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Reminiscence
Aug 8, 2007, 6:34 AM
when does construction start?

The target year is 2010. Hopefully, barring any negative events, it will be so.

munkyman
Aug 8, 2007, 7:46 AM
This is awesome. The founder of The Gap, Donald Fisher, has a very large private collection of 20th and 21st century art, apparently one of the largest. He wants to build a 100,000 square foot museum in the Presidio, called the Contemporary Art Museum. Sounds exciting!

Link: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/08/MUSEUM.TMP&tsp=1

Article:

Donald Fisher, founder of Gap, offers to build a museum in the Presidio to house his art collection
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 7, 2007


(08-07) 20:50 PDT -- Gap founder Donald Fisher, one of the world's leading contemporary art collectors and a powerful force in local politics, has offered to build a sprawling museum in the Presidio to showcase his vast collection, which until now has largely been hidden away in his company's San Francisco headquarters.

Since Fisher and his wife, Doris, founded Gap Inc. in 1969, they have amassed what is widely considered to be among the most extensive private collections of 20th and 21st century art. Yet with the exception of pieces that are occasionally loaned to museums, much of what they own has never been seen by people outside the art world.

The Fishers, whose retail empire brings in about $16 billion a year, hope to build a 100,000-square-foot museum with 55,000 square feet of gallery space -- 5,000 more square feet than at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art -- to house their collection of more than 1,000 works.

Donald Fisher, 78, will announce his plan to build the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio today at a news conference in the national park. The governing board that oversees park development would have to approve the plan, but it seems to have widespread support.

"I'm concerned about what happens to the collection," Fisher said in an interview this week in his Gap office, which is filled with works by such modern art icons as Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Roy Lichtenstein. "I don't want to turn around and sell it, and I don't want it to be sold when I pass away. I'd like it to be seen."

The Fishers have purchased works from some of the world's most famous modern artists, storing it away in their homes and in two galleries at the Gap's waterfront headquarters.

The hallways leading to Fisher's office look like museums in their own right. One hallway features a series of colorful Mick Jagger portraits by Warhol, a Picasso lithograph and a wall covered in Lichtenstein pop art. Whimsical Calder mobiles float from ceilings, walls and hangers.

Art experts say it is not the size of the Fishers' collection that is most impressive, but rather the depth of what they have accumulated. The Fishers have been careful to buy works representing all phases of the careers of such artists as Ellsworth Kelly, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, Chuck Close and Claes Oldenburg. In other cases, they purchased a single outstanding piece or several small pieces by artists of distinction such as Cy Twombly, John Chamberlain, Richard Serra, William Kentridge and Sam Taylor-Wood.

"There's no question that the collection that Don and Doris have formed is one of the best in the world," SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra said. "There's no question that it would be nearly impossible, if not impossible, to form a collection of the same artists today. The works simply aren't available."

In 1993, ARTnews magazine listed Donald Fisher as one of the world's top 10 art collectors alongside the sultan of Brunei, British composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and New York cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder.

"It certainly is one of the most ambitious and qualitatively successful collections that I know of, internationally speaking," said Roland Augustine, president of the Art Dealers Association of America. "The Gerhard Richter collection alone is unparalleled in our country by a single owner."

Yet Fisher and his wife have kept a low profile when it comes to their collection, allowing mainly museum groups or art insiders in to tour the headquarters' galleries. The couple pays the Gap nearly $900,000 a year for the space.

"We've kept it quite private," Donald Fisher said. "We basically are not looking for publicity. That's not our mantra, and so we've been out of sight. But in this circumstance, you can't stay out of sight forever."

Fisher hasn't maintained the same low profile in political circles, however. The Republican, who has powerful ties inside San Francisco City Hall and in the city's business community, is a regular contributor to local and national campaigns. He is involved in a high-stakes fight over parking spaces in the city that will play out on November's ballot.

The Fishers are active philanthropic donors, funding everything from charter schools to museums, with SFMOMA being a regular recipient. Donald Fisher serves as an officer on the museum's board of trustees. He donated to the city a 60-foot-tall bow-and-arrow sculpture that sits across the street from his Gap offices at the foot of the Bay Bridge.

He was also one of the original members of the Presidio Trust Board of Directors -- an appointment that required White House approval. So to him, building a museum on the sprawling 1,500-acre national park seemed like a natural fit.

The historic Main Post, the area in the park the Fishers are eyeing for their museum, must be inhabited by a major cultural institution under the Presidio Trust's plan for the former military site. A bowling alley and tennis courts located there would be torn down to make room for the museum, but Presidio officials said they will try to relocate the bowling alley.

The seven-member Presidio Trust board must approve any new development. The plan would also undergo an environmental review and public hearings. Others interested in building a cultural institution in the Main Post have until Nov. 9 to submit proposals, but early indications are that the Fishers' plan has the backing it needs.

Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to attend Donald Fisher's news conference in the Presidio today. On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her support in a statement that praised the couple's commitment to the city and the Presidio.

A museum celebrating the life of Walt Disney is also planned at the Main Post, as is a three-story hotel. A contemporary art museum would "really bring it to life," said Presidio Trust Executive Director Craig Middleton.

Donald Fisher, who had a hands-on role in designing his stores and the Gap's Embarcadero high-rise, will collaborate on the museum design with the New York-based firm Gluckman Mayner Architects, which designed sites such as the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and the Museo Picasso Malaga in Spain. Exactly how much the building would cost remains unknown, but insiders say the Fishers have no spending limit.

Fisher said he hopes to open the museum in about three years. The plan also includes making space for traveling exhibitions and possibly works from area high school students.

One of the first pieces the Fishers ever purchased was by abstract sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Donald Fisher says he still remembers how much they paid for every piece, but the exact value of the entire collection is unknown.

Buying art became a habit -- even an addiction, he said. The couple purchased most of the paintings without the help of a curator. They have visited museums around the world to review artists' collections to learn more about their favorite periods.

Fisher said he never imagined they would have amassed such a wold-renowned collection.

"It's the same as when I bought my first store," he said. "We never thought we'd have the number of stores we have. ... You can dream about it, but that's all it is -- a dream. You have to execute. When it came to buying art, our stock in our company was worth more money as time went along, and we could buy more art and we continued to buy."

"It's a habit," he said. "But it's an avocation as well."

BTinSF
Aug 8, 2007, 8:26 AM
^^^Oops. Sorry. I just started a thread with this article. It seems huge to me and I thought it deserved a thread and never thought of checking here first. Anyway, I'm just thrilled that SF could be getting another world calls art institution.

viewguysf
Aug 8, 2007, 8:44 AM
^^^Oops. Sorry. I just started a thread with this article. It seems huge to me and I thought it deserved a thread and never thought of checking here first. Anyway, I'm just thrilled that SF could be getting another world calls art institution.

Again, let's please not be so quick to start threads, especially when something is first mentioned (like this) or not of major significance (which this would be).

BTinSF
Aug 8, 2007, 8:58 AM
^^^I totally disagree and reject your criticism. I thought this deserved a thread and I still think so. It's huge and it will result in something--either SF will get a major museum or somebody else will to SF's humiliation and shame. Donald Fisher wants a museum and has the resources to build one somewhere and note the time frame to get it up--3 years (when, under the best of conditions, the TransBay will be just a hole in the ground). I don't regret starting a thread in the least. I just didn't want munkyman to think I was trying to upstage him. My apology is to him.

munkyman
Aug 8, 2007, 9:00 AM
Again, let's please not be so quick to start threads, especially when something is first mentioned (like this) or not of major significance (which this would be).

Not of major significance? Well thank you oh mighty thread God for coming down from the heaven's to tell us what is of major significance. Please guide us wayward souls.

You're joking right? One of the preeminent private art collectors of the last 30 or so years decides to unload his one of a kind art collection into a brand new art institution that he is fully funding (with no apparent budget limit), and that will go into a landmark open space in our city? How is that not big to you? Even if it's a proposal?

munkyman
Aug 8, 2007, 9:07 AM
^^^I totally disagree and reject your criticism. I thought this deserved a thread and I still think so. It's huge and it will result in something--either SF will get a major museum or somebody else will to SF's humiliation and shame. Donald Fisher wants a museum and has the resources to build one somewhere and note the time frame to get it up--3 years (when, under the best of conditions, the TransBay will be just a hole in the ground). I don't regret starting a thread in the least. I just didn't want munkyman to think I was trying to upstage him. My apology is to him.

BT, I completely agree with you. I've been to every major art institution in the city multiple times, and I consider it a privilege every time I step into one of them. I also consider it a gift of epic proportion and opportunity for our city when someone with an art collection this well known decides to not only donate the entire collection to our great city, but further, to fund it himself. It's a huge development - let's not forget, the entire Transbay project is all a proposal at this point - should we take down all of those threads as well?

For the record, I started to create a new thread, and decided against it at the last minute. But I completely agree, this deserves its own thread.

Btw, no apology necessary.

viewguysf
Aug 8, 2007, 10:38 PM
Not of major significance? Well thank you oh mighty thread God for coming down from the heaven's to tell us what is of major significance. Please guide us wayward souls.

You're joking right? One of the preeminent private art collectors of the last 30 or so years decides to unload his one of a kind art collection into a brand new art institution that he is fully funding (with no apparent budget limit), and that will go into a landmark open space in our city? How is that not big to you? Even if it's a proposal?

No, I wasn't joking, but I certainly didn't write it very well in order to be understood. What I meant by "which this would be" is that it would be of major significance, but in hindsight it looks like just the opposite. Sorry!

