Hearst Corp. and developer Forest City have unveiled plans for a massive real estate development for the city block where the Chronicle is located to include offices, housing and “small public plazas,” the newspaper says. Assuming it all happens—and construction would likely be strung out over 10 years—the historic Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission would stay, the Chronicle says, and “the paper’s newsroom would probably remain there.” An excerpt:
But the plan will likely face opposition, regardless.
The four-acre site forms a border between a low-income stretch of the South of Market neighborhood to the southwest and wealthier blocks devoted to conventions and shopping to the northeast. Although none of the four buildings that would be demolished for the project contains housing, most of the 700 housing units built there would be rented, leased or sold at market rates. That could lead to gentrification of the lower-income blocks nearby, said land-use attorney Sue Hestor.
Image: Forest City
