So is SoMa the most active part of town as far as new construction? Seems like a LOT of activity around there.
I'd say so. I counted 5 or 6 cranes visible on the south/east side of I-80 the other day - none of them for very tall projects ofc, but development is development. No cranes to be seen on the downtown side of the freeway.
I also was in Maclaren Park the other day and spotted a crane in the Ocean Avenue area - anyone have any idea what project that might be for? I can't think of anything going on there except for the Balboa Reservoir project, but the crane looked farther to the southwest.
Yeah, Central SoMa is probably the most active currently, followed by Mission Bay/Mission Rock, Dogpatch/Central Waterfront (Pier 70/Potrero Power Plant), Treasure Island, and then Showplace Square/Potrero Hill.
There's a lot in the pipeline for the East Cut/East SoMa and the Hub. If these projects can ever get off the ground then there should be quite a lot of activity in these areas too. At this point, I'm guessing a lot of these won't occur until the next cycle. I wouldn't be surprised if Parcel F as we know it is officially scrapped and will need to be redesigned as a residential tower.
Nice little project here. Nothing special architecturally but the affordable housing is much needed.
The specs:
- 9 floors, 95 feet
- 85 units (15 studios, 24 1BR, 22 2BR, 23 3BR, and 1 manager’s unit)
- 100% affordable
- Parking for 0 cars and 95 bicycles
Quote:
New Renderings & Permit Activity For 160 Freelon Street In SoMa, San Francisco
BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:00 AM ON FEBRUARY 13, 2023
The General Plan Referral has been submitted alongside updated renderings for 160 Freelon Street, a 100% affordable family housing project in SoMa, San Francisco. The nine-story proposal will create 85 large apartments close to Caltrain’s San Francisco Station, and the Fourth and Brannan stop opened with the new Central Subway extension. Related Companies and the San Francisco Housing Development Corp are sponsoring the development.
The General Plan Referral starts the process of city review to ensure the plan conforms with the city’s General Plan. Once complete, the project is ready to be considered by the Board of Supervisors.
According to the project website, the development team is expected to receive approval this year. If approved on schedule, construction can start as early as 2024. This has been assisted partly by the application’s priority status from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. The developer has also increased the project’s residential capacity with the State Density Bonus program and receives protection from SB 330.
According to the project summary, “approximately 25% of units will serve formerly homeless families; an additional five units will be set aside for households with a member who is HIV positive. The remaining units will serve low-income families.” The development is an agreement made by the city during the approval of Tishman Speyer’s 598 Brannan commercial development. 598 Brannan will create offices, light industrial functions, retail, and a public park across 4.5 acres.
I also was in Maclaren Park the other day and spotted a crane in the Ocean Avenue area - anyone have any idea what project that might be for? I can't think of anything going on there except for the Balboa Reservoir project, but the crane looked farther to the southwest.
Solid guess but that project is almost wrapped up and the crane is down. Based on a little research, I think the crane I saw may have been for SFSU's Science and Engineering Center.
Solid guess but that project is almost wrapped up and the crane is down. Based on a little research, I think the crane I saw may have been for SFSU's Science and Engineering Center.
Proposal for condo conversion of the Warfield Theatre.
Quote:
Preliminary Application Filed For 988 Market Street In Civic Center, San Francisco
BY: YIMBY TEAM 4:30 AM ON FEBRUARY 15, 2023
A Preliminary Project Assessment has been requested for a development proposed at 988 Market Street in Civic Center, San Francisco. The project proposal includes the conversion of an office building into a residential complex with remodeled interiors.
The project site is a parcel spanning an area of 19,397 square feet. The project proposes to remodel the existing nine-story office building into a nine-story residential building offering 34 units. The residential units are offered as a mix of studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom units. Out of the total, 27 units will be offered at market rates and 7 will be offered as affordable housing units. The project application proposes the remodeling of interiors on floors 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Partial remodeling is proposed on the second floor for a residential gym. An interior remodel in the basement for a bike room is also included. The building will offer 36 bike storage spaces.
view from the Excelsior water tower, looking west
center left is 4840 Mission, 136 units
center top is "Kapuso", i.e., Balboa Upper Yard, 131 units
center right is 65 Ocean, 193 units
also, red crane in the distance does line up with SFSU
Last edited by pseudolus; Feb 17, 2023 at 9:49 PM.