It somewhat surprised me that the Fishers aren't donating their collection to SFMOMA in order to give it preeminence, especially considering their involvement there. When the museum opened, I remember reading that it was designed with the possibility of future expansion. I know that individuals and couples certainly enjoy creating their own landmarks, but also feel that they would have been globally recognized for taking the other route. It seems that SFMOMA could end up being quite diminished in stature.

Does anyone have any insight regarding this? [Edit: Just saw Kenneth Baker's article in the other thread, so that answered my question.]

BTinSF
Aug 10, 2007, 10:13 PM
Westbay Builders picks up warehouse site for condos
Westbay Builders has purchased a 25,380-square-foot industrial property at 72 Townsend St. for $9.2 million and plans on developing a nine-story, 74-unit condo building on the site. Edward Suharski of Grubb & Ellis office represented the seller, Lambert Development. The buyer represented itself. The project is fully approved and will incorporate a historic one-story warehouse built in 1874 for grain storage.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/08/13/newscolumn1.html?t=printable

San Frangelino
Aug 13, 2007, 9:44 PM
From:http://www.molaskypacific.com/highres/recentprojects/ul-merritt.html

http://www.molaskypacific.com/images/highres/ULM-Rendering.jpg

Upper Lake Merritt Condominiums is a to-be-built $88 million, twenty story, 237-unit, multi-family community. The community is to be developed on a 1.4 acre parcel located on the northwest corner of Twenty-third and Valdez in the Lake Merritt district of Oakland, California.

From:http://www.molaskypacific.com/highres/recentprojects/ellington.html

http://www.molaskypacific.com/images/highres/ell-Rendering02.jpg

Ellington Condominiums is in its construction phase, $100 million, fifteen story, 134-unit multi-family community.The community is to be developed on a .8 acre parcel located on the southeast corner of Broadway and Third Street in the historic Jack London district of Oakland, California. Unit amenities will include nine feet 4 inch ceilings, oval tubs, separate shower enclosures, granite counters, hard wood cabinets, upgraded sink and plumbing fixtures, wood flooring and an upgraded stainless steel appliance package. Community amenities will include a swimming pool, fully-equipped fitness center and resident's clubhouse.

BTinSF
Aug 13, 2007, 10:55 PM
A slice of China for Golden Gate Park

http://www.examiner.com/images/newsroom/5DD3B16D-3048-2F0A-AA4AE1796D734DBA.jpg
A Chinese garden is presently in the planning stages for the area bordering Spreckels Lake near Fulton Street in Golden Gate Park.

Alexandria Rocha, The Examiner
2007-08-13 11:48:00.0
Current rank: # 47 of 4,920

SAN FRANCISCO -
A traditional Chinese garden — complete with pavilions, waterfalls and rock sculptures — may soon border Spreckels Lake near Fulton Street in Golden Gate Park.

The San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee is hoping to break ground on the garden by next year, opening it to the public in 2009 or 2010. A Chinese garden has been in the works since San Francisco and Shanghai became sister cities more than 25 years ago, but it has been put on hold year after year because of a lack of space and funding.

However, the City’s Recreation and Park Department has now approved a 1½-acre site to the northeast of Spreckels Lake on Fulton Street between 31st and 32nd avenues, department spokeswoman Rose Marie Dennis said. Committee members were interested in the nonlandscaped space because local residents already heavily utilize the area.

“This will be a place that local residents in the immediate community, not just tourists, can come and stroll around the garden, maybe have a cup of tea in the pavilion,” said Carolina Woo, chairwoman of the garden subcommittee.

Final designs and size of the garden are still up in the air, but the committee and the Recreation and Park Department plan to hold a meeting Tuesday to work out the details. Members of the committee will also head to China in September to outline the funding plan with Shanghai’s government leaders.

“The actual scope of work, what will be planted there, how things will be designed and the final concept for what this place will ultimately look like is far from determined or decided on,” Dennis said.

A few years ago, committee members were ready to build a Chinese healing garden on the UC San Francisco campus. The plan fell through, however, after members decided the area was too small.

Renderings of the proposed Golden Gate Park garden, which will be modeled after Shanghai’s famous Yu Yuan Garden, feature a placid blue-green pond surrounded by walkways and bridges. Waterfalls, pavilions, rock sculptures and trees will fill the area enclosed by a classic Chinese wall.

“In most gardens in China, there are places where people can sit, but they’re also for people to observe the beauty from different angles, so there will be a good option for walking,” said James Fang, chairman of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee.

