SkyscraperPage Forum - SAN FRANCISCO | 610-698 Brannan Street (SF Flower Mart) | 500 FT

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SAN FRANCISCO | 610-698 Brannan Street (SF Flower Mart) | 500 FT | 28-49 FLOORS

Quote:

New Renderings Revealed For 610-698 Brannan Street, SoMa, San Francisco
BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:30 AM ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

The San Francisco planning commission is scheduled to vote tomorrow on office floor space authorization for the Flower Mart redevelopment plan at 610-698 Brannan Street in SoMa. The full-block project is expected to completely reshape the property with over two million square feet of new floor area with offices, retail, and POPOS. Kilroy Realty is the owner and project developer.

. . . Kilroy is looking to approve 676,800 square feet of office space as required by the 1986-era Proposition. The floor area in question is split relatively evenly between Market Hall and the Gateway.

RIOS Clementi Hale Studios is the design architect, James Corner Field Operations is the landscape architect, and Adamson Architect is the executive architect. While design programs will vary across the three structures, the facade material will include curtain walls, precast concrete, granite, and basalt cladding. BKF Engineers will be the civil engineer . . . .

The Wholesale Flower Market, once expected to span over a hundred thousand square feet of ground level, is no longer included in the development as the San Francisco Flower Mart Tenants Association opted to move to a new location at 901 16th Street on the border of Potrero Hill and SoMa . . . .

The multi-structure development at 610-698 Brannan Street will produce a total of roughly 2.2 million square feet across 6.6 acres, with 2,025,520 square feet for office use, 30,930 square feet for publicly accessible retail, and 22,690 square feet for child care. The below-grade parking garage will have a capacity for 506 vehicles and 575 bicycles across less than half a million square feet.

The largest building to be built is The Blocks, spanning roughly 1.32 million square feet with a 242-foot tall peak 17 floors high, slightly taller than previously massed. Market Hall will rise 148 feet with 382,120 square feet, and the Gateway Building will top off at 216 feet above street level with 352,880 square feet inside. Proposed office amenities include public events and conference facilities, shared workspace, and exhibition rooms across the project.

The three-structure layout proposed for 610-698 Brannan Street is centered around the Market Alley, a mid-block pedestrian path from 5th street to the Brannan Plaza. The alleyway creates a privately owned public area lined with seating, landscaped parks, and retail between the three structures. There will be 123,240 square feet of usable open space on-site, including 41,230 square feet of POPOS. Records show 71 trees will be added to the site.

James Corner Field will incorporate various native plants and flowers in bright, coordinated displays of color. The flower displays will be integrated into entryway gardens and origami-shaped furniture installations. Each planter will integrate plans that meet certain criteria for the site, including wind resistance, shade tolerance, sun preferences, and watering needs.

Construction is expected to last four and a half years from ground-breaking to completion at a cost of $400 million. The construction job price estimate is not inclusive of the full development cost.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to review plans tomorrow, September 23, at 1 PM. For more information, see the meeting agenda here. The department is expected to approve the office floorspace authorization of 676,800 square feet with conditions based on the staff recommendation.

https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...os-777x443.jpg

https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...Operations.jpg

https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...CH-Studios.jpg

https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...CH-Studios.jpg

https://sfyimby.com/2021/09/new-rend...francisco.html

Quote:

S.F. neighborhood was supposed to become an extension of downtown. Instead, it’s in a ‘deep freeze’
By Laura Waxmann, J.K. Dineen
July 15, 2024

The area’s decline is likely to accelerate late this summer when one of Central SoMa’s last remaining active hubs, the San Francisco Flower Mart, relocates to the foot of Potrero Hill. Spread across warehouses at 640 Brannan St. for 68 years, the Flower Mart buzzes with life early in the morning as trucks pull up with Ecuadorian roses or dahlias from Figone’s nursery in Half Moon Bay.

...

The flower market’s move caps a long saga about the future of the historic institution and how it would fit into the new Central SoMa. As city planners worked on rezoning the neighborhood, real estate investment trust Kilroy Realty bought the land for roughly $70 million and pitched plans to redevelop it into what would become the pillar of the Central SoMa plan: a more than 2 million square foot office campus, spread across three new buildings ranging between eight and 18 stories in height.

The deal — which includes spaces set aside for artisan and small-scale manufacturers — was the culmination of years of negotiations with the city, flower vendors and historic preservationists who fought to save the flower mart. Meanwhile, for Kilroy, the price tag kept going up: the developer agreed to pay $166 million in community fees, including $54 million for affordable housing, committed to building a new home for the Flower Mart and to help fund its operations post-relocation. In 2019, Kilroy paid another $99 million for a 1-acre industrial site at the base of Potrero Hill to make good on the latter promise.

In total, Kilroy has spent a total of $579 million on assembling the sites at Central SoMa and Potrero Hill, and delivering a new facility for the vendors — without putting a shovel in the dirt in Central SoMa.

Meanwhile, Kilroy is trying to figure out what to do with the property once the flower mart leaves. The group has brought in brokers to assess its value, but does not plan on selling it, according to Kilroy vice president of development Mike Grisso.