Interesting project. Too bad they couldn't figure out how to convert it to residential, as I don't think DTSF needs any more additional office and retail space as of right now.
Adaptive Reuse For 838 Market Street By Union Square, San Francisco
BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:00 AM ON FEBRUARY 21, 2023
New plans have been filed to modernize and expand a commercial infill along 838 Market Street in the Union Square neighborhood in San Francisco. The plans include facade alterations, interior renovations, moving the elevator shaft, and creating an additional office floor. Aralon Properties is the project sponsor.
The existing five-story structure at 838 Market Street contains around 67,930 square feet. Once the expansion is complete, the 87-foot tall structure will yield around 77,250 square feet, with 45,420 square feet for offices and 29,680 square feet for retail. The new office space will be subject to the Prop M allocation from the small-cap allocation pool.
OTJ Architects is responsible for the design. The new design reskins the existing concrete-clad build with white glass fiber reinforced precast concrete panels, emphasizing the crown element of the facade. The retail area will be covered with a floor-to-ceiling window wall framed by dark stone.
Nice project here. SF could use more of these in its outer neighborhoods. I wonder if there's going to be any significant opposition from the owners of these multimillion dollar homes.
A win for this project. Hopefully it can finally start moving forward.
Quote:
2550 Irving St. affordable project to proceed: Environmental appeal rejected
by WILL JARRETT
FEBRUARY 22, 2023
On Wednesday night, the Board of Appeals struck down an environmental appeal that would have imposed extra requirements on the construction of a 90-unit affordable housing project in the Sunset in a 3 to 2 vote.
The 2550 Irving Street project is poised to replace the former Police Credit Union building with a 100 percent affordable, seven-story apartment complex. A demolition permit for the existing structure was issued last November, but the Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association quickly appealed, claiming that toxins on the land were not adequately understood or mitigated.
The neighborhood group asked for additional testing on the site during and around demolition for the carcinogen tetrachloroethylene, or PCE. Counsel for the developers, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, characterized this as a tactic to increase costs and delays to the project.
After a fractious meeting on Feb. 8 and a five-hour follow-up session today, the Board of Appeals sided with the development company – along with city and state officials – in believing that the site’s current data and mitigation measures are strong enough.
President Rick Swig, Vice President Jose Lopez, and Commissioner J.R. Eppler voted to deny the appeal. Commissioners Alex Lemberg and John Trasviña voted in favor.
“We are not obstructionists,” said Swig. “We want this housing project to go ahead because we are in a housing emergency.”
But, Swig added, the board had a duty to protect public health as well. Before voting to deny the appeal, he asked the State Department of Toxic Substances Control – which has taken a lead role in monitoring the site – to liaise with the neighborhood and conduct additional tests to reassure residents.
One day after the Board of Appeals on Feb. 8 opted to hold a second meeting on the issue to hear more from state chemical mitigation experts, Mayor London Breed accused the board – composed of a majority of mayoral appointees – of delaying the construction of the project and “obstructionism.”
The arguments for both the neighborhood group and the developers are laid out in a 934-page behemoth that the commissioners have been wrapping their heads around for weeks.
The appeal against the demolition permit claimed that the level of PCE contamination in the site soil was potentially dangerous and required further investigation. PCE is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a “likely human carcinogen.” The toxin was found at the site and in surrounding blocks, probably due to historic laundry businesses. It is possible for this contamination to move inside buildings in a process called “vapor intrusion.”
But while the developers and the neighborhood group agreed that there is some amount of PCE contamination in the area, that is more or less where their agreement ended.
...
Whit Smith, a senior hazardous substances engineer from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, has worked on the Irving Street site and on similar sites in a 33-year career. He agreed that the contamination risk is low. He said that PCE in the concentrations found on the site were not uncommon and were not considered unsafe.
“I have a higher risk of getting cancer walking down the street,” said Smith. He said that the risk of the PCE at 2550 Irving was equivalent to 1 percent of the ambient risk of breathing outdoor air in California.
...
