SAN FRANCISCO | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

It was most likely never viewable from that angle due to being hidden by 555 California Street. Even when the top can be seen, the Pyramid has been insignificant from many south to north views for decades.

I'm older--Herb Cain and I saw it.

[BobbyMucho]

A couple of shots of some mid-rise projects from around the city just before the holidays...

First, a few from the projects on 16th, in the Mission (not shown, 1950 Mission and 2060 Folsom / 17th & Folsom):

1990 Folsom — Growing quickly.



490 Van Ness — Patiently waiting to see this one finished and hoping it turns out ok.



From Hayes Valley:

Parcel O - Finally complete and filled in (not shown Parcel T which is prob close to done with frame and foundation by now).



From Market St:

950 Market / Serif — Slowly rising above the fence.



1066 Market — Nearing completion, with a large hole next store for 1088.



There are a few more in the Mission around 14th and Valencia that I'll try to get pics of the next time I'm over there, too.

[timbad]

posted this in the Mission Bay thread also, but for more general consumption:

looks like work on Mission Rock may have begun

[timbad]

skyline from Potrero Hill last weekend

[Pedestrian]

FYI - New thread (Proposals): 598 Brannan St (Brannan Square)

[fimiak]

300 Grant

Proposal:



Reality:

[Pedestrian]

^^Somehow I don't think that's going to age well.

[patriotizzy]

Good grief that is garrish. Who's going to take the time to clean all that scattered surface area on the shitty outer cross-bracing? It's a dust,dirt, grime magnet.

Not to mention the design of it looks unfinished, a temporary placeholder for a permanent building.

Wtf?

[Jerry of San Fran]

A view from my apartment of some of what is happening now to give a view of how much is going on. A lot of construction going on! The yellow insulation on the building in the foreground left is an addition of what appears to be an elevator shaft & new roof.

When I was out last night I noticed that the Fox Plaza has some subtle lighting from top to bottom on the south side of the building, a first for this 50 year old building. I presume the same lighting scheme is on the north side as well.

View from my Apartment

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

When I was out last night I noticed that the Fox Plaza has some subtle lighting from top to bottom on the south side of the building, a first for this 50 year old building. I presume the same lighting scheme is on the north side as well.

August 28, 2018

. . . the Plaza’s new ownership team is about to launch a two-pronged renovation project “to greatly improve the appearance” of its 29-story tower.

In addition to a fresh coat of paint, new exterior lights will be added to the spandrels on the north and south sides of the tower, running from the ground to its rooftop (which will be illuminated along with the tower’s 13th floor).

https://socketsite.com/archives/2018...ghborhood.html

I assume you were noticing the progress they've made in 18 months. Has the brown to gray transition also been completed?

[Jerry of San Fran]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

https://socketsite.com/archives/2018...ghborhood.html

I assume you were noticing the progress they've made in 18 months. Has the brown to gray transition also been completed?

Pedestrian - yes, the gray painting has ended. My balcony is gray from top to bottom. The broken concrete on the floor has been repaired & sealed. I am surprised that I actually like the grey - I usually don't like that color. My balcony was closed of a month while the work was being done - my privacy is back! I call the Fox Plaza the Wincester House as work is constant here. As I speak a major remodel is happening at night in the business lobby.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

Pedestrian - yes, the gray painting has ended. My balcony is gray from top to bottom. The broken concrete on the floor has been repaired & sealed. I am surprised that I actually like the grey - I usually don't like that color. My balcony was closed of a month while the work was being done - my privacy is back! I call the Fox Plaza the Wincester House as work is constant here. As I speak a major remodel is happening at night in the business lobby.

I have discovered work needs to be almost constant at a building of that size and age. They're doing it at mine too which is not as tall but has a much larger footprint. We are in the middle of a multiyear project to replace the windows (thank G*d mine have been completed--like with your balcony, I had scaffolding in front of my windows for 2 summers (I face both east and west so one summer on each side). We've already redone the roof (which I was happy about because I'm on the top floor and had some leaks where the roof met the parapet). Some years ago the building was covered with an elastomeric coating--sort of like paint but more protective--and I'm guessing it will soon be time to redo that. We've replaced hallway carpeting at least twice I can recall, new hallway light fixtures at least once. And the elevators need constant work (we all knew the developer cut corners on those in the beginning). And we've redone the lobby floor at least twice, replaced the furniture at least once. All this since the building was new in 1982.

Since mine is a condo, CA law requires a 30-year plan for projected maintenance (and where the money is coming to pay for it) and we've got stuff planned out that far. The plan has to be redone every year too.

If I lived in a rental building like Fox Plaza, I'd be glad the owner has deep enough pockets (like Essex) to keep up with the maintenance to keep it nice.

[Pedestrian]

Is some housing better than none? SF project wins key OK after arguing for break on city’s demands
Dominic Fracassa Jan. 23, 2020 Updated: Jan. 23, 2020 6:38 p.m.

A blighted lot once home to the Lucky Penny restaurant cleared a major hurdle Thursday toward a long-awaited transformation into 101 apartments in a neighborhood that has seen little new housing development in recent years.

Some six years after the developer, Presidio Bay Ventures, bought the parcel, San Francisco’s Planning Commission unanimously approved legislation allowing the company to pay a $4.5 million fee to meet its affordable-housing obligations, rather than build below-market-rate units on-site.

As the developer grappled with ballooning costs, Thursday’s vote was a make-or-break decision for the project’s viability, the project’s supporters said.

In a scenario emblematic of the difficulties and expense of building housing in San Francisco, Presidio Bay’s Cyrus Sanandaji said it could no longer afford to build below-market-rate units at the site . . . .

