40 stories is probably more than a little absurd, but you can definitely take an area that size and build in high rise buildings.

Of course, you'd need do some infrastructure upgrades. It takes years to build high rise buildings. That is more than enough to add streets, buses that run to the nearest caltran stop.

>Second of all -- cut a deal with who? Not just Buena Vista residents, the whole city. Nobody wants that. A developer would have to be insane to even try.

That's sort my point. The whole bay area has a Luddite view on developing their cities. Zoning and permitting processes are designed to manage growth, but in California they are there to prevent it.