T.I.'s $1.5B Improvement Plan Gets Thumbs Up

A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee on Monday approved  a $1.5 billion project to transform Treasure Island, and the full board could  vote on the proposal in two weeks.

The board's Land Use and Economic Development Committee voted in  favor of the proposal, which would add up to 8,000 residential units, up to  140,000 square feet of commercial space and as much as 100,000 square feet of  new office space, as well as new and upgraded roads and infrastructure,  including a new ferry terminal.
   
The city has been working to redevelop the 404-acre island in the  middle of the Bay since the U.S. Navy closed its base there in 1997.

The island, constructed by the federal government in the late  1930s, requires extensive seismic retrofitting and flood protection.

Opponents have argued among other things that the project will add  to what is often already heavy traffic on the Bay Bridge.

The committee forwarded some of the financial items in the  agreement to be approved by the board's Budget and Finance Subcommittee on  May 11, according to Alisa Somera, the committee's clerk.

The full board could consider the project as soon as its meeting  on May 17.