Base Training At The Presidio

"The circumstances and personalities that have given rise to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco are unlikely to be repeated in the Bay Area or anywhere else. One element that is hard to repeat is the presence of a former military base--the Presidio--that lies entirely within the boundaries of San Francisco, offering an opportunity for large-scale development in a city that is both 'built out' and hostile to major projects.

The Presidio is a park-like place with hundreds of historic buildings. In fact, it could serve as a development lesson to the development consultants now beating their heads against the historic walls of pastoral Governor's Island in New York Harbor, as they try to figure out how to deal with that former Coast Guard base."