June 04, 2008

SF voters okay 49ers stadium plan

The plot just thickened: San Francisco voters yesterday approved a proposition 61-39% to build a development at Hunters Point that would include a 49ers stadium. At the same time, voters rejected 62-38% an accompanying proposition to require that the project include affordable housing for current residents of the area, a provision that developer Lennar Corp. had decried as a "poison pill" that would derail the whole project.

The proposition, however, is only advisory - it's still up to the city board of supervisors to work out the details and conduct an environmental and traffic review. (At last check, there were still some unresolved issues in this area.) Also, Lennar still hasn't signed a binding agreement with the city, meaning it could still abandon the project - or demand further concessions beyond the 720 acres of free land they're slated to get in exchange for building the $1 billion development. If nothing else, though, it gives the Niners a fallback option in its negotiations with Santa Clara - and as Jerry Reinsdorf has said, it's all about the leverage.