Prior to PCPA's initial selection in September, PCPA's "City Park" design was unanimously recommended by the competition jury, an panel of design, planning, engineering, transit and real estate development professionals. The jury gave the Pelli-Hines proposal an average score of 90, saying it was superior to the two other proposals in all respects -- aesthetically, functionally and financially. The second-place proposal, from Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Rockefeller Group Development Corp., garnered an average score of 72.

The Scope of the Pelli design contract includes the complete design of the Transit Center building and bus ramps connecting to the Bay Bridge, which will be constructed in two phases. The first phase includes the new Transit Center, the bus ramps connecting the building to the west approach of the Bay Bridge and bus storage facilities. The second phase of the project includes the construction of the below-grade train platform and mezzanine levels of the new Transit Center.

The Tower

Pelli-Hines' design and development proposal calls for a 1.8-million-sf, 1,300-foot tower alongside a new transit terminal topped by a public park. Two defining components of the Pelli-Hines proposal are the price it is offering to pay for the Tower property, which, at $350 million, is more than double that of the other proposals; and the elevated 5.4-acre park it designed atop the Transit Center Building, something the two other proposals do not include.

In addition, Hines envisions the tower containing exclusively office space – and annual gross office rents of $83 per sf --- while two other tower proposals had significant residential and hospitality components. The Pelli design also includes "Mission Square," a grand public plaza covered by a billowing glass-and-steel canopy, and public art space.