Doubling the amount of office space and tripling the number of homes are just some of the milestones called out in the new Downtown master plan headed for a Nov. 15 vote by the City Council. In the works for nearly three years, the planning package includes four documents: the Downtown Community Plan, a revised redevelopment plan, a new Planned District Ordinance and an EIR. The collection foresees, at Centre City buildout, 29.2 million square feet of office and 53,100 homes. The number of jobs would grow from 74,500 today (with 15,900 in the pipeline) to 167,700. The population would go from 27,500 today (with 13,900 coming) to 89,100.

With its block-by-block breakdown, the Downtown Community Plan will become the bible of what is allowed where, and how much of what can be built. Some of it is ambitious, such as covering I-5 with parks from First to Eighth avenues and, perhaps later, at G Street. While the bulk of the planning work is done, various interests are still out nibbling at the details to gain an advantage. The big unknown is whether labor, fresh off significant City Council successes with passing a living wage law and revising Ballpark Village, will try to insert a Community Benefits Agreement provision into the final version.

The plan is available for viewing at ccdc.com. Scroll down near the bottom left side of the home page.