One of the nation’s largest new urban

One of the nation’s largest new urban brownfield projects, Mission Bay in San Francisco, is facing difficulties with the recession and collapse of the office market in the Bay area, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Catellus Corp. has stopped construction on a 275,000 sq. ft. office building, the Examiner says, as a result of falling office rents and the bankruptcy of Internet consultant Marchfirst, a prospective tenant. However, city officials say that the project is driven mostly by the construction of 6,000 housing units — including the affordable Orlando Cepeda Project — which are moving forward. “We’re talking about San Francisco’s new neighborhood and nothing is going to stop that,” says P.J. Johnston, spokesman for Mayor Willie Brown. “Housing continues to drive this market and that housing is proceeding like gangbusters.” Planned by Johnson Fain Partners, Mission Bay is laid out on a modified orthogonal grid with block dimensions consistent with historic neighborhoods in the city.