Teams Present Designs for Transbay Project

SAN FRANCISCO- Three teams of architects and developers presented their design concepts this week for the new Transbay Transit Center and an adjoining commercial tower that would be the tallest in the city. The Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors will select one team on September 20, 2007, with the first phase of construction for the transit center scheduled to begin in 2009.

The teams are Richard Rogers Partnership and Forest City Enterprises with MacFarlane Partners; Skidmore Owings and Merrill with Rockefeller Group Development Corp., and; Pelli Clark Pelli Architects with Hines. The teams made their presentations to the TJPA Board, its nine-member competition jury and the public on Tuesday in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at City Hall in San Francisco. The authority would sell or lease the tower site to the developer to fund the estimated $983 million cost of the terminal and related infrastructure projects.

The redeveloped Transbay Transit Center at First and Mission streets will centralize the region’s transportation network by accommodating eight transportation systems under one roof–AC Transit, Caltrain, MUNI, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, Greyhound, BART and the future California High-Speed Rail, which will transport people between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours.