Sometimes I wish I didn't like taller buildings so much, because it sometimes bothers me that there are so many people out there that truly hate them and seriously want to do something about it.
Actually I'm okay, but I would really like not to see such a nice and interesting tower be limited to 300 feet, especially since there are already 400 foot or more high towers similarly situated to the waterfront nearby.
socketsite reports that the hearing on the amendment to raise the height limit to 400 ft will be held on Jan 19 by the SF Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure...
Nearly two years after the proposal was first shown to planners, Chicago architect Jeanne Gang’s rippled tower near the Embarcadero is on its way to the Board of Supervisors — with a boost in the amount of affordable housing that could ease the path to approvals.
The proposed tower would rise at the corner of Folsom and Spear streets in tandem with an eight-story residential building to the west, also designed by Gang. When the 391-unit complex was unveiled in 2014, roughly one-third of the units were affordable. Now, as rezoning efforts for the block begin, the number of affordable condominiums has been increased to 40 percent.
This brings the project in line with concessions negotiated in the past year with developers of larger sites in San Francisco’s ever-larger core. It also has the support of the district’s supervisor, Jane Kim.
I love this tower. I'm glad they are working to build it as tall as possible.
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"You need both a public and a private position." --Hillary Clinton, speaking behind closed doors to the National Multi-Family Housing Council, 2013
Just to chime in, here's a good summary from Hoodline. The vote was unanimous, and I'm cautiously optimistic that it is finally dawning on the public that a bigger building provides a higher number of affordable housing units.
According to reports on Twitter (1, 2), the 100' height increase was approved by the Planning Commission today by a vote of 5-1. Now it goes to the Board of Supervisors.
Today's hearing produced another document with some renderings of tower base:
The Board of Supervisors may decide this tower's final height at today's 3pm meeting.
Quote:
Supes To Decide Fate Of 400-Foot Spear & Folsom Tower
The Board of Supervisors is holding a public hearing that will decide the future of 160 Folsom St., where Tishman Speyer has proposed to construct a 400-foot tower with a twisting shape.
The site is currently zoned for construction of up to 300 feet. In exchange for an extra 100 feet, Tishman Speyer has agreed to provide 40 percent affordable housing within the development—a tradeoff that has put some Rincon Hill residents on the offensive.
Both the Planning Commission and the Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure, which oversees redevelopment of the Transbay Center District, have approved the height increase.
According to Curbed SF, the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee voted last week to continue the matter, after District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin questioned why the legislation had been fast-tracked ahead of the Affordable Housing Density Bonus Program.
The full board is now scheduled to hear the legislation at 3pm, April 12th, in the City Hall Legislative Chamber, Room 250. A copy of the hearing agenda is available, and public comment will be taken ahead of the vote.
UPDATE: Final Vote on Gang Tower Delayed Again
Zoning drama plays out at City Hall as scheduled, but the verdict was put off one more week
BY ADAM BRINKLOW APR 13, 2016, 8:15A
UPDATE 4/13/17: If anybody is still on the edge of their seats about this, lean back, because as always, City Hall works at its own pace.
City legislators heard the pitch from developer Tishman Speyer and boosters about the proposal to build the distinctive, Studio Gang-designed corkscrewing high-rise at 160 Folsom Street ten stories higher on Tuesday.
But the final vote was put off until the meeting of April 19 so that the text of the proposal could be amended, an obligatory procedural point that pushes the finish line of this planning drama just a little further down the road...
NOT all of them! It's easy for so many here and on other blogs to complain about San Francisco City and County government without looking at it intelligently and analytically.
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