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

[aahuatzi]

It would be nice to build the old Transbay Tower deign by SOM but in a new location. I know this will never happen but it will be pretty nice. It would be nice to build it at 524 Howard Street since that is taking forever to build, and to build the tower over the new bus ramp. This would make the bus ramp go through the opening at the bottom, a great way to welcome commuters and tourist alike.


Source:http://www.socketsite.com/524%20Howard%20Site.jpg


Source: Socketsite http://www.socketsite.com/SOM%20Transbay%20Design.jpg

[Jerry of San Fran]

I noticed today that the windows are going in on the south tower. I'm surprised as to how dark the glass is. The top floor has been reached for the south portion of the complex - the 35 story section has a way to go yet. The picture is a view of the center & south parts. Picture taken from my balcony.

It is my understanding that the Archstone company has been sold. They own the Fox Plaza. Look for a new name for the Fox Plaza soon. If the new owner has purchased the two story corner building as well as the apartment section it is possible a 12 story building will go up there. The floors up to 12 are owned by another company and is business space.


Crescent Heights - 10th and Market

[easy as pie]

speaking of re-naming, the crescent heights tower has apparently been named "nema" which i assume is an abbreviated portmanteau of "new" and "market."

[Jerry of San Fran]

easy as pie - The web page for NEMA is nemaSF.com, but one is requied to register & there is no information on the web page about the development. Nema may be the rental agent for the complex. At Crescent Heights' web site one can get some information about the development: http://www.crescentheights.com/corp1/

I cant' be sure what the building's name is! I can't sort it out.

[minesweeper]

When will the re-cladding of 100 Van Ness begin? (This is the former AAA building.)

They just got their permit to begin construction on New Year's Eve:

[peanut gallery]

Nice find, minesweeper. Been wondering about that one. The same architects are doing the winning bid for Block 6 in the Transbay district. Socketsite posted the renderings today:

The Green Designs For Block 6: Folsom Street From Fremont To Beale
Socketsite
January 10, 2013



As we first reported yesterday, the winning proposal to develop Transbay Block 6/7, from Folsom Street to Clementina Alley and Fremont to Beale, includes a 300-foot tower on the corner of Folsom and Fremont, 40-foot townhomes along Clementina, and three 50 to 85-foot mid-rise buildings on Fremont, Beal, and Folsom (click images to enlarge):



In total, 545 residential units (a mix of market-rate and subsidized), 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail and 136 undergrounding parking spaces will be built on the site with multiple green roof gardens and decks above, parks and a mid-block paseo below.

Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the Block 6 Tower will attempt to leverage prevailing winds to ventilate and cool the building without air conditioning.

Click over to Socketsite to read more about the sky gardens (including more renderings) and their approach to cooling the building. It's pretty cool and will include an app so you can adjust the blinds and windows remotely. Yeah, it's gimmicky, but still pretty interesting.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by timbad

...

there is also still a vacant lot (well, it might have Xmas trees on it at the moment) at the same intersection as the two sites on 15th St, on the corner of Sanchez. I forget if anything is in the works for that. I have to say, whoever owns it keeps it in nice condition - as nice as empty can be, that is. ...

socketsite comes through again with info on this. salient details:

a mixed-use building with a height of 65 feet along Market Street and a town house-style structure with a height of 45 feet along Sanchez will rise on the site with a private courtyard at the center of the lot. The project would contain 85 dwelling units, 36 below grade off-street parking spaces, 87 bicycle spaces and 4,745 gross square-feet of ground floor retail space along the Market Street frontage.

[easy as pie]

Originally Posted by minesweeper

When will the re-cladding of 100 Van Ness begin? (This is the former AAA building.)

i talked with some of the folks on site a few weeks ago, they were doing internal demo. there's currently hoarding up at the street level with scaffolding construction set (according to folks on site) imminently.

[jbm]

Demolition work has already started for the hotel that's going in on mission between 5th and 6th. i walked by today and the old building is totally gone, but the rubble still appears to be sitting on the lot.

[spyguy]

1400 Mission
190 affordable housing units, retail, 42 parking spaces
Brand + Allen

[minesweeper]

Originally Posted by easy as pie

i talked with some of the folks on site a few weeks ago, they were doing internal demo. there's currently hoarding up at the street level with scaffolding construction set (according to folks on site) imminently.

Originally Posted by jbm

Demolition work has already started for the hotel that's going in on mission between 5th and 6th. i walked by today and the old building is totally gone, but the rubble still appears to be sitting on the lot.