Grisso did confirm that Kilroy is “actively looking for tenants” to lease out the Brannan Street warehouses on a “temporary basis” once the Flower Mart relocates this year. He added that the developer remains “enthusiastic” about the Flower Mart site’s long-term prospects.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/artic...n-19522607.php

Quote:

Exclusive: Developer revives long-stalled S.F. megaproject with thousands of homes, offices in mix
By Laura Waxmann, Staff Writer
Updated Sep 13, 2025 3:06 p.m.

San Francisco’s sluggish economic comeback is gaining traction, and now, another developer is reviving a long-stalled megaproject that was shelved during the pandemic. Kilroy Realty Corp. is seeking to reboot its 2 million-square-foot office campus in the city’s Central SoMa neighborhood, which is planned to rise on a collection of properties centered around the former San Francisco Flower Market site at Sixth and Brannan streets. To do so, the project could change shape significantly: Kilroy filed an application with the city Friday to modify the current design, which features three office buildings ranging from 11 to 17 stories high. The application shows that the developer has pitched four versions of the project approved in 2019 — with mixes of housing, office, lab and institutional space on the table — seemingly trying to stay flexible as the future remains uncertain.

...

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/54/42/...io4x3_960.webp

In all four variants proposed for Kilroy’s Central SoMa project, a 22,000-square-foot child care facility and roughly 1,000 square feet of community space that were promised as part of the original project have been nixed, while the amount of parking that the project would provide has been significantly increased, as have building heights.

One version of the modified project for which Kilroy is seeking approval remains office-heavy: The developer has proposed constructing five new buildings containing roughly 2.6 million square feet of office or lab space, up to 100,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of institutional space and more than 800 parking spaces. The buildings in this version of the project would range from 11 to 18 stories. A second version of the project, referred to as “Residential Variant 1,” would involve the developer using the state density bonus law to build 3,532 new homes across seven buildings with a maximum height of 500 feet, or up to 49 stories. The housing project would also include 100,000 square feet of retail space and more than 1,800 parking spaces. The project also has a “Mixed-Use Variant,” which would feature about one-third of the number of units planned in the residential variant, along with 1.5 million square feet of office or lab space, 100,000 square feet of commercial space and more than 1,000 parking spaces across five buildings rising as high as 480 feet, or 47 stories. The final version of the project is known as the “Institutional Variant.” It proposes the construction of roughly 1.4 million square feet of medical or institutional space, 1.2 million square feet for office and lab tenants, plus retail space and parking, across five buildings rising to a maximum height of 270 feet, or 18 stories.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realesta...t-21046377.php

I'd probably opt for Variant 1 Residential as the clear first choice and then Variant 2 Mixed Use as a second option. Project Commercial and Variant 3 Institutional are too short and don't include any housing.

The specs for Variant 1 Residential:
- Total of 7 buildings from 28-49 floors, 500 ft
- 3,532 residential units
- 100,000 sq ft of retail
- Parking for 1,833 cars and 1,170 bicycles

The specs for Variant 2 Mixed Use:
- Total of 5 buildings from 11-47 floors, 480 ft
- 1,242 residential units
- 1.49 million sq ft of offices
- 100,000 sq ft of retail
- Parking for 1,115 cars and 812 bicycles

The site:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ycai4g3j1MGrW22z9

Quote:

Plans Shift For Flower Market Site Redevelopment in SoMa, San Francisco

https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...ew-777x423.jpg

By: Andrew Nelson 5:30 am on September 16, 2025

Updated plans have been filed for the redevelopment of the former Flower Market site at 610 Brannan Street in SoMa, San Francisco. The application considers four potential scenarios, ranging from offices to housing a few blocks away from the San Francisco Caltrain Station. The Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty is the project developer.

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https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploa...-by-Kilroy.jpg

The four different visions brought forward by Kilroy illustrate how confidence in San Francisco’s economic recovery has significantly improved, but questions remain about how the demand will materialize.

Kilroy recently completed construction of the new permanent home for the Wholesale Flower Market at 901 16th Street. The market relocated to the Potrero Hill space at the beginning of this year.

The project is anticipated to cost around $500 million, an estimated figure not inclusive of all development costs. According to the application, construction is anticipated to start as early as 2027.

https://sfyimby.com/2025/09/plans-sh...francisco.html

I agree Variant 1 is most desirable, but a bit crowded on that site. I would even more prefer this variant combined into fewer towers, but taller. It's still probably better to propose 500' maximum height at this early time, though. Let's see which variant actually gets picked first.

Exciting that this is still in the mix! I actually really liked the design of the original proposal, I think the food hall and plaza would've made for some great placemaking and added a proper destination for that part of SoMa. Hopefully variant 1 or 2 is built - not even for the height but just to bring a bit more life into the area.

I was curious what variant one might look like on the skyline and did this super rough sketch eyeballing the diagram and using 500ft as the max height for the taller towers in it.

https://i.imgur.com/GiCydHv.png

https://i.imgur.com/hY4I4cT.png

https://i.imgur.com/PWg8Wrb.png

https://i.imgur.com/e1Mzw1I.png

That's fucking gorgeous obemearg

Thank you for creating that. We DEFINITELY need some height around that area of town. It will be the start of many!

That’s for putting that nice visualization together, obemearg! I have long dreamed of 80 being surrounded by highrises on both sides creating a Tokyo style canyon effect on the highway. Hopefully this will be the beginning of that!