Nine Concept Proposals Received to Create Campus for Change

Presidio of San Francisco (July 3, 2018) – Nine organizations responded to the Presidio Trust’s Request for Concept Proposals for the redevelopment of historic Fort Winfield Scott. Submissions describe how each organization would create a “Campus for Change” addressing the significant environmental and/or social challenges of our time on the magnificent 30-acre site within the Presidio of San Francisco, a unique national park at the Golden Gate.

The concept proposals are now posted on the Presidio Trust website, including:

• Campus for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
  Submitting Organizations: Equity Community Builders and World Economic Forum
• Epicenter for Climate Solutions
  Submitting Organizations: California Clean Energy Fund and EPIC Institute
• Fort Scott Campus for Change
  Submitting Organization: John Stewart Company
• National Center for Work-Learning-Service and Leadership in Sustainability
  Submitting Organization: Renewable Nations Institute
• OpenAI
  Submitting Organizations: OpenAI and Kilroy Realty Corporation
• Seneca Family of Agencies Proposal
  Submitting Organization: Seneca Family of Agencies
• Star Alliance Academy at Fort Scott Changing the World in Time
  Submitting Organizations: Star Alliance, Goodwill Values Education for All
• TAP Campus at Fort Scott
  Submitting Organizations: Concrete Preservation Institute, Cross Street Partners, McCormack Baron Salazar, UMBC Training Center, Ayers Saint Gross, Urban Strategies, and American Communities Trust
• WeWork Campus at Fort Scott​
  Submitting Organization: WeWork Companies, Inc.

“It is great to receive this level of interest,” said Jean Fraser, CEO of the Presidio Trust. “Given Fort Winfield Scott’s setting in the heart of a national park and its legacy of service, we’re looking for a proposal worthy of the place. The Presidio Trust board now has the hard challenge of deciding which of these proposals, if any, to advance.”

The Request for Concept Proposals is the first phase of a two-step process to determine the future of Fort Winfield Scott. The Presidio Trust board will consider the concept proposals at their next public meeting (4:30pm, July 25 at the Presidio Officers’ Club, 50 Moraga Avenue in the Presidio of San Francisco). Following the meeting, The Presidio Trust will invite select respondents to submit a more detailed proposal at a later date.

The public is encouraged to provide written public comment on the concept proposals through July 23 by email or mail. The public is also invited to attend the July 25 public board meeting to share their comments about the project and the proposals.

The Presidio Trust issued the Request for Concept Proposals in January 2018, seeking a qualified and mission-driven organization to reimagine one of the largest groups of unrenovated historic buildings in the Presidio, a former US Army installation that has been transformed into a national park during the past two decades.

The Presidio Trust conducted extensive outreach about the Fort Winfield Scott Request for Concept Proposals to organizations across the country resulting in national news coverage and direct marketing to hundreds of foundations and organizations. The Trust conducted multiple tours for nearly 400 people, held a formal respondents conference, and hosted several information sessions to answer questions and clarify the Request for Concept Proposals, which was downloaded from the Fort Winfield Scott website more than 900 times.

Timeline for the process is as follows:

Project Requirements

Proponents must create a mission-aligned campus, have the financial and management capacity to finance and oversee the rehabilitation of 20 buildings totaling 280,000 square feet of space, and to make infrastructure improvements throughout the campus. Respondents could opt to include two additional buildings totaling 15,000 square feet of space. New construction of up to 20,000 square feet could also be considered.

Presidio Trust Track Record of Historic Developments

In partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the Presidio Trust has been leading the Presidio’s national park transformation for two decades. The Presidio is the only national park that receives no funding from Congress and must earn all of its own funds to operate. It does so through rehabilitating historic buildings with new uses that earn revenue. The Presidio Trust has completed or overseen many successful large-scale historic rehabilitation projects. These include the Lodge at the Presidio, which opened in 2018, the Inn at the Presidio, the Walt Disney Family Museum, Futures without Violence, and the Letterman Digital Arts Center. Of the more than 700 structures in the Presidio, 470 are on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Fort Scott History

Fort Winfield Scott, named for the most prominent U.S. Army officer of the 19th century, was initially established as an independent post for the Coast Artillery Corps. While located within the Presidio Army post, Fort Winfield Scott functioned separately with its own commander until after World War II. Over the course of half a century, it served as headquarters for the defense of the Bay Area’s coastline, from the era of breech loaded, rifled guns to Nike missiles. Constructed between 1909 and 1912, the Fort Scott barracks feature the earliest example of the Mission Revival architectural style at the Presidio.

About the Presidio

The Presidio served as a military installation from its establishment in 1776 as Spain’s northern-most outpost of colonial power in the New World, later passing to Mexico and then the United States. In 1972, Congress created one of the world’s largest national parks in an urban setting – the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) – and declared that the Presidio would be part of the GGNRA should the military ever leave. At the end of the Cold War in 1989, Congress decided to close the Presidio. Its 218-year tenure as a military post ended in 1994 when the U.S. Army lowered its flag for the last time and the Presidio became a national park.

Since then, the Presidio has undergone a “post to park” transformation. The Presidio Trust, the National Park Service, and the non-profit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy have built 24 miles of walking and 25 miles of biking trails, cleaned up beaches; restored native plants and habitats, and rehabilitated hundreds of historic buildings as visitor destinations, homes, and workplaces.