Fort Scott Remains Lone Presidio Site Yet To Be Redeveloped
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Call it the Presidio's last frontier, the one big piece of the former military base that has not been assigned a long-term future. And after a lot of discussion, it might just stay that way for the foreseeable future.
"Fort Scott is the last, largest undeveloped area in the Presidio," explained Jean Fraser, CEO of the Presidio Trust. "We've held on to it to really make sure that we do something special there."
The buildings date back to the early 1900s, and have those early Presidio touches. They are now in various states of use, and repair. "The [Presidio] Trust has been thinking about what to do at Fort Scott for quite a number of years," said Fraser.
After those years of thought and consideration, the last surviving proposal is from a team lead by the We group, better known as WeWork. It is a $250 million vision put together by a handful of social change and environmental groups.
But tonight, those plans will be given a 'no' vote by the Presidio Trust staff. So what is the Trust looking for? "As we call it, a 'deep-pocketed do-gooder' who could take over and develop the entire campus," said Fraser. "We knew it was a longshot from the beginning, unfortunately we haven't gotten a proposal that meets the strict requirements that we need to have for such a special site."
The Presidio is required to be financially self-sustaining. The main concerns seems to be that the We plan just wasn't the right financial fit. "We have other areas in the park to develop," Fraser says of the Presidio's next steps. "We're going to focus on those, more bite-sized, more manageable. We want to earn enough revenue so that we can develop Fort Scott the way we want to do it, on our own terms, and at the right time."
The decision this evening is up to the Presidio Trust Board of Directors. If they do take that staff recommendation and shelf the current proposal, the Trust says it is open to new suggestions for Fort Winfield Scott.
