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

[patriotizzy]

End the war. Divert all the money that would have been used there, and spend it on our country. Problem solved. Sorry, couldn't hold it in

[dr_strangelove]

I have not seen a PUC thread, so if there is one let me know and I'll post my pics there. Taken earlier on this beautiful 60° day. They are up to the 7th floor now.


Redwood Alley side of building


Polk st. side of building

[NOPA]

Great photos. About the redevelopment cuts, I know people will just hiss and rant at me, but does anybody remember the condo-conversion fee proposal Newsome mentioned a while ago? I wonder if there are other ideas similarly that could make up the funds (paying for air rights and embracing shadows, essentually, paying nice fees to get development regulation waived)

[dr_strangelove]

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[1977]

David Choo is back with Richard Meier at Market and Van Ness.

Investor David Choo back in S.F. market
Plans Market St. housing highrise
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen
Date: Friday, January 14, 2011, 3:00am PST
Related:
Residential Real Estate

Real estate investor David Choo is trying to rise from the ashes of the real estate collapse with a $126 million residential highrise at Van Ness Avenue and Market Street in San Francisco.
The development at 1540 Market St. would include a 400-foot tower with 180 housing units and a 65-foot podium building that would be connected to the tower by a third-story pedestrian bridge. The podium would house amenities for the residential building as well as space for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, located directly behind the site on Oak Street. The proposed project is being designed by “starchitect” Richard Meier, according to public records.
Between 2005 and 2008, Choo was one of the most active investors in San Franscisco, assembling major building sites at both First and Mission streets, across from the Transbay Terminal, and on the northwest corner of Van Ness and Market.
He bought four parcels at Van Ness and Market, shelling out more than $20 million to assemble the property. After the real estate crash, he unsuccessfully tried to unload the First and Mission properties as well as another site, 524 Howard St. On March 31, 2009, Choo’s commercial mortgage company, CMR Mortgage Fund II LLC, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern California.
Environmental Planner Michael Jacinta said the Market Street proposal is still in the early review process. The city is waiting for Choo’s team to complete a full-blown wind study for the site as well as a shadow study.
After those are analyzed, planners will determine the extent of the environmental impact study the developer will have to undertake. The site is part of the city’s 2007 Market-Octavia neighborhood plan, so the project could be eligible for a abbreviated environmental review process.
“When you have an area plan, there is the ability to streamline environmental review,” said Jacinta. “In some cases, you can streamline all of it, and in other cases streamline some and do focused analysis on other. In this case, it’s likely to be focused review plus community plan exemption.”
Meier designed the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Barcelona Museum of Art. He has not designed a building in San Francisco.


Read more: Investor David Choo back in S.F. market | San Francisco Business Times

Source:http://digital.bizjournals.com/launch.as...fab267-ce66-4540-8d5c-36e4cc8d9a38&skip=

[CyberEric]

This could be really really cool, thanks for posting!

[Jerry of San Fran]

Dr Stranglove - good pictures. I was by there yesterday & it is moving up fast.

[Jerry of San Fran]

1977 - thanks for the shocking news. A 400' tower is quite tall, but with a comparable highrise nearby it makes sense. There is the possibility that the 35 story tower at Market & 9th will start in a couple of months. The neighborhood will be quite different in about 5 years if all of the proposed building happens. I live 1 block from Van Ness & would like to see a more dense residential & business presense, particularly at night when the area is like a ghost town.

We got an Andersen's Bakery in the Fox Plaza last week & we are thankful for the new business.

[1977]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

1977 I live 1 block from Van Ness & would like to see a more dense residential & business presense, particularly at night when the area is like a ghost town.

I couldn't agree more! The Meier tower (I'm really excited to see what he comes up with) and the Glenn Rescalvo redesign at 10th and Market are really going to bring this area to life and help to further connect Upper Market to downtown.

[dr_strangelove]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

1977 - thanks for the shocking news. A 400' tower is quite tall, but with a comparable highrise nearby it makes sense. There is the possibility that the 35 story tower at Market & 9th will start in a couple of months. The neighborhood will be quite different in about 5 years if all of the proposed building happens. I live 1 block from Van Ness & would like to see a more dense residential & business presense, particularly at night when the area is like a ghost town.

We got an Andersen's Bakery in the Fox Plaza last week & we are thankful for the new business.

Market and Van Ness is the ugliest intersection in the city, yet also the juxtaposition of its two most major streets. The quirkiness of this city knows no end

[1977]

More Metreon news and renderings from http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/...

On Metreon’s dining-centric remodel; floorplans and renderings included

As we all know, the long-awaited Metreon redevelopment plan was given the blessing of the city recently. Target is the headliner, of course, but don’t forget that the revamp is a dining-centric one, so this is as good a time as any to share the latest on all that jazz.

The dining terrace, looking out onto Yerba Buena
Westfield is staying largely mum and won’t confirm or deny any tenants until construction gets closer, so there’s a chance that some tenants might change.

That said, the approved proposal plans and blueprints (pictured) indicate that the entire first floor will be dedicated to food and open to the street level on Mission and Fourth Streets. According to those same plans, street level restaurants include La Boulange Bakery, Best-O-Burger, Chipotle, Mixt Greens, and Brandy Ho’s Hunan.

