UCSF Releases Physical Plan for 2035

UC San Francisco has drafted a new plan to govern its physical growth over the next two decades and is seeking public comment on it through the end of September, before submitting it for final approval from the UC Board of Regents.

The 2014 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) is a comprehensive physical-land-use plan that will guide the university as it builds a new hospital addition at Parnassus Heights, doubles the amount of housing for faculty and students, and completes the next stages in developing modern research, teaching and clinical facilities, as well as new open space, at Mission Bay.

“This document reflects four years of planning, including extensive consultation both within UCSF and with our neighbors,” said John Plotts, UCSF’s senior vice chancellor of finance and administration. “This final comment period enables every member of the UCSF community and our neighbors to understand our plans and goals over the next two decades, and have a voice in planning for our future.”

The LRDP is based upon the academic, clinical and research missions of the university as it marks its 150th anniversary and looks ahead toward leading the next revolutions in health, education and science.  The plan aims to accommodate UCSF’s projected growth within the context of the communities surrounding the campus sites, while promoting environmental sustainability, minimizing facility costs and ensuring that the university’s research, educational and clinical facilities are seismically safe.

Every LRDP has a slightly different focus, based on the needs and goals of both the University and the community during that time frame. The most recent plan – the 1996 LRDP – primarily focused on the acquisition and plans for a major new site at Mission Bay, to which UCSF has directed much of its capital resources in the intervening years. In contrast, the 2014 LRDP emphasizes investment in existing facilities and older sites, along with further development at Mission Bay. This includes complying with seismic policy and accommodating UCSF’s needs for instruction, research, clinical, support and housing space through 2035. It also addresses concerns within the community regarding parking, housing and overall growth.

“The new plan seeks to position UCSF well for the future in providing the capacity and flexibility to meet UCSF’s long-term space needs, within the context of the communities in which we live and work,” said Lori Yamauchi, associate vice chancellor of Campus Planning, who oversaw the LRDP planning process. “It also addresses a growing need for consolidating our faculty and staff throughout the city, both to minimize our facilities costs and strengthen collaboration on campus.”

The 2014 LRDP covers all of UCSF’s campus sites and includes physical development proposals for the Parnassus Heights, Mission Bay, Mount Zion and Mission Center locations. It also discusses the potential for UCSF to construct a new, seismically safe building at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH), although the environmental review for such a project would occur separately from the LRDP environmental review.

In preparing the current draft version, the university explored a variety of potential projects for each campus site and held seven community workshops with neighbors to seek their feedback. As a result of those meetings, the 2014 proposal includes a variety of efforts to address issues such as housing, parking and transportation impacts on the neighborhoods.

If fully implemented over the next 20 years, the 2014 LRDP would result in an additional 2.4 million gross square feet (gsf) in owned and leased buildings – about a 26 percent increase over space currently in use or under construction – across all of UCSF’s sites. Most of this growth would be in new buildings at Mission Bay, where the current UCSF site has additional space available. It also proposes to remove several aging buildings at Parnassus Heights, renovate others for new purposes, and replace the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute with a new, modern hospital to replace Moffitt Hospital, by 2030.

UCSF will be publishing a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the 2014 LRDP later this year, reflecting the potential environmental impacts of these proposals. The EIR will have a 60-day public review period. UCSF expects to submit both documents to the UC Board of Regents for approval in late 2014.

The full document can be found here. Comments can be submitted to [email protected].