San Francisco Citizen

I’ve already had my say about the prospects of San Francisco hosting the America’s Cup yacht race in a few years – read the latest on the matter, below.

Larry Ellison’s fleet at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, complete with Japanese meatballs. Will it soon be expanding?

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MAYOR NEWSOM AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS INTRODUCE THE 34TH AMERICA’S CUP HOST CITY AGREEMENT

Host City Agreement Formally Sets Essential Terms and Conditions Agreed Upon by the America’s Cup Committee of the Golden Gate Yacht Club for San Francisco to Host the 34th America’s Cup if Chosen

San Francisco – Mayor Gavin Newsom, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and other members of the Board of Supervisors today introduced San Francisco’s Host City Agreement, a final step in the consideration process to host the 34th America’s Cup. The Host City Agreement sets forth essential terms and conditions agreed upon by the America’s Cup Committee of the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the City of San Francisco in accordance with the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup and the Term Sheet adopted by the Board of Supervisors by a vote of 9-2 on October 5, 2010.

“There is no better place and no better partner for the America’s Cup than San Francisco,” said Mayor Newsom. “With this agreement, San Francisco is making its commitment to the America’s Cup in return for the Team’s commitment to bring the world’s oldest international sailing competition and all the jobs and long-term economic benefits that come with it to San Francisco. This is the opportunity of a lifetime we must not let pass.”

In addition to Mayor Newsom, Board of Supervisors President Chiu and Supervisor Mirkarimi, the Host City Agreement was also initially co-sponsored by Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Carmen Chu, Bevan Dufty, and Sophie Maxwell. The San Francisco America’s Cup Organizing Committee is also a party to the Agreement.

Hosting the America’s Cup in San Francisco would bring a beautiful backdrop, predictable winds, world-class visitor amenities and enormous spectatorship opportunities that the natural marine amphitheater of the San Francisco Bay offers. In order to provide the Team with the highest level of certainty possible regarding a number of important issues, including the venue plan, key financial terms, sponsorship opportunities, schedule and event logistics, City staff have negotiated host city agreement with the team for endorsement by the Board of Supervisors.

“We as a City are coming together to put into place the commitments necessary to host the 34th America’s Cup in our Bay waters,” said Board of Supervisors President David Chiu. “The economy of the entire San Francisco Bay Area will benefit exponentially from hosting the America’s Cup in 2013, and we are preparing to bring this world class sailing race to our world class waterfront.”

“San Francisco is the only location for this event,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. “Having been exposed during my youth to sailing and the America’s Cup, I know we have everything race organizers need, including the expertise and will, to host the ‘World Cup’ of sailing and make this event a historic success. I look forward to the Budget and Finance Committee hearing on the Agreement on December 1st, where we will hear concrete answers to the questions of how the America’s Cup will benefit the people of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.”

The Host City Agreement envisions the use of piers along the southern waterfront and leaves open the possibility of exploring and studying other sites if there are opportunities to deliver the facilities more quickly, using fewer resources on both sides, and further enhancing the America’s Cup experience in San Francisco.
The possible alternatives are part of the Fiscal Feasibility study and will be included in the project’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.

Hosting the Event in San Francisco would generate significant public benefits for the City, including providing a catalyst for the repair, improvement and productive reuse of City piers along the City’s central and southern waterfront that are currently in a such state of grave disrepair that there is no other viable plan to pay for the improvements. Hosting the America’s Cup would also generate an enormous amount of economic development in a very short period of time, including over 9,000 jobs and more than $1.4 billion of new economic activity.

There are additional terms in the Host City Agreement that expand upon the concepts in the Term Sheet including a number of suggestions made by members of the Board of Supervisors and the public during the prior hearings, and they include:

· Ensuring that the Event Authority receives future development opportunities commensurate with the infrastructure improvements necessary to build world class America’s Cup Village facilities on San Francisco’s public waterfront.
· As the specific plans for the 34th America’s Cup have not been finalized, the parties anticipate certain changes may be made by mutual agreement prior to the execution of the Venue Leases, the Development and Disposition Agreements for the Legacy Leases and/or the Transfer Agreement.
· Ensuring the highest environmental standards and sustainability programs are used for the America’s Cup event as well as the infrastructure improvements as well as using local labor and workforce for the infrastructure improvements undertaken by the Event Authority.
· Securing MOUs from key third parties, specifically federal and state agencies with oversight and are key parties to a successful hosting of the America’s Cup in San Francisco These include: the Coast Guard, FAA, FCC, GGNRA, Homeland Security, BCDC, to name a few.
· Affirmatively stating that the Board of Supervisors and/or the Port of San Francisco will have future discretionary approvals for the execution of the Venue Leases, Development and Disposition Agreements, Legacy Leases and Transfer Agreement, as well as any potential CEQA appeals.