In addition to the new first floor spaces, the existing 110-seat food court will balloon up to a 470-seat one, overlooking the park. New faces will include Coriander Thai, San Francisco Soup Co., Saigon Eats, and So Green Yogurt. Firewood Café, Buckhorn Grill, and Sanraku will stay on. Jillian’s won’t be going anywhere, either.

Tavern on the Green is no longer involved — the Manhattan location closed and declared bankruptcy, which will put a dent in anyone’s expansion plans. But the Westfield operators are still seeking a “single-user tenant to operate a large restaurant and event venue” on the fourth floor.

First the terrace facing Yerba Buena Gardens.

And a rendering of the dining area (YBG on the left).

Bonus-floor plan.


Source:http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/paololuc...odel-floorplans-and-renderings-included/

[1977]

More Mid-Market news: Trinity Place - Phase 2

New Tower Will Transform Market Street
Project may also restore the reputation of its notorious developer

By ZUSHA ELINSON on January 19, 2011 - 6:15 p.m. PST

Demolition will begin in the next few weeks on a small portion of yellow building in the foreground. It will be rebuilt into a 22-story apartment building.
Soon a 22-story apartment building will rise near San Francisco's Civic Center.

It will replace the defunct yellow low-rise hotel across from the Orpheum Theater. And it’s the next piece in the ambitious 1,900-unit development called Trinity Place by storied San Francisco real estate mogul Angelo Sangiacomo.

The construction, expected to start in late summer, will not only change the face of Market Street, but also continue to rebuild Sangiacomo’s image, according to some observers. He is often referred to as the “father of rent control” because his unilateral rent increases spurred San Francisco’s tough rent-control laws. But the deal he cut in 2005 to give low-income residents of the old buildings new apartments at the same rent-controlled price won him the plaudits of San Francisco’s staunch tenant advocates.

“The Trinity tenants all end up with dramatically better housing,” said Randy Shaw of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, who helped broker the deal along with then-Supervisor Chris Daly. “He not only kept his word, he went beyond his word. … I think he has changed his image.”

On a walking tour of Trinity Wednesday, Trinity Properties CFO Walter Schmidt said that demolition of 60 units of the low-rise building next to the existing tower will begin in the next few weeks.

Originally part of a Del Webb hotel, complete with a pool, the yellow building will get an additional 418 units in the rebuild and reach 22 stories.

While many developers have put projects on hold because they can't get banks to lend them money in the down economy, Trinity is moving forward because it's not relying on lenders, Schmidt said. The project has been financed "internally," he said.

The first phase, a 24-story building on Mission Street, is already built. Of the apartments there, 360 were kept under rent control; 225 of the original tenants living in the complex moved into new apartments in the building with their same low rents.

Trinity used an out-of-town architect, Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica. His firm is based in Miami — and it shows. Several people on the tour, which was arranged by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, commented that the building had a Miami feel, especially the lobby with its glassy exterior and zebra-striped marble-covered walls.

Source: http://www.baycitizen.org/development/story/new-tower-will-transform-market-street/

[CyberEric]

That would be a pretty nice building and be great for the area. Though I hope it looks better than the hideous thing they built on Mission Street.

Any idea how they are going to incorporate the tower into the old building?

[1977]

Originally Posted by CyberEric

That would be a pretty nice building and be great for the area. Though I hope it looks better than the hideous thing they built on Mission Street.

Any idea how they are going to incorporate the tower into the old building?

The old building will be leveled and replaced with 2 other buildings - one along Market at 8th and the other just west of the current tower (phase 1). Here are a couple of pictures:

The existing tower is at the top right corner:


Completed project with the 22 story tower in the foreground:

[NOPA]

Wow lots of news! Can't wait to see some of this to breakground. However, I really think SF needs to get some more towers over the 500' level. The skyline is kind of flat-lined. Is that too much to ask?

[CyberEric]

Ugh, that looks like a Tetris building. Any shots of the 22 story tower that would be built? You say the old building would be leveled and replaced with two others, but I thought I read that it was only a portion of the old building that would be leveled?

I agree with Nopa, sadly Nimby laws keep that from happening. I am not sure this is really an improvement if it is as ugly as this rendering makes it. In ten years the area will be uglier than ever.

[Jerry of San Fran]

Thanks 1977 for the good news that the Trinity Place project is moving along. I see the site from my window & really like the 1st building that was built & look forward to seeing whole project to completion. I was just talking to a friend about the project & was wondering if the 2nd phase would start this year. Every time I passed by the old motel, now empty, I wondered when the old eysore will be torn down. I'll post pictures from my balcony of the progress when it starts.

[1977]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

Thanks 1977I'll post pictures from my balcony of the progress when it starts.

Please do!

[1977]

Originally Posted by CyberEric

Ugh, that looks like a Tetris building. Any shots of the 22 story tower that would be built? You say the old building would be leveled and replaced with two others, but I thought I read that it was only a portion of the old building that would be leveled?

I agree with Nopa, sadly Nimby laws keep that from happening. I am not sure this is really an improvement if it is as ugly as this rendering makes it. In ten years the area will be uglier than ever.

I think they are only demolishing part of the old building to make way for the the 22 story building at the southwest corner (8th and Mission). I'm not positive how they are breaking up the phases. Maybe the 22 story addition will be built in phases as well? Maybe 2 phases and then another phase for the building along Market? I guess we'll find out soon.

[Gordo]

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