Long Range Development Plan (LRDP)

UCSF is embarking on its next LRDP, which has an expected planning horizon of about twenty years. Anticipated growth during this time period will be estimated so potential strategies to address it can be identified and analyzed. Historic growth rates may decline in the upcoming years due to resource constraints and other factors.

The upcoming LRDP will likely include plans to:

• Address seismically poor and very poor buildings
• Optimize the use of existing campus sites (land and entitlements) and existing campus space
• Articulate a strategy for leased locations
• Consider potential expansion through property acquisition and development
• Facilitate campus growth while reducing carbon emissions to respond to environmental sustainability and Climate Action Plan goals

To guide the development of the LRDP, a campus oversight committee has been appointed to provide recommendations to the UCSF Chancellor. Three subcommittees will be assisting the oversight committee in key topic areas: instruction planning, research planning, and clinical facilities planning. The membership of the oversight committee and its subcommittees are shown in the following links.

• LRDP Oversight Committee
• Instruction Planning Subcommittee
• Research Planning Subcommittee
• Clinical Facilities Planning Subcommittee

The Regents require an analysis of the potential environmental impacts that could result from implementation of the LRDP, as mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a state law setting forth specific requirements for such environmental review. Currently, UCSF expects to publish a draft of its next LRDP along with its associated Draft Environmental Impact Report in 2013. In the meantime, background reports and other material generated for the Draft LRDP will be posted on this website as they become available.

• Planning Principles (draft)

Planning for the next LRDP will include consideration for the following campus sites:

Mission Bay

UCSF Mission Bay is the newest link in a campus chain that connects virtually every San Francisco neighborhood.  This 57-acre campus, located in the midst of a 303-acre residential and business development, will support 20 structures dedicated to biomedical research and education. The first research building, Genentech Hall, opened in January 2003. In 2015, UCSF Mission Bay will include three specialty hospitals — providing children’s, women’s, and cancer services — designed to elevate patient care to a new level of excellence.

Parnassus Heights

UCSF’s 107-acre Parnassus campus is located above Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset District. It is home to:

• Graduate professionals in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy
• Graduate division for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral scientists
• UCSF Medical Center
• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital
• Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute

Mount Zion 

Mount Zion Hospital was established in 1887 as a voluntary, nonprofit hospital to render “medical and surgical aid and service to the needy and distressed sick of the community without regard to race or creed.”  In July of 1990, Mount Zion Health Systems and the University of California approved an integration that made Mount Zion part of the UCSF family. Today, UCSF Mount Zion is a hub for outpatient services, and is also known for being home to the following specialty care centers:

• UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
• UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health  
• Osher Center for Integrative Medicine  

Laurel Heights

Laurel Heights, once part of the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, is a 470,000-square-foot building (including 170,000 square feet of parking) that sits on nearly 11 acres of land. Laurel Heights houses various academic units, administrative groups, and facilities including: Community and Government Relations, Human Resources, The Center for Health and Community, The UCSF Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations, and the University Child Care Center at Laurel Heights.

San Francisco General Hospital 

UCSF is proud of its 140-year long history of providing quality medical care at SFGH, where more than 2,000 UCSF physicians and staff work side-by-side with the dedicated employees of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Mission Center Building

This six story converted warehouse is used by the School of Medicine, UCSF Police, and various campus administration units such as Accounting, Documents, Media & Mail, for offices and laboratories. Some Medical Center units such as Hospital Accounting and Clinical Enterprise Systems occupy space in the building. The building has a total of nearly 800 occupants.

The Regents require each campus in the University of California system to evaluate its academic and physical plan for future development. This plan, a Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), guides physical development over the plan’s timeframe.

UCSF’s current 1996 LRDP describes plans for UCSF’s physical facilities through the 2011-2012 academic year and involves two major components:

• Reinvesting in existing sites, including carrying out necessary infrastructure, code and seismic improvements, and
• Establishing a major new campus site to provide 2.65 million gross square feet of new space for biomedical research and associated support facilities.

In early 1997, Mission Bay was selected as the location of the major new campus site. Since the LRDP was adopted, the Regents have approved three major amendments to the LRDP to:

• Allow for the development of housing at the Mission Bay campus site,
• Articulate a new clinical configuration for UCSF involving major inpatient sites at Parnassus Heights and Mission Bay with a major outpatient hub at Mount Zion, and
• Adopt Mission Bay Planning Principles to guide off-campus development in the vicinity of the Mission Bay site in response to community concerns about UCSF’s expansion there.

The foundation of the 1996 LRDP are its Goals and Objectives created jointly by UCSF, its Community Advisory Group, and the community at large, and adopted by the Regents as part of the LRDP.  These Goals and Objectives describe what the campus and the community are seeking to achieve through the LRDP. Each topic includes the specific goals and objectives, as well as related assumptions, planning principles, and evaluation criteria.

Below is a link to the original 1996 LRDP, as well as to relevant amendments and reports:

1996 Long Range Development Plan

For the current (1996) Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), UCSF conducted an extensive and inclusive public participation and outreach process to benefit from thev iews of individuals and groups in the San Francisco community. The multi-faceted program included the following.

Community Advisory Group (CAG)

Acting as the central component of the community involvement process, the CAG:

• Provided input into the Goals and Objectives, with a focus on how UCSF could carry out its activities in ways that would improve relationships with nearby neighborhoods and the community at large
• Proposed criteria for selecting new campus sites and evaluating certain aspects of the LRDP’s plan for growth, including transportation, housing, and employment development

Members of the CAG from neighborhoods near the Parnassus Heights site met separately to discuss their concerns about future development at Parnassus Heights. That group helped prompt the adoption of the 1976 Regents’ Resolution limiting UCSF’s growth at Parnassus Heights. They developed a series of recommendations concerning UCSF’s activities at Parnassus Heights, which were presented to the full CAG for discussion and to the public for feedback. The group’s recommendations were then revised to incorporate additional community concerns and submitted to the Chancellor of UCSF for consideration.

Community Workshops

Community workshops were designed to disseminate information to the public and gatherfeedback about the LRDP from the community at large.

• 15 workshops were held in 8 different neighborhood locations in San Francisco and nearby cities—in communities where UCSF already has a major presence, as well as in areas that UCSF had considered for a new site.
• Input received at the workshops provided the basis for the CAG’s input into the Goals and Objectives.
• In addition, UCSF staff made over 30 presentations on the LRDP to community organizations and block clubs and met with interested individuals upon request.

UCSF’s LRDP completed in 1975 was legally challenged by neighbors surrounding the Parnassus Heights site due to concerns over the density of proposed development there, and ultimately resulted in the 1976 Regents Policy to limit development at Parnassus Heights to 3.55 million gross square feet, which is now often referred to as the Parnassus Heights “space ceiling.”

A second LRDP, completed in 1982, called for the dispersal of UCSF’s functions away from Parnassus Heights in order to comply with the space ceiling while still allowing growth needs to be met. Under the 1982 LRDP’s strategy of decentralization, UCSF purchased and leased a number of satellite facilities including Laurel Heights, the Mission Center building, and clinical facilities at Mount Zion. Inefficiencies resulting from the ensuing scattered operations led to the recommendation in the current LRDP to consolidate further growth at a single major new site, which was ultimately located at Mission Bay.