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Project Background

In July 2003, the Board of Port Commissioners initiated the Downtown Historic Harborfront Redevelopment Site Design Competition. The Board selected the Sasaki/Quigley plan as the winning entry on June 8, 2004. The plan, which involves rehabilitation of the OPH, incorporation of downtown street grid, and a large circular pier extending into the bay, cannot be fully implemented until 2018. Furthermore, components of the estimated $213 million plan may also be constrained by regulatory, technological, institutional, and economic factors.

For these reasons, the Port looked for a project that could be implemented quickly, one that would revitalize the unproductive OPH site without precluding the ultimate development of the Downtown Historic Harborfront Redevelopment Concept. In August 2004, the Board of Port Commissioners directed staff to investigate ways to rectify the blighted condition of Old Police Headquarters and to consider ways in which the site may be developed in the immediate future without compromising the ability of the Port to award rights to another developer in the future for the development of the Downtown Historic Harborfront plan.

It was determined that the rehabilitation of OPH and development of additional park land to the west of the site would not preclude the eventual implementation of the Sasaki/Quigley Plan and that these elements could be implemented independent of a long-term redevelopment plan for the Downtown Historic Harborfront.