THE TEAMSTERS WANT HOUSING on the 6.23-acre site at 900 7th St, rather than a 710,000 square foot last-mile package delivery center owned and operated by Amazon. Neighbors on both sides of the Caltrain tracks agree — Yes to Housing!
Scary Halloween on Berry Street West
It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon on Berry Street, on the other side of the tracks. A gargantuan semi-truck, the kind seen on interstates, gleaming with Teamsters branding, was parked in the 500 block. Snow-capped mountain scenery touched low hanging clouds in the sky above. On the curb by the sidewalk, a table held plastic jack-o-lanterns filled with candy. The Halloween spirit was channeled by a man in a dinosaur mask. Below the table was a box of bright yellow buttons with deep blue text: No Amazon at 900 7th Street. HOUSING NOW! Or alternatively, No Amazon at 900 7th Street. STREET SAFETY NOW!
It was startling to see a bright, shiny Teamsters Joint Council 7 big rig parked on Berry Street. The Teamsters were using it to demonstrate how much of the street each big rig would take up if Amazon gets its way. Large trucks like that would bring packages prepared for local delivery from a fulfillment center in Tracy to be sorted by zip code into local delivery routes in the proposed facility, then put on a van or a quadricycle e-cargo bike, or given to a gig worker in a personal car using Amazon’s Flex app. There would be hundreds of the various local delivery vehicles cluttering up the streets throughout the area, well beyond Showplace Square. The truck was there to be a conversation starter. But there was plenty to talk about.
Residents of the condo building that the table was set up in front of gathered to strategize about the impending behemoth proposed for the opposite side of the street. An Amazon rep who’s been coming to community meetings in Potrero Hill and Mission Bay has told members of the public that the company expects to start construction in 2028, and start operations by 2030. Berry Street neighbors on both sides of the tracks talked about how to get the City to rezone the 6.23-acre lot so that a developer could build housing on it.
In fact, MBNA was bringing Showplace Square neighbors up to date on actions they’re taking to see the land developed for housing. One option would be to have San Francisco designate a state-required transit district that encompasses the nearby Caltrain terminus at Fourth and King Street as well as the underdeveloped land at 900 7th St.
Berry Different, Yet Berry Alike
The physical differences between the Berry Streets on each side of the Caltrain tracks are striking. Berry Street East is narrow. Berry Street West is wide, more like Channel Street in Mission Bay. The 500 block of Berry, west of the tracks, is all that separates 888 Seventh Street, the aforementioned condominium building, from 900 7th St, site of the proposed Amazon last-mile package distribution center that’s currently undergoing its Environmental Impact Review (EIR). Folks who live in 888 feel like Berry Street West isn’t wide enough.
But aside from the physical differences of a street disconnected by major regional transportation infrastructure – the Caltrain tracks before it rounds the bend to the Fourth and King depot – neighbors from the neighboring neighborhoods – Showplace Square and Mission Bay – are finding a lot of common ground. They’d rather see housing there instead.
Latest on Amazon’s EIR
Mission Bay Neighborhood Association (MBNA)’s Board of Directors is awaiting the San Francisco Planning Department’s Environmental Impact Review (EIR) for the proposed last-mile package distribution center that Amazon wants to build at 900 7th St. Currently, Planning does not have a specific date for the release of the Draft EIR. Josh Pollak, a senior planner for SF Planning, stated it could be released in the spring or summer of next year. Following the release of the draft EIR and the close of the comment period, there will be a response to comments document that would be published prior to the Planning Commission meeting for the Conditional Use and EIR certification.
Concurrent to Amazon’s draft EIR’s completion, City officials need to designate at least one transit district under recently signed Assembly Bill 2074 by July 1, 2027. The SF Railyards mixed-use project would include residential buildings, and is a skip and a jump across Seventh Street from where Amazon wants to build. That project is also currently under EIR. MBNA’s Board of Directors and local residents see a potential transit district that would encompass the Caltrain railyard and 900 7th St. MBNA’s Board of Directors has pitched this concept to the District 6 office. Neighbors on Berry Street West listened to the transit district idea that Mission Bay Neighborhood Association has put forward, and are mulling it over.
Membership Drive Kicks Into Gear
Mission Bay Neighborhood Association (MBNA)’s Nov. 17 meeting will bring neighbors up to date on the Bakar Ear and Hearing Institute that University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has begun construction on, as well as the concept designs for the future Mission Bay Parks. Following the latest round of inquiries by community members into which City Department is responsible for maintaining the Mission Bay Drive median and smaller medians around the traffic circle, and when these areas will be put on a regular maintenance schedule, Brandon Young from San Francisco Rec and Parks Department has volunteered to attend the next MBNA meeting to answer questions related to maintenance on Mission Bay Drive. MBNA’s Board of Directors will recap a busy first half-year and efforts to have City officials and developers rethink zoning at 900 7th St. The MBNA Board will also launch a membership drive at the November meeting.