Treasure Island Community Facilities District and Infrastructure Facilities District Financial Consultation

Developers and city officials planned to leverage California’s redevelopment law to help revitalize San Francisco’s Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island. The law provided public financing for new affordable housing and public infrastructure projects. When Governor Brown eliminated redevelopment from his FY11/12 budget, the stakeholders needed alternatives.

Stakeholders structured their financing plan to utilize a combination of special financing districts, along with incremental local property taxes. The City of San Francisco will provide public financing to reimburse eligible public improvements by forming:

• Infrastructure and Revitalization Financing District(s) (IRFD) under State of California Government Code to pay for qualified project costs
  • Initial formation of the IRFD includes 5 project areas on Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island with additional properties to be annexed as each phase moves forward
  • Portion of IRFD proceeds have been committed to affordable housing
• Community Facilities District(s) (CFD) under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 to pay for qualified project costs, ongoing park maintenance, future sea level rise adaptations, and additional community facilities
  • Initial formation includes Improvement Area No. 1 and is limited to Yerba Buena Island Development Parcels with additional properties to be annexed as development progresses

Because of Harris’ longtime involvement with the Acquisition Auditing of the City’s Mission Bay Development, the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) and San Francisco Department of Public Works (SFDPW) turned to Harris’ financial experts to provide similar services for the Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island Development. Harris’s services include advising on acquisition protocols, determining reimbursable expenses, reviewing reimbursement requests, and recommending developer reimbursement for the improvements to be acquired by the City.  These improvements include, but are not limited to, parks and open space, transit equipment and facilities, new utilities, streets, public facilities, geotechnical improvements, and other public infrastructure.

Core Elements

Regarding new financing districts, Harris’ team of specialists has:  

• Reviewed existing agreements between the TIDA and Master Developer to identify all project costs reimbursable by the Treasure Island CFD and IRFD
• Created an acquisition manual to identify streamlined methodology and audit protocols for submittals

As part of our Acquisition Auditing Services, Harris will continue to:

• Review bid documents and scheduled values for reimbursement expenses with sufficient detail
• Review contract change orders to assess the obligation to reimburse the Master Developer for costs for changes
• Review acquisition reimbursement applications to verify consistency with agreements and negotiated protocols
• Review and verify payroll records, invoices, and other documentation submitted in support of acquisition reimbursement applications
• Recommend reimbursement amounts and represented TIDA and SFPW in negotiations of acquisition reimbursement applications with the Master Developer

Beyond the Blueprints

The Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Development will include up to 8,000 homes, including 2,173 designated affordable housing units, along with 500 Hotel Rooms, up to 450,000 square feet for retail and historic reuse, and up to 100,000 square feet of office space.

The community and visitors will also benefit from 300 acres of open space, new transit equipment, modern utilities and community facilities, and geotechnical improvements.