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

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

It's the last of San Francisco's major Civic Center buildings to finally be seismically retrofitted and restored, along with systems improvements, and reuse of some areas (particularly the Opera taking some space).

http://onesanfrancisco.org/wp-content/uploads/Veterans-Building-Presentation_02.07.11.pdf

Thanks for the link.

Just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The city that knows how.

[peanut gallery]

We now have some very rough drawings of the proposed replacement to the 76 Station at First and Harrison (next door to 45 Lansing). From SocketSite:

As we first reported two weeks ago, plans to demolish the Union 76 Station on the northwest corner of First and Harrison have been submitted to Planning. And on the corner, a 185-unit residential building has been proposed to rise up to 13-stories with 165,000 square feet of residential space, an underground garage with its entrance on First, and no retail or commercial space on the ground floor.

Promising! I wish there were retail going in as well, but given the intersection I'm not surprised at the decision. I guess everyone up on the hill will have to walk down to Folsom for their retail/commercial needs.

[hruski]

^^^ I like that massing. Very nice for, and a good break from all the Miami-style towers going up over there.

[Jerry of San Fran]

peanut gallery - thanks for the drawing. I was by there today!

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's addition is now getting it's skin. It has the look of opaque glass. It looks good up-close. I wonder what it will look like at a distance (as from my apartment one mile away).

Icing on the Cake

[Jerry of San Fran]

West side view from the bottom of the hill. An elevated freeway ramp was to my back in the photograph.

45 Lansing Street

[peanut gallery]

^Thanks right back to you, Jerry, for those shots of SFMOMA. Looks like I'll have to extend my walk a few blocks next time I'm in the neighborhood.

Originally Posted by hruski

^^^ I like that massing. Very nice for, and a good break from all the Miami-style towers going up over there.

I like the massing and the potential colors shown here. I also like how it's relating to the setbacks on 45 Lansing. All in all, something like that should look pretty good in this location.

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

West side view from the bottom of the hill. An elevated freeway ramp was to my back in the photograph.

45 Lansing Street

Essex Street has always puzzled me: so wide but only a block long. (Also very dangerous for pedestrians to cross.)

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by hruski

^^^ I like that massing. Very nice for, and a good break from all the Miami-style towers going up over there.

I agree! The drumbeat in some of the blogs to have tall buildings on every lot everywhere gets tireing and is boreingly unimaginative. Our smaller residential buildings just need to be more imaginative! Although it is only a perspective rendering, the building does have excellent massing for that corner and in relation to 45 Lansing--let's hope they pull it off right since it's such a prominent location.

[mt_climber13]

I notice that some other cities list 10 to 15 story buildings as high rise developments and it makes it look like their cities are booming, but really, they are building things as tall or shorter than that one proposal on 1st and Harrison (which is great, but I wish they would tunnel under 1st st. from Mission to the bridge because that intersection is hell).
SF has tons of these "high rise" buildings going up all over the city but there are no dedicated threads for them, because there are just too many. If threads were made for each of these projects then SF would blow these other cities away, there is so much going on right now. In five years when all of this construction finally dies down and we can drive around the city without the roads being torn up or lanes blocked off for construction, it is going to be a great place. Right now, with all the construction on Doyle Dr., downtown, Mid Market, and Soma, it's not very attractive to be a driver, pedestrian, or cyclist. The regular "folksy" neighborhoods are still as they were 100 years ago, but downtown (incl. East of Van Ness, north of 16th St.) is where it's at!

[Jerry of San Fran]

Here are 2 views of 222 Second Street from my Friday walk. One is a view from the corner of Folsom & Second Sts. Another building being clad in black. I can see the top 8 floors partially from my apartment plus the mechanical room.

222 Second Street
222 Second Street

[pseudolus]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

I notice that some other cities list 10 to 15 story buildings as high rise developments and it makes it look like their cities are booming, but really, they are building things as tall or shorter than that one proposal on 1st and Harrison (which is great, but I wish they would tunnel under 1st st. from Mission to the bridge because that intersection is hell).
SF has tons of these "high rise" buildings going up all over the city but there are no dedicated threads for them, because there are just too many. If threads were made for each of these projects then SF would blow these other cities away, there is so much going on right now. In five years when all of this construction finally dies down and we can drive around the city without the roads being torn up or lanes blocked off for construction, it is going to be a great place. Right now, with all the construction on Doyle Dr., downtown, Mid Market, and Soma, it's not very attractive to be a driver, pedestrian, or cyclist. The regular "folksy" neighborhoods are still as they were 100 years ago, but downtown (incl. East of Van Ness, north of 16th St.) is where it's at!

