Opinions Split Over Proposed Parkmerced Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - New details have emerged about a plan to revamp a massive apartment complex near the San Francisco State University campus.

KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:

The plan to add roughly 5,700 new residential units has been in the works for three years. The proposal also included the replacement of about 1,800 units over the next three decades.

Some current tenants were pleased by the prospect that they could enjoy new construction.

"I really want to live in a new place," one man declared.

The prospect of rent control was equally alluring.

"I think it's a great deal. If I get the rent control, and I believe they will uphold their promises, this would be a great place to live."

Critics countered the plan was simply too big and disruptive.

"19th Avenue is extremely congested and with the 25,000 people increase we feel we may be overwhelmed by the transportation," worried one woman.

The length of the project worried others.

"Twenty to thirty years of noise and dust and disruption is way too long for residents to endure," lamented one man. "Frankly, Parkmerced's management has about as much popular support among its residents as the East German Communist Party the day after the wall fell."

Despite the objections, plenty of residents were optimistic.

"This would be a great place to live. There's going to be places to go, things to do. I won't have to go all the way downtown," reasoned one man.

"This is the best landlord we've had in the fifteen years I've been here, I think they have shown they care about the tenants," a woman added.

The San Francisco Planning Commission was expected to consider the environmental impact report for the Parkmerced project as soon as next month.

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