will mandate doubling the number of affordable housing units to be included in new developments.
Work is progressing nicely on a new 43-story office building under construction at Howard and Beale streets in the Transbay Transit District. Clark Construction Group is the general contractor, with subcontractors Bigge Crane and Condon-Johnson currently doing excavation, pile driving and grading. Between 10 and 20 union operating engineers, laborers and pile drivers are currently on the jobsite.
The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council recently finalized Project Labor Agreements with developer Forest City and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). SFBCTC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Michael Theriault said that the Council is also close to reaching a PLA with Universal Paragon Corporation for the development of the former Schlage Lock site in Visitacion Valley. The projects are expected to generate several thousand construction jobs over the next decade.
Several hundred building trades union members worked intensively during the week leading up to the start of Super Bowl related events in San Francisco to set up Super Bowl City at the Embarcadero and the NFL Experience at the Moscone Center, which opened on Jan. 30.
