SAN FRANCISCO | Oceanwide Center | 910 & 636 FT | 61 & 54 Floors | ON HOLD

[viewguysf]

The rendering's perspective is way off in many ways. Millennium Tower actually looks shorter than 50 Fremont, 181 Fremont looks stretched, and numerous other buildings don't look right either. I wouldn't give it any credibility.

[RST500]

Originally Posted by minesweeper

According to the minutes, the next informational meeting is scheduled for March 17, 2016.

The MKA website has a new rendering of the western face:

Why is the west face different?. Both sides need to be the same. They need to go back to earlier rendering. It looks awkward.

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by RST500

Why is the west face different?. Both sides need to be the same. They need to go back to earlier rendering. It looks awkward.

That was discussed quite a bit previously--go back and look at it. The west side is different in part for the elevators, stairways, etc., in order to maintain full floor plates. It's actually better in this version than it was before. Many of us are very sensitive to buildings turning their backs to the City since we've had several bad cases already (e.g. - Jasper, the Intercontinental Hotel, Rockwell, and others).

[SFView]

The new rendering of the western face of the building above still pretty much matches the CAD elevations we saw a while ago. I don't detect any reduction in height in the new rendering.

From Planning and previous post:

[minesweeper]

Originally Posted by tall/awkward

Are you sure that reporter didn't just see the 850' height listed without the 60' mechanical/sculptural top added?

I'm 99% sure the reporter mixed up the 850-foot "roof height" with the 910-foot total structural height. We'll know for sure when the project comes up for final approval in the spring.

In a new story out today, John King of the Chronicle says it's still 910 feet. The article also has some new higher res images of the detail on the upper tower:





Source: Foster + Partners

[northbay]

Wow! That's gorgeous!!

[SFView]

Whoever gets to be around or near the northwest corner of the Salesforce Tower is going to have a truly stunning and beautiful building to look at across the way!

If that is a rooftop observation deck and garden, imagine how awesome the views would be from 850 feet up.

Is it me, or does it look like there is someone is on the wall just outside the building in the new rendering? Anyway, he sure makes the building look huge.

[fflint]

Wow. Just wow.

[mt_climber13]

Should rise fast, looks to be the same exoskeleton structure as 181 Fremont.

Edit:

And just for my own amusement, i extended the SF tower crown an extra 75' :p

[boyinthecity]

I wrote to John King some time ago about the "funky", utilitarian west face of the building. Interestingly, I cited the symmetry and similarity to the John Hancock building (Chicago) in my email. Funny how he used that part.

Unfortunately, I notice he did not even mention the west face. I mean, isn't he an architecture critic? so much for that. LOL!

And yes, it sounds as if 50 Fremont has been tweaked so as to ultimately be approved by the city. So, enough for that.

Yet!! and a big "Yet" here.

It's really too bad about the 600'+ Mission Street tower. Mr King mentions very little about it, except the word "travertine" resonates. It would have been awesome if the second tower had mirrored the taller tower. This weakness/cheapness in the project gives me so much more of an appreciation for the awesome consistency in John Portman's Embarcadero center.

i took a minute to try simulating what i mean.....



source: rogers and clark and a little bit from me.

[SFView]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

Should rise fast, looks to be the same exoskeleton structure as 181 Fremont.

Edit:

And just for my own amusement, i extended the SF tower crown an extra 75' :p

Actually not to get to far off topic, try raising the top of the mechanical penthouse from 970' to 1070' while keeping the crown proportions unchanged above it instead. Add floors below where the building begins to taper. I believe this should work better overall. You don't need to post the result here, but you may see for yourself on your own.

[SFView]

Originally Posted by boyinthecity

It's really too bad about the 600'+ Mission Street tower. Mr King mentions very little about it, except the word "travertine" resonates. It would have been awesome if the second tower had mirrored the taller tower. This weakness/cheapness in the project gives me so much more of an appreciation for the awesome consistency in John Portman's Embarcadero center.

i took a minute to try simulating what i mean.....

For me, I think it is okay the two building don't match. I just think of it as two different buildings next to each other done by two different architects. As you may know, we have other tall and shorter twin towers in San Francisco already. It's okay to have more, but I don't think it is needed in this case. Since both building's shapes are nearly maximized to site constraints, it may not work so well to try to get both buildings to look more alike anyway. It might be like trying to squeeze Playdough through two different shaped holes and trying to get the results to match. The area in and around Oceanwide Center is so very dense. There isn't much room to play. Embarcadero Center and other twins like it have more room.

[slock]

Planning just posted the agenda for the next week's hearing. One of the items is an informational presentation about this project. The focus is more about the open space than the towers, but the notes confirm occupied height is 850', so I believe this is still 910 feet with crown, and wasn't lowered in height.

http://commissions.sfplanning.org/cp...AVARSHDGPR.pdf

[tall/awkward]

The skyline pic on page 28 of that document is pretty amazing!

[bflatflat9]

Originally Posted by tall/awkward

The skyline pic on page 28 of that document is pretty amazing!

Awesome!
Unquestioned West Coast King when that all gets built.
I like the fact that not all of the taller buildings there are box tops.
There's tapers, and flags, and stair step roof tops etc.
Can't wait to visit family there.
Go Dubs.
And Giants and 9ers.

[edwards]

Originally Posted by tall/awkward

The skyline pic on page 28 of that document is pretty amazing!

Extracted it from the pdf: http://i.imgur.com/HWZJJQp.jpg

[edwards]

There's a relatively small model of 50 First and its neighbors at the Autodesk Gallery (1 Market St, 2nd Floor) that's open for visitors 3 days a week.

[robertjhajek]

When is this thing going to start?

[slock]

To answer your question, the planning department has approved a Community Plan Exemption, which means this fits within the Transit Center District Plan EIR and doesn't need it's own independent analysis. This speeds things up dramatically. Therefore, it's heading to planning for approvals on May 5th. Some additional committee and Board of Supervisors approvals are required for Jessie and Elim vacating.

They've pulled building permits, and just recently on 3/17/16 filed permits for soft demo. Moving right along.

http://dbiweb.sfgov.org/dbipts/defau...=PermitDetails

[Zapatan]

It still looks ~900. Either way this building is gonna be gorgeous! Can't wait