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Regional Agency Headquarters Concept Moves Forward

November 28, 2012
Project architects took members of the Bay Area Headquarters Authority on a tour of the existing facility at 390 Main Street in San Francisco today to point out major features of a renovation that will transform the building into a joint office complex for MTC/BATA and several sister regional agencies. Committee members also received an updated budget for the renovation of 390 Main Street.

• Meeting materials

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July 11, 2012
At a meeting on July 11, 2012, the Bay Area Headquarters Authority (BAHA) reviewed plans for transforming the property at 390 Main Street in San Francisco into a multiagency, multifunctional regional facility with ample public spaces. The concept is green to its core, reusing a historic building in a transit-rich location south of Market Street. Anchor agencies include the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and possibly the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) is also considering relocating to the facility. According to the Perkins+Will architect presenting at the meeting, the plan “encourages collaboration through co-location.”

Initial plans call for carving through the heart of the 1940s-era edifice to create an open area that would bring natural light to the interior of the building. As currently envisioned, the staffs of the partner agencies would be intermixed on the various floors, so that, for instance, agency heads and legal departments would share quarters, and agency planning departments would be in close proximity to each other, as would their IT teams. Each floor would feature “neighborhoods” of closely allied staff, with a mix of open spaces and offices. The first level of the eight-story building would offer a generous auditorium with 125 tiered seats where the agency’s boards would meet, along with other meeting rooms, retail spaces, a library, and a combined café and market hall-type of food purveyor that would become a neighborhood amenity. The second floor would feature 100 slots for storing bicycles along with showers and changing facilities. The front door would be moved from Main Street to Beale Street on the opposite side of the building, which the architect described as a pedestrian-friendly street.

If all goes well, the tenant agencies will be able to move from their current Oakland (MTC and ABAG) and San Francisco (BCDC and BAAQMD) locations in early 2014. The anchor agencies are already collaborating closely on such regional issues as climate change, land-use and transportation, and the move to a shared regional facility “is the natural next step,” according to the architect. View the presentation (PDF) from the July 11 meeting.