Initial projected construction costs at the Lucky Penny site rose from $38 million a little more than two years ago to $49 million today while the firm worked to win approvals for the project at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue. Presidio Bay had originally agreed to rent 23 units at below-market rates, but it now says it would not be able to finance the project under those constraints . . . .

The project had already won approval to increase its density from 21 units . . . .

Commissioners were ultimately swayed in part because Stefani said the $4.5 million will be earmarked for affordable housing near the project. They were also receptive to support from seven representatives from the building and construction trades who also urged the commissioners to approve the legislation. Presidio Bay has committed to using only unionized labor to build the 101 units . . . .

. . . shovels in the ground this year . . . .

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-14999931.php

Truly awesomely stupid that something like this could take 6 years to be finally approved (or rejected).

[Busy Bee]

Unbelievable ( I mean believable )

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by timbad

skyline from Potrero Hill last weekend

Simply gorgeous!

[timbad]

parts of the little temporary parks around Park Tower are open now. this is the one on Howard and Main







... and the one along Beale, looking north



... and south. anyone remember the restaurant that used to be here, when the sidewalk was crooked from the ghost of the freeway ramp?

[timbad]

Serif on Market definitely showing strongly now





down the road a bit, 1066 Market



1028 Market next door has its own thread


oh, go Niners!



(I'm going out on a limb to assume these colors mean SF's red-and-gold, not the Chiefs' red-and-gold)

[timbad]

16th St is one of the City streets getting a make-over. my walk today took me along it, and I tried to visit as many of the projects that I was aware of getting built either directly on it or within 2-3 blocks.

its eastern end starts next to Chase Center, and is covered in the Mission Bay thread, so won't include here. but moving to the west...

16th is the border between Potrero Hill to the south, and Showplace Square to the north.

in Showplace Square, you have 1 De Haro...



... the CCA housing



and, I know you probably can't tell from this pic, but there were some trucks and light equipment on site of the CCA expansion area, making me think it will indeed get underway fairly soon



should mention the (already reduced in scope) Recology site in passing, since that is the one that seems like it will be the linchpin that pulls that neighborhood together. but only in passing because it seems the City wants to weigh heavily how it will interact with the wider area, so I'd be surprised if anything happened there in the next 5 years.

on the Potrero Hill side, will also mention in passing the Corovan site, and Corovan site.

moving west, you have Alta Potrero



Mason on Mariposa



the back side passage





east side (Arkansas St)



88 Arkansas



continuing west into the Mission, the KQED building is getting renovated...



down the street from KQED is 2000 Bryant, turning out quite nice



I think that gap is where the affordable building will go



I like how the corner looks different, not sure if that is preserved



the project going up near 17th and Folsom is visible from some distance away now



closer



looking towards 16th St, its relation to the next one



so now back on 16th itself, 1990 Folsom:



490 S Van Ness on the corner with 16th, still shrouded



looking down 16th to show the relation of the last two



almost just pivoting from the location of the previous shot, looking past the 16th St BART station at the monstrous project at 1950 Mission St



I didn't go further west past the BART station, so am not sure if there is more up that way to see. there was nothing I could think of

here is a sample glimpse of some of the work in progress on 16th St itself: bus island, paving, landscaped sidewalk

[craigs]

2000 Bryant has really great brickwork. It may be an old-fashioned thing, but it has been done very well.

[bloobityblurp]

Nuru fallout: FBI also searched offices of SF permit consultant connected to 555 Fulton project developer



...The feds alleged Nuru accepted lodging, high-end liquor, and other gifts and benefits in return for helping that same unnamed billionaire developer from China win city approvals to push a multi-million-dollar project.

So just what was that multi million-dollar project, shepherded by this unnamed permit expediter?

Here’s what we know.

The complaint reveals the multi million-dollar development in question experienced multiple permitting delays, one of which was due to its defective windows, which were “made in Mexico.” That development would also feature a retail store on the ground level.

Multiple sources Tuesday said that the description of the development closely matched the 555 Fulton Project, featuring 139 condos, that was skewered by the Planning Department for replacing its defective windows with a new “glass exterior,” according to neighborhood news outlet Hoodline.

Much like the project detailed in Nuru’s complaint, 555 Fulton features a retail store on its ground level, in this case a Trader Joe’s grocery store, which as my San Francisco Examiner colleagues reported was made possible by chain-store exemptions attained by former Supervisor Vallie Brown and Mayor London Breed, in her days as a supervisor.

The 555 Fulton developers were also one-time clients of Wong during the project’s approval process.

Z & L Properties developed the Hayes Valley-based project. And Ethics Commission records show Z & L properties paid Walter Wong $24,000 for permit “consultancy” in one quarter of 2017 alone. Public documents disclosing Wong’s payments in 2018 were not posted on the Ethics Commission website.

As for Z & L Properties itself, that company is privately funded by a mega-developer from China, R & F Properties, according to multiple news reports. That developer is among China’s largest, according to the San Francisco Business Times, which bought the 555 Fulton site in 2015 along with another California property for $35 million.

R & F Properties was co-founded in 1994 by Li Sze Lim and Zhang Li, who netted spots on two Forbes lists — the China Rich List 2019 and Billionaires 2019 lists — with net worths of $2.9 billion and $3 billion, respectively.

In the complaint, Nuru bragged to his unnamed girlfriend that the unnamed billionaire seeking Nuru’s help owned multiple hotels. “He has a hundred and five, five-star hotels in China … and then we stayed at the Park Hyatt, he owns that one. And the last time I went with grandma we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton,” Nuru was detailed as saying in the complaint.

Li’s company, R&F Properties, owns the Ritz-Carlton and Park Hyatt hotels in Guangzhou, China, among many other hotels, according to multiple news reports....

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-colu...ulton-project/