SAN FRANCISCO | 530 Sansome St | 236 FT | 19 FL

[Pedestrian]

. . . just a block from the Transamerica Pyramid, the new high-rise would demolish two buildings, retaining the function of an existing low-rise fire station and produce 200 new hotel guest rooms. Related is sponsoring the project through EQX Jackson SQ Holdco LLC with the San Francisco Bureau of Real Estate and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Skidmore Owings & Merrill is responsible for the design. Renderings show that the primary tower has floor-to-ceiling windows and pre-cast panels decorated with horizontal metal fins and distinctive metal pipes with a 14-inch diameter. The ground level makes use of louver screens and reflective surfaces to add aesthetic variation at the street level.

The 236-foot tall structure will yield 303,100 square feet, with 145,430 square feet for hotel use, 44,000 square feet of commercial retail, 40,500 square feet of offices on levels two, six, seven, and eight and 20,730 square feet from a renovated and slightly expanded fire station. 15,980 square feet of parking will afford parking for 48 vehicles. Cyclists will be given space for parking 48 bicycles on-site.

The fire station will include what one expects. The ground level will house the large two-story garage with lockers for the fire engines. A kitchen and dining room will take over half the second level, while the third floor includes 29 beds, and the fourth floor includes a terrace, fitness center, wellness room, and library.

The project site also includes a residential variant concept, which would build 256 apartments with parking for 82 vehicles and 162 bicycles. Units would be split between 191 studios or one-bedrooms, 38 two-bedrooms, and 27 three-bedrooms. Reporting from SocketSite in 2019 shared that Related planned to build 35 condominiums over a 200-room Equinox hotel and athletics club with architecture by Steinberg Hart. The concept to make an exclusively residential tower does not seem to be the primary candidate for the development. The project team has not yet replied to requests for comment from SFYIMBY by the time of publication.

Construction is expected to cost $153 million. An estimated timeline for the job has not yet been established.

https://sfyimby.com/2021/04/new-rend...francisco.html

[Pedestrian]

Impact of Proposed Tower Appealed, Rather Ironically
June 9, 2021

Having been granted a Preliminary Mitigated Negative Declaration (PMND) by Planning last month, which establishes that that its development “would not have a significant effect on the environment as proposed” and obviates the need for a more extensive, and costly, environmental review, the plans for the proposed tower to rise up to 200 feet in height on the site of San Francisco’s aging Fire Station 13 were poised to be approved.

As we noted at the time, “if the project is approved, funded and survives any neighborhood challenges, the tentative timeline for the development now calls for breaking ground at the end of this year.”

And shortly thereafter, a formal appeal of the PMND for the proposed 530 Sansome Street tower was filed by the owners of the three-story brick “Cort Furniture” building at 447 Battery Street. From the appeal:

“The PMND violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the Planning Department did not provide adequate notice of the availability of the PMND; the project description is not accurate, stable, or finite; the project will have significant adverse environmental impacts to potential historic resources; and the PMND inappropriately defers mitigation until some future time.”

“While the proposed project will likely have many significant environmental impacts that were not adequately addressed in the PMND, the PMND largely ignores the significant impacts the project will have on the potential historic resource at 447 Battery Street. The PMND not only recognizes that construction of the project may cause direct structural damage to the potential historic building at 447 Battery, but the PMND does not even discuss how the project may impair the significance of a historic resource by causing impacts to its immediate surroundings. The project would completely alter the surrounding development pattern, substantially reduce light and increase shadows, and potentially block views of the building at 447 Battery. None of these potential impacts was mitigated or even identified in the PMND. While we do not concede that the building at 447 Battery Street is in fact a historic resource, the potential impacts must still be fully evaluated under CEQA. The project will clearly have an adverse environmental impact on a potential historic resource, and therefore the Planning Department must prepare an EIR rather than a mitigated negative declaration for the project.”

https://socketsite.com/archives/2021...ronically.html

The irony comes from what the owners of 447 Battery themselves have plans to do:


https://socketsite.com/archives/2021...ronically.html

[whitty]

This should be exhibit A of CEQA being used as a weapon instead of for any actual environmental reason.

Looks like SF is healing.

[Pedestrian]

Tower to Rise on Fire Station Site Closer to Reality
January 7, 2022

Having survived a rather ironic appeal, the plans the proposed 19-story tower to rise up to 200 feet in height on the site of San Francisco’s aging Fire Station 13 were approved by the City in November.

A required property exchange agreement between the City and development team for the Fire Station site has since been ratified, clearing the way for the building permits, which were requested but are currently on hold, to be approved and the project to move forward.

The tower as proposed would yield a 200-room hotel, with 40,500 square feet of office space; room for a 35,000-square-foot fitness center; nearly 8,000 square feet of new restaurant space; and a new state-of-the-art, four-story Fire Station 13. And while plans for a residential project variant, which would yield 256 apartments or condos, along with the new state-of-the-art fire station, in a 21-story tower has been drafted and approved as well, an office allocation for the hotel/office development has been secured . . . .

https://socketsite.com/archives/2022...o-reality.html

[homebucket]

Not bad but given such a prime location it really should be 20-30 stories taller. Maybe they didn’t want to cover up views of the Transamerica Pyramid from the East.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Not bad but given such a prime location it really should be 20-30 stories taller. Maybe they didn’t want to cover up views of the Transamerica Pyramid from the East.

Keep in mind that there isn’t a single parcel in San Francisco that’s currently zoned for building any higher and the rolling skyline, with its peaks and valleys when viewed from afar, was envisioned and engineered by Planning.

https://socketsite.com/archives/2017...n-the-way.html

Engineered by Planning and adopted back in 2012, San Francisco’s Transit Center District Plan (TCDP) was designed to limit the number of tall buildings that would rise above the city’s downtown core, with building heights stepping down from the Salesforce/Transbay Transit Center Tower to establish a rolling skyline when viewed from afar.

https://socketsite.com/archives/2022...-proposed.html

I think I would prefer something appearing more random than something "engineered" to look a particular way, but we've got the latter.

[homebucket]

I'm guessing the residential variant is the preferred option.

The specs for 530 Sansome St:
- 21 floors, 218 ft
- 256 units
- New SFFD fire station
- Parking for 64 cars and 164 bicycles

The site:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/W7TD222K4YrwcsQo8

Extension Request For Approval Of 530 Sansome Street, San Francisco



BY: ANDREW NELSON 5:00 AM ON MARCH 20, 2024

The San Francisco Planning Commission is scheduled to vote tomorrow on an extension request for the approval of 530 Sansome Street, a potential mixed-use tower in San Francisco’s Financial District. The plan could add either a 200-key hotel or 256 apartments into the heart of the city if built. Related Companies is the project developer.

Related is requesting a five-year extension for the permit’s expiration date, moving it to March 21, 2029. The project was approved by the Planning Commission and Zoning Administrator in the summer of 2021, with the approval set to expire later this year. 530 Sansome Street is a city-owned property currently used by the San Francisco Fire Department’s Station #13.

...

Skidmore Owings & Merrill is responsible for the design, which will remain similar for both variants. Renderings show that the primary tower has floor-to-ceiling windows and pre-cast panels decorated with horizontal metal fins and distinctive metal pipes with a 14-inch diameter. The ground level uses louver screens and reflective surfaces to add aesthetic variation at the street level.

https://sfyimby.com/2024/03/extensio...francisco.html

[homebucket]

An additional rendering of the residential variant:



https://sfyimby.com/2024/03/extensio...francisco.html

[Charmy2]

Genuinely had no clue this project existed...I hope it gets built!