Name: UCSF gets state regents’ OK for massive rebuild of Parnassus campus
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UCSF gets state regents’ OK for massive rebuild of Parnassus campus

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UCSF’s “modernization plan” for its Parnassus Heights campus got the go-ahead from the University of California Board of Regents on Thursday. The $3 billion, 30-year project includes a new hospital and research facilities as well as 1,200 units of housing for students and faculty.The vote sets the stage for a massive construction project — the biggest of its kind in San Francisco’s history — that will transform the historic health care campus that sits atop Parnassus Heights. The project will include the replacement of the 70-year-old Moffitt Hospital, which does not meet the state’s seismic code and must be decommissioned for inpatient care by 2030, the same time the new hospital is scheduled to open.UCSF has said that the new hospital is urgently needed, as it currently turns away about 3,000 patients a year seeking care because of a lack of bed capacity.“The milestone we are passing today will help ensure the university’s ability to continue driving innovation in care delivery, health sciences research and education — for San Francisco and beyond — for many decades to come,” UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood said after the vote, which was unanimous.The vote comes a week after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to ask the regents to delay the decision until March so that questions about UCSF’s commitment to affordable housing and job training, along with transportation issues, could be addressed.As a state agency, UCSF is not subject to city approvals for land use or development decisions, but it did spend several months negotiating a memorandum of understanding with Mayor London Breed’s office. As part of those negotiations the medical school and hospital agreed to increase housing in the plan from about 750 to 1,263 units and make about 40% available at below market rates. In addition, UCSF agreed to invest $20 million in transportation improvements.Supervisor Dean Preston, who introduced the resolution asking for the two-month delay, said the public needed more time “to understand the implications of this project and to make sure that the necessary community benefits — particularly commitments to affordable housing, transportation and labor — are included in the agreement.”While the regents’ vote allowed the project to move forward, there was also a victory for critics wishing to slow it down and iron out details. The regents voted to require that the agreement between the city and UCSF be “enforceable” and approved by regents chair John Perez.Preston called the regents’ decision “a mixed bag.” He said he would have preferred that the approval be delayed but was encouraged that Perez “asked some meaty questions about housing affordability and enforcement issues.”Related StoriesUpdated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.“Clearly the regents heard the concerns of the residents and did not unconditionally approve it,” Preston said.Earlier in the week, UCSF announced it reached an agreement with the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and the project contractor to ensure that it is built with union labor. It is expected to create 1,000 jobs.Next month, UCSF will begin a design process that includes community members and the architectural firm Herzog &amp; de Meuron, which designed the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Those meetings will focus on exterior building design, site access, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, landscaping and open space connections to the Mount Sutro Forest that is part of the campus.J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

UCSF’s “modernization plan” for its Parnassus Heights campus got the go-ahead from the University of California Board of Regents on Thursday. The $3 billion, 30-year project includes a new hospital and research facilities as well as 1,200 units of housing for students and faculty.The vote sets the stage for a massive construction project — the biggest of its kind in San Francisco’s history — that will transform the historic health care campus that sits atop Parnassus Heights. The project will include the replacement of the 70-year-old Moffitt Hospital, which does not meet the state’s...

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J.K. Dineen

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UCSF gets state regents’ OK for massive rebuild of Parnassus campus

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