Thanks for the updates! I wonder how long it'll be until one of the news sites picks up on these.

Originally Posted by spyguy

1400 Mission
190 affordable housing units, retail, 42 parking spaces
Brand + Allen

Looks good, and it blends with the Crescent Heights development well. I assume there won't be any work on that project until "Nema" is done, since they're using that lot for staging.

[tech12]

Originally Posted by spyguy

1400 Mission
190 affordable housing units, retail, 42 parking spaces
Brand + Allen

Nice, I've been wanting to see renderings of this one for a while. I like it, and agree with minesweeper that it will fit in well next to 10th and Market.

Also, here's the source for those renders if anyone wants to see more details (such as total height: 157' to the top of the structure) and even more renders:

http://commissions.sfplanning.org/cpcpackets/2011.1043CEKUX.pdf

I found this in there, which shows potential height limits for that area (or have they been approved?):



Does anyone know if these height limit changes have been approved? I remember seeing stuff about raising the height limits around Market and Van Ness way back in 2007 or 2008, though I don't what progress, if any, has been made on it. It does say "allowable" heights, which makes it sound like the increases have been approved already.

[Jerry of San Fran]

TECH12, SPYGUY - thanks for the rendering and link. Since I can see a good part of this site when I stand at my balcony railing it is of interest to me. The architecture looks like it will be much better than the concrete monstrosity across the street from the site. I'm not thrilled with more low income people coming into the neighborhood - a discussion for another forum!

[easy as pie]

if you look at the planning documents, that tower isn't exactly an sro:

Of the 190 total units, 167 of the units serve as the off-site below-market-rate units for the previously approved project at 201 Folsom Street. Pursuant to Ordinance 20-04, all of the units designated as the offsite units for 201 Folsom Street must be completed within 5 years of the start of construction of the 201 Folsom Street project. Of the remaining 23 units, 20 of them are affordable units pursuant to Planning Code Section 124(f) – meaning they are affordable for 20 years to households whose incomes are within 150 percent of the median income – and three of the units are the corresponding on-site below-market rate units pursuant to Planning Code Section 415. The dwelling-unit mix would consist of 4 studios, 66 one-bedrooms, 102 two-bedrooms, and 18 three-bedrooms.

almost no studios and a large majority of units set for family occupation, it doesn't look like your typical tl non-market housing. three bedrooms, for pity's sake, it's almost difficult to believe.

edited to add: it's a tndc project.

[fimiak]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

TECH12, SPYGUY - thanks for the rendering and link. Since I can see a good part of this site when I stand at my balcony railing it is of interest to me. The architecture looks like it will be much better than the concrete monstrosity across the street from the site. I'm not thrilled with more low income people coming into the neighborhood - a discussion for another forum!

I wonder if we live in the same building. This building is great and exactly the gentrification that mid-Market needs. It will be great to get some more storefronts in the neighborhood as well.

[jbm]

Originally Posted by fimiak

I wonder if we live in the same building. This building is great and exactly the gentrification that mid-Market needs. It will be great to get some more storefronts in the neighborhood as well.

agreed. i'm a few blocks west of here. and while market gets most of the attention, to really turn around the neighborhood, more retail/residential on mission is needed as well. between trinity, this, and the micro-units at 9th, its a good start.

[Jerry of San Fran]

easy as pie - thanks for the information. I had not read the info. (and probably would not have understood a lot of it). So it may not be what I thought it is to be.

fimiak - I live in the Fox Plaza (currently Archstone) - you will see a not with all of my posts were I am located.

jbm - thanks for your comment. Agree - what we need is more upscale to balance a neighborhood that has been much too seedy for too long. I'm for affordable housing but a concentration of too much can bring a neighborhood down. I'm talking about the kind of low income housing that caters to the worst - drug addicts, alcoholics, the mentally ill.

[timbad]

this is getting close to being done...

the main portal of Pier 15, awaiting new signage, presumably:



looking down the length of the pier:



looking south:



it's not flashy, but that's not really the idea, anyway, and it's a huge improvement in location. what a boost both for the waterfront and the institution

[timbad]

speaking of waterfront, here is the new cruise terminal at Pier 27, in progress:



... and Brannan St Wharf, which at least has all its decking now:

[peanut gallery]

Thanks for the update on the Exploratorium. We went on the last day in the old space and can't wait for it to open in the new one.