Blanca Torres
Reporter – San Francisco Business Times

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The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Toll Authority plan to meet Wednesday morning to re-affirm their decision to move their offices to San Francisco.

The commission and toll authority along with the Air Quality Management District agreed on July 17 to buy a 455,000-square foot building at 390 Main St. in San Francisco for a joint regional headquarters after a request for proposals yielding several five in San Francisco and Oakland.

The July decision was later rescinded on Aug. 17 after a huge outpouring of opposition from Oakland residents, business leaders and local officials.

The MTC board agreed to form a six-person subcommittee to review the 390 Main Street decision and report their findings within 60 days.

The opponents argued that 390 Main is not convenient or easy to reach for disabled people and would require significant and costly upgrades.

Oakland supporters also argued that the agencies would have a greater positive economic impact by staying in Oakland verses moving to San Francisco.

The allotted time has not lapsed, but the board is ready to move forward to make a deal for 390 Main. According to an agenda report for the meeting, the subcommittee determined that the selection process was “thorough, fair, and transparent,” and that a purchase price in the range of $100 million “appears reasonable” for the building, which was formerly used by the U.S. Postal Service 
 

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and is more than twice the size the regional agencies need for a joint headquarters.

The agencies plan to sublease space in the building with initial estimates that show the agencies could net $40 million during a 30-year period.

Meanwhile, the Association of Bay Area Governments has no plans to join the other agencies in their move and will remain at their Oakland headquarters in a building it co-owns with MTC and BART.

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

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Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2011/09/mtc-reaffirms-move-to-san-francisco.html