The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation first staked out the spot at 2550 Irving in 2019. Some 22 of its units will be dedicated to formerly homeless people and 15 units will be reserved for veterans. A further 52 units will be aimed at families earning up to 60 percent of the local median income.
This appeal is not the first time the Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association has moved to stop 2550 Irving from breaking ground. In December, 2021, it filed for a temporary injunction because of an alleged lack of community outreach around the project. In that suit, the group suggested an 80-unit, four-story development as a “compromise” between the developers’ plans and the neighbors’ desires. That suit was struck down but has since seen several appeals.
On its website, the Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association says that it has advocated for the community “for over 40 years.” It was first incorporated as a nonprofit in 2021, according to the California Secretary of State. Objections to 2550 Irving are the main focus of the group’s site.
The Board of Appeal’s decision comes at a time when there is a strong political incentive to build housing rapidly. San Francisco recently committed to boosting its housing stock by 82,000 new units over the next eight years. And the Sunset has not historically taken on its fair share – according to real estate news site The Real Deal, fewer than 20 affordable units were built in the neighborhood in the past decade.
Neither the developers nor the neighborhood association denied the need for more affordable housing in Wednesday’s meeting. But speaking on Feb. 8, a senior project manager for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, Jackson Rabinowitsh, said that the association’s request for additional testing was an attempt to delay construction.
“This is a bottomless pit, a request without boundaries,” said Rabinowitsh. He added that he believed that the developers and the various governmental agencies were already fulfilling all the testing that was required to understand the site.
Concrete Rising For 988 Harrison Street, SoMa, San Francisco
BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:00 AM ON MARCH 3, 2023
Construction has passed the first floor of an eight-story apartment project at 988 Harrison Street in SoMa, San Francisco. Crews are working to build 90 new homes above ground-level retail on a 0.29-acre property once occupied by a gas station. J.S. Sullivan is the project developer.
The 85-foot tall structure will yield 91,500 square feet, with 82,700 square feet for housing, around 5,000 square feet for the 24-car garage, and 6,850 square feet for retail. A 690-square-foot basement room will offer storage for 90 bicycles.
Of the 90 units, 12 will be affordable. Unit sizes will vary with five studios, 49 one-bedrooms, 34 two-bedrooms, and two two-bedrooms. Parking will be included for 24 cars, with bicycle parking not specified. Residents will benefit from various open space amenities, including a podium-topping courtyard and a rooftop deck.
...
The property is located at the corner of 6th Street and Harrison Street, across from a Chevron Gas Station and several apartments. The project is just over half a mile from the Powell Street BART Station and a 14-minute walk from the Yerba Buena Gardens.
Construction permits estimate the cost at around $30 million, an approximate figure not including all development costs. The approximate timeline for completion has not been announced, but it will likely take around 12 to 18 months to be ready to open.
Extension Request For Office-To-Hotel Conversion Of Hearst Building, San Francisco
BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:30 AM ON MARCH 4, 2023
An extension request has been filed for plans to convert the Hearst Building offices into a 170-key hotel at 5 Third Street in SoMa, San Francisco. The plans will affect three buildings on the site, including the 13-story Hearst Building, 17-29 Third Street, and the Stevenson Street annex. Bespoke Hospitality is the project sponsor.
The change of use will change the 121,470 square foot complex from being entirely offices to having 170 hotel rooms, 5,920 square feet for office space, and 11,390 square feet for retail. Parking will be included for 21 bicycles. Street-facing retail walls will be entirely reimagined with more open full-height windows.
...
Forge is the project architect. Page & Turnbull and Knapp Architects are jointly responsible for historic preservation. Bespoke Hospitality and JMA Ventures hope to extend the project authorization by three years to mid-April 2026. The application was first approved by the city in mid-April 2019. Once construction starts, work is expected to last around 20 months.
A bill introduced Wednesday morning by State Sen. Scott Wiener would ensure that if the latest development proposal reaches the California State Lands Commission — the ultimate watchdog over development proposals on such waterfront sites — the commission would be authorized to give the green light to developers. That $1.3 billion proposal includes a large amount of private office space above the water, a use that currently is not allowed.
Prev
Linear Mode