During the last boom, the Chicago forums had a rule: no separate threads for buildings under 700 feet.

[simms3_redux]

I remember the Chicago boom. It was ridiculous...hardly ever replicated in North America, but for NYC now, Miami to a degree, and Toronto.

I think the boom in SF now is not on that level, obviously, but is still one of the largest in NA modern history (since the 80s). You are correct, though, that a few cities have separate threads for buildings 10-20 stories tall...if that were the case with SF, it would be annoying and absurd even for SF posters, let alone the rest of the forum. I think we basically have 30+ stories gets separate thread and that's ok.

[a very long weekend]

man, yeah, Toronto is nuts. check out urbantoronto.ca and surf around for a while. just unreal how long they've been booming uninterruptedly.

[pseudolus]

sometimes the chest-thumping gets to be a bit much for me.

Eh,

"Wasn't I lucky to be born in my favorite city!"

[mt_climber13]

Originally Posted by pseudolus

During the last boom, the Chicago forums had a rule: no separate threads for buildings under 700 feet.

SF would have had one post for the past 40 years (10 years longer than I've been alive) lol!

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

SF would have had one post for the past 40 years (10 years longer than I've been alive) lol!

Longer than that--2 posts in about in about 46 years. Don't forget your favorite massive shaft of Carnelian granite wakmesalad! It's 779', showing at approximately 823' with its position on the base of Nob Hill, and a strong tower I will always love.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

Longer than that--2 posts in about in about 46 years. Don't forget your favorite massive shaft of Carnelian granite wakmesalad! It's 779', showing at approximately 823' with its position on the base of Nob Hill, and a strong tower I will always love.

I've worked on the 43rd floor of Triple Nickle (and the 42nd of Spear Street Tower and the 40th of 4 Embarcadero), and 555 California is by far the best of the bunch. It has the tallest floors by far, and the big bay windows allow for better and more diverse views. It may not be the city's most modern or beautiful tower, and that end of the Financial District now seems strangely remote and removed from the fresh energy and vibrancy of the 'new FiDi' south of Market, but it is by far the best in which to work.

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by fflint

I've worked on the 43rd floor of Triple Nickle (and the 42nd of Spear Street Tower and the 40th of 4 Embarcadero), and 555 California is by far the best of the bunch. It has the tallest floors by far, and the big bay windows allow for better and more diverse views. It may not be the city's most modern or beautiful tower, and that end of the Financial District now seems strangely remote and removed from the fresh energy and vibrancy of the 'new FiDi' south of Market, but it is by far the best in which to work.

It has great elevators too, especially the express ones to the top that run at the same speed as those in the previous World Trade Center--by far the best elevator ride in the City!

[TZTag]

Originally Posted by timbad

a few random projects from this last weekend


8 Octavia



this is the street-level experience at 8 Octavia, a little bleak walking west along Market, coming at it from the 'back'

Agree- 8 Octavia ended up looking great along Octavia, but the segment on market street already looks dark, dated, and almost brutalist. Love the Octavia facade, very dynamic.

[a very long weekend]

wow, a neat little scoop in the examiner today:

The site at 350 Bush St. has a history of its own. Still standing there is a former mining stock exchange building of a classical revival design, and north of it at 469 Pine St., before being torn down, the Temple Hotel was the site of Ellis Act evictions in the late 1990s. While modern, the new 19-story tower will incorporate elements of the mining stock exchange building.

Nearby, 500 Pine St., a former Chinese temple-turned-vacant site, is slated for a gleaming glass office. The 6,127-square-foot rooftop park design mirrors that style, which Carol Kuong, a member of the Committee for Better Parks and Recreation in Chinatown, hopes will be modified at least slightly.
...
Since meeting with the committee in June, the developer has been considering the public-art component as well as modifications to soften up the fence and incorporate elements that would make the extension more welcoming to children, Frattin said.

Both projects are scheduled to break ground this month, with 500 Pine St. expected to take 18 months and 350 Bush St. two years to complete. Who will maintain the new park is still being finalized.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/c...ain-traditional-feel/Content?oid=2889102