Dismissal of Big Condo Suit Against S.F. Urged

SAN FRANCISCO —  A court-appointed referee has recommended dismissal of Los Angeles developer Richard W. Traweek’s $100-million lawsuit accusing San Francisco city officials of conspiring to block his plans for a major condominium project.

Traweek claimed in his suit that Mayor Dianne Feinstein and other officials, acting with local developers, had an ordinance passed that limited condominium developments to expressly block Traweek’s proposal to convert a 720-unit apartment.

Traweek, represented by former Mayor Joseph Alioto’s law firm, claimed he failed to win the project’s approval because he angered local officials and developers by failing to hire a City Hall lobbyist.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson appointed Thomas Jorde, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, as a so-called special master to hear Traweek’s claims. Jorde’s Dec. 31 report was made public Thursday.

Ordinance OK

Jorde concluded that state law allowed the city to pass an ordinance limiting condominium conversions to 200 a year and preventing conversion of buildings with more than 25 apartments.

Attorney John Alioto, a son of the former mayor, said he will ask Henderson to overrule Jorde’s recommendation and allow the suit to proceed.

“Oftentimes judges appoint special masters and oftentimes judges reverse what the special masters find,” Alioto said. “This (ruling) is too far out for me, and I think it will be too far out for Judge Henderson. . . . What is shocking is that the special master acknowledges that there was an agreement or conspiracy between San Francisco officials and private developers. But then he goes on to say the law doesn’t prevent it, and that is absolutely ridiculous.”

The city attorney could not be reached for comment.