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

[fimiak]

Pics of the 1400 Mission St concrete pour tonight!

[mt_climber13]

When a developer selects an architect, how far is it typically until construction? Is the architect the first step, or does securing permits and entitlements happen before? The Transbay Tower has taken over 6 years from selection of architect to construction.

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by minesweeper

It looks like John King updated the story. This version says it's the 100 block of Folsom, aka Transbay Block 1, across the street from the Infinity:



It makes sense since Tishman acquired part of the block last year. Tishman still has to acquire the remaining part of Block 1 from the city before they can develop the lot.

Socketsite also suggested the possibility that the hire could be related to the bidding for Block 8.

I sure hope it's the latter, since that is zoned for a taller building. But even at 300', anything close to Aqua would be awesome. I love that building.

Thanks for the pics, fimiak. It's cool that you're going to have so many new neighbors in the coming years.

[Jerry of San Fran]

fimiak - great nighttime pictures. I hope to own a camera one day for low light. I was tipped off by bright lights shining on my balcony last night that work was being done.

[fimiak]

Its just an iPhone 4S

Today's 5S is significantly better, and the next iteration will probably improve the low light even more. In a few I will get pictures of today, now that the entire pad has been poured. They have been working (loudly) nonstop for the past 12 hours at least and are still going.

[simms3_redux]

According to Bisnow, Salesforce is close to inking a 300,000 SF lease at TB Tower.

So in addition to that, rumors abound for Trulia signing a 100,000 SF lease at 535 Mission, LinkedIn still in the market for ~200,000 SF (after CBSi decided to stay put and not lease half of Foundry III), Pinterest still in the market for similar square footage but circling 270 Brannan, and DropBox supposedly taking all of 345 Brannan after taking all of 333 Brannan next door.

There's always the Google rumors (which favor Mission Bay), etc etc. And apparently the Warriors are ok with moving across the canal to Mission Bay if they can't complete a deal for piers 30-32.

So leasing velocity is really strong in the city! And if Salesforce is true (not only that the website is now live with marketing office opening next week) then it sounds like TB Tower is certainly on track to be built.

BTW, I came across the Bay Bridge this past weekend and counted something like 20 tower cranes in easy sight:

4 for Lumina
4+ in Mission Bay
1 for ORH North
1 for 399 Fremont
1 for 45 Lansing
2 for SFMOMA
1 for 535 Mission
1 for Hampton Inn
2 for 5th and Mission
1 for St. Anthony's
1 for 100 Van Ness
1 for the project on Broadway

Of course there are many other cranes throughout the city, but these were all sort of in my face coming off the bridge.

[mt_climber13]

350 Mission is zoned for 750'. The developers could have built to code and Salesforce could have stayed in one building, instead of three buildings across the street from each other. And SF could have had another tall tower on its skyline.

[tall/awkward]

I feel you waka, but on the bright side: maybe the interest by Salesforce will help finally get the Transbay Tower rising, and I remember reading on sfpanning.org's site that they're going to allow some towers to rise higher than what they're zoned for considering that other towers, such as the Salesforce building, will undershoot their mark. 181 Fremont was zoned for 700, and 50 1st St was being considered for 915, despite being in an 850 zone. I also heard the Sheraton Palace tower was being considered for 723 in a 600-foot zone, but that one seems to have disappeared.

[simms3_redux]

I wish SF had zoning laws similar to NYC whereby you can sell air rights? I believe even Atlanta has something to that effect on a couple corridors. For instance, Kilroy proformas out a 450' building, but could have gone up to 750'. However, maybe they found more value in selling the unused air rights to someone like BP, Hines, or Jay Paul, three other area developers who maybe only had zoning to 650', but wanted something like 950', etc. That way you add another metric for different shops to play with, allowing them even more flexibility to play with risk and return and better cater individual investments in a large/expensive market such as SF to the $$$ pockets that these investments are in. This could serve to increase desirability for SF real estate and affect pricing in both directions, potentially (bc you have another metric that could be valued different ways, one group going somewhat short on square footage and another off-site nearby going long on additional square footage - could serve to increase communication between different developers in the area as well?). I could be way off base, but while the strict zoning is serving to eliminate uncertainty in the area, which is always another factor that real estate investors such as BP, Kilroy, Hines, etc all look at, it also limits flexibility.

SF citizens would never go for air rights. It takes the voter/citizen completely out of the zoning argument, even the planning department to a degree, so cranky SF NIMBY citizens would be 2 steps removed from having a say, as opposed to just 1.

[JWS]

Looks like something is happening at the corner of Van Ness and Washington, on the same block as Marlow (which is gorgeous, in my opinion, just waiting to see what the retail tenants will be but given that it's Van Ness, not holding my breath for something awesome). Former Zip Car lot, it looks like they are demolishing right now. Any news? Is this just a preemptive demo or is there something concrete ready to go?

Also, looks like work is now very much under progress for the Boys and Girls Club in Hayes Valley, as well as the new development at Gough/Grove across from 300 Ivy. Some nice little infill spots I drive by every day on my commute that will be fun to watch.

[minesweeper]

Originally Posted by JWS

Looks like something is happening at the corner of Van Ness and Washington, on the same block as Marlow (which is gorgeous, in my opinion, just waiting to see what the retail tenants will be but given that it's Van Ness, not holding my breath for something awesome). Former Zip Car lot, it looks like they are demolishing right now. Any news? Is this just a preemptive demo or is there something concrete ready to go?

Sounds like you're talking about 1868 Van Ness, which has recently sprung to life after first being approved seven years ago. It's going to be eight stories mixed-use, with 35 units and 35 parking spaces.

It's so old that there apparently are no renderings to be found online. But here's an old planning commission document from 2005 and some detailed blueprints (warning: large PDF).

[ElDuderino]

Originally Posted by tall/awkward

I feel you waka, but on the bright side: maybe the interest by Salesforce will help finally get the Transbay Tower rising, and I remember reading on sfpanning.org's site that they're going to allow some towers to rise higher than what they're zoned for considering that other towers, such as the Salesforce building, will undershoot their mark. 181 Fremont was zoned for 700, and 50 1st St was being considered for 915, despite being in an 850 zone. I also heard the Sheraton Palace tower was being considered for 723 in a 600-foot zone, but that one seems to have disappeared.

The zoned heights are roof heights and do not include architectural elements, so yes, a building could potentially go over the zoned height if they add a spire or crown or some sort. 181 Fremont is 700ft to the roof, and 50 1st st is proposed at 850ft to the roof. The spire on 181 Fremont takes it to the 802ft height. I doubt that we will see anything proposed in the near future with a roof height above the zoned height for the parcel.

[fimiak]

For those who may be interested in the retail at the Market Square, One Tenth Street complex.





Everything is now leased except for floors 3&4 of One Tenth St (The glass bldg) and the two small retail parcels shown. An excellent new light fixture is being installed in the corridor between the the two buildings. This will be a nice little area come summer/fall.

[Jerry of San Fran]

fimiak - thanks for the update on the alley behind Market Square! I was puzzled by the floor plan that has The Cadillac on it. I remember The Cadillac. Lots of positive changes in the neighborhood as a result the new developments! I ate at AltaCA the first week it was opened and was very disappointed - hopefully it will get better in time.

[JWS]

I am really excited about the retail component of Market Square going so well...the food emporium, a gym, a drug store, two potential dining/drinks hotspots...really adds some immediate livability for all these residential projects. It came out well, and with only one bank branch hah!

[Jerry of San Fran]

A serious wooden form had been constructed in the last couple of days. I can't imagine what it is for. The building is being built much faster than I had expected.

[peanut gallery]

Three teams are in the running for Transbay Block 8, which is zoned for 550' and 740 units. They are:

Millennium Partners + Handel (also teamed on Four Seasons and Millennium)
Related California (The Paramount) + Rem Koolhaas
Golub + Soloman Cordwell Buenz (also teamed on 299 Fremont, which is next door)

The SF Business Times also reports:

The RFP requires that 27 percent of the project be affordable to qualifying households, and ground-floor retail be included in the in multiple building types, which will include a 550-foot tower, townhouses and two podium buildings. All three teams are working with a local affordable housing developer. Related is teamed with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., while Millennium Partners is working with Chinatown CDC and Golub with Mercy Housing.

Unfortunately, they don't mention the timeline for selection so not sure when we'll hear more.

[JWS]

With the Amero looking like it's been topped off structurally, more or less, at the corner of Filbert and Van Ness, the lot across the street (2601 Van Ness) has been fenced off with a notice regarding the public hearing about the approval for a 6 story building with 27 units (I believe). Will be crazy to have both those vacant lots be 6 story condo buildings in a couple years...or maybe sooner!

[JWS]

And the Socketsite post about the proposal I mentioned above...coincidence?

http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2014/..._gas_station_lot_along_van.html#comments

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Which building is on fire right now? All i keep seeing is that an under construction building is on fire and may collapse