77 S.F. Port tenants must move for America's Cup

While much of 2010 was spent capturing the right to host the next America's Cup, the city must now focus on getting ready for sailing's premier regatta.

Mayor Ed Lee announced a new committee to help deal with the logistics of the race Tuesday while port officials began the process of working with the 77 businesses that will need to be relocated to host the races.

Port officials say the 77 waterfront tenants will need to clear out within the next two years - most by the end of 2011 - to make way for the development associated with the 2013 race.

While acknowledging that rent-paying tenants are the long-term future of the port, officials said the short-term demands of hosting the race - expected to create 8,000 jobs and add $1.2 billion to the local economy - were of more immediate concern.

"The America's Cup is for a short time, demands the use of a lot of space and we feel that is the best use (of our property) right now," Jonathan Stern, the port's assistant deputy director of waterfront development, told a delegation of city officials touring the waterfront.

The city has no intention of leaving the tenants - including Teatro ZinZanni, Bauer's Worldwide Transportation and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce - homeless, Stern said.

"We're going to help find a location or work with other city agencies to help find them a place," he said, noting that many tenants need only warehouse space, which is easy to find in other parts of the city.

But some tenants said they were concerned they may be forgotten while the city focuses on the high-profile race for the next few years.

Teatro ZinZanni, a cabaret show that sits between Piers 27 and 29, has known for years that the port was eyeing its real estate to build an oft-discussed cruise ship terminal, said Karen Ames, spokeswoman for the nonprofit theater. But its leaders didn't know the port was serious until they were told Thursday they had to find a new home by year's end, she said.

Pier 27 will become the public hub of the race and a cruise ship terminal once the race is over, according to the city.

Ames said city officials have helped ease some of the theater's concerns.

"We got the message loud and clear that the city is ready to work," she said. "We're so grateful and we feel a lot better."

Others, including the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, have already found new space. The chamber, which leases space on Pier 27 to build and store floats for the Chinese New Year Parade, has found a new home on Pier 50, said Arnold Chin, director of the parade.

The official eviction notice didn't come as a surprise, he said. After all, the plan for Pier 27 had been in the paper for weeks before the decision was actually made, he said.

"Most people just kind of blew it off," Chin said, referring to the port's warnings. "I think they were just waiting for a final document in writing. And when you wait for that, you know, it is often too late."

Lee said his executive steering committee would ensure the city is prepared for an economic sporting event surpassed only by soccer's World Cup and the Olympics.

The committee will focus on the expedited planning process, public safety concerns, the number of hotel rooms in the city and the ability of Muni to handle the hundreds of thousands of people expected to flock to the city, he said.

E-mail Will Kane at wkane@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle