it's been quiet on here, must be time for a status update!
first up, the Cardiovascular Research (CVR) Building, which is getting its surface layer at the top of the section closest to the Helen Diller Cancer Center in the left of the pic:
and here is our South Commons line-up, from right to left: CVR, Helen Diller, ex-Pfizer, unoccupied. (no sign that work on the Commons itself is imminent)
looking north along new Fourth Street (now open between the creek and Strata!) from next to CVR. Strata in the distance on the right side.
I couldn't resist an artsier shot of the CVR glass:
the sidewalk across Third from UCSF housing is all in, complete with new trees (back of ex-Pfizer in distance):
at looong last, all the construction equipment is gone and all lanes open on newly paved Terry Francois, the major street that runs along the eastern side of MB. here looking north:
and looking south, where on the right side you can barely see the far eastern end of the Commons in front of the unoccupied building. on the left is a parking lot for the boat club just out of the pic, past which the SF Bay Trail runs. further in the distance will be a sizeable patch of bayfront open space once Terry Francois has been straightened:
unseen in the pic, the little stretch of South Commons in front of the unoccupied building has also been paved.
jumping over to 1500 Owens, they have installed a new piece of art in front of the building, which I rather like. in case it's not clear, the faceless seated figure is made up of (random, as far as I can tell) letters.
work continues on the pumping station infrastructure on the southwest side of the creek:
the piping seen in that first pic looks to join up with these, which lead to and I assume spill into the creek itself (barely noticeable past the concrete structure in the distance):
I thought the garage behind Gladstone Institutes would be about done by now, but there apparently is more to it than I knew. the concrete is done, and about all the metal panels and mesh/lattice for the plants is installed, but now there is metal framework going up for stairs and I'm not sure what all else. these first two pics were taken last week:
and this on Saturday. I'm liking it already:
I wasn't gonna post pics of ex-Pfizer, but I kinda want to gripe about it a little, so here goes:
first, I still think it looks cheap and just thrown-up. but also, now that the glass for the middle connecting section is in, turns out that it's different-hued: translucent dark and light gray instead of the greenish of the rest. this clashes horribly to my aesthetic eye. this already after the orange doesn't go well at all with the brick of the unoccupied building next door (don't know if that could have been avoided, or whether things like that are even taken into account).
and, not that you can really tell in the pic, but the building encroaches all the way to the edge of the sidewalk for most of its perimeter. since it's right across from the Commons open space, I just think it would have been nice not to crowd so much, offer some sort of transition, landscaping or something. I know height limits and economics probably drove the need to fill every available inch of footprint, but I'm just saying it would have been nice.
having said all that, I actually don't care all that much. although I wish it were less visible, this is a research building, after all, and it will surely serve its specific purpose well, as well as play its role in helping to generate a thriving biotech community in MB.
from Third St:
besides all this,
- lots of digging continues south of 16th St next to the freeway/train tracks for the water/sewer work. hard to get a shot of what's going on, though.
- the large parking garage across from the Old Navy building doesn't look much different than in recent photos. they are clearing and grading the ground around it, and some concrete has been poured, for the entrance driveway on the east side, for example. I think I am leaning toward considering the perforated panels a not completely successful execution of what was desired, but I am still impressed at the effort. on its south side, it's hard to tell with the scaffolding and draping still up, but the façade looks to be given something like windows. we'll have to see.
- the street on the south side of the parking garage has been paved, but is still blocked off on both ends for now.
- although the surcharging dirt has been moved off the parcel next to Rock Hall, I didn't see any further activity there.
looking forward, I imagine all current activity noted here will be substantially done by the end of the year. and then it may be quiet...?