While the total estimated cost of the garden has not been determined, Fang said it would likely be in the millions. He said the committee plans to raise funds for the initial costs, as well as the ongoing maintenance expenses. “This will not cost The City a nickel,” he said.

arocha@examiner.com
Source: http://www.examiner.com/a-878158~A_slice_of_China_for_Golden_Gate_Park.html

BTinSF
Aug 17, 2007, 5:16 PM
S.F. General moves on eight-story, 284-bed rebuild
San Francisco Business Times - August 17, 2007
by Chris Rauber
San Francisco General Hospital is finally moving forward with plans for a seismic rebuild.

The safety net hospital, run by San Francisco's Public Health Department, wants to build a 419,000-square-foot, "up to 284-bed" acute-care facility on its existing campus, according to an Aug. 2 report by the city planning department, which is preparing an environmental impact report on the project.

Preliminary plans now call for an eight-story building, including two basement levels, to be built on the little grassy space between S.F. General's infamous "red brick" buildings, former hospital wards now used for medical research, support and various administrative purposes.

Its maximum height will be 105 feet, the planning department report said, noting that "no existing housing or businesses would be displaced" by the structure.

A meeting is planned for Aug. 28 at the hospital for public comments on the EIR's scope and content. A controversial rooftop helipad proposal is being considered separately, with its own impact report.

Given the hostility of some residents in the Potrero Hill vicinity to the proposed helipad, gripes about the new structure seem likely.

But alternatives are few, city officials said, and include a retrofit (a nightmare alternative, according to outside observers); the use of other, discarded sites on S.F. General's jam-packed 24-acre campus; an alternative design for a less massive, taller and more slender structure, or -- least likely of all -- no alternative, in which case "The General" would have to shut its doors by Jan. 1, 2013, to meet California's seismic safety regulations for acute-care facilities.

There's no way Mayor Gavin Newsom, Public Health czar Dr. Mitch Katz, or S.F. General CEO Gene O'Connell would ever let that happen, so it's likely the current plan -- or something very much like it -- will be pushed through the governmental sausage-making process.

crauber@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4946
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/08/20/newscolumn3.html?t=printable

BTinSF
Aug 18, 2007, 9:01 PM
Does anybody know anything about the narrow building in the 700 block of Market St (the next block west of the Ritz Residences) that appears to be under demolition. I'm not sure of the address but it should be something like 710 because it's the second building from the corner (Kearny & Market I think). A long time ago I remember posting something about a project to either replace or increase the height of this building so as to eliminate the "gap-tooth" appearance looking north on 3rd St. but I can't find it now.

mthd
Aug 19, 2007, 3:13 AM
Does anybody know anything about the narrow building in the 700 block of Market St (the next block west of the Ritz Residences) that appears to be under demolition. I'm not sure of the address but it should be something like 710 because it's the second building from the corner (Kearny & Market I think). A long time ago I remember posting something about a project to either replace or increase the height of this building so as to eliminate the "gap-tooth" appearance looking north on 3rd St. but I can't find it now.

it was approved by the planning comission on july 13, 2006 - a '10 story horizontal addition' to the existing building at 1 kearny.


SPEAKERS:

Council Representative of the Project Sponsor
We work on a lot of historic buildings and this is one of the most interesting historic structures I have dealt with.
When we entered into this with this building it was obvious that 1 Kearny was the historic building and the annex has less historic merit.
When we discovered there was a debate on whether or not it was historic, the owners of the building decide to preserve the building.
The design went through two extensive hearings at the Landmark’s Board where there was a divergence of opinion.
Some say the annex should be torn down.
We changed the design in response to the comments made by the Landmark’s Board.
You see a design that received unanimous support by the board.
It’s an improved design based on a long dialogue with the Planning staff and the Landmark’s Board on how to treat a building that is the average landmark restoration project.
Charles, Architect for the project
This is a very important building at an important location in San Francisco.
It is in the Kearney/Market Conservation District, at a very important corner in the city. Where one of San Francisco’s grids intersects on Market Street.
It’s a dramatic building especially seen from Third Street as you approach the city.
There are three parts: The original 1902 Savings Bank in the building, which is an early quake survivor, and the annex added in ’64.
We planned to tear down the three-story build seen on left in the picture and replace it with a 10-story building.
Our design is an attempt to fill in the missing tooth to Market Street.
We are sensitive to the urban design and context as well as to the specific design itself.
One Kearny and bank annex function as one building.
There are a number of functional problems.
The annex has elevators, stairs and bathrooms.
It is difficult to divide the building into floors.
There is no air conditioning or heat in the annex.
One of our objectives is to correct the functional problems.
The building has a seismic prospect. Even though it was an earthquake survivor, it has a stiff element that makes it twist during an earthquake.
Our project will correct all of the functional problems by creating a new core in the new building. We’ll take the elevators out of the annex. We’ll make their front door their back door.
We want to put the building in architectural balance.
We are changing brick to glass.
We are using traditional materials like terra cotta in contemporary ways.
We don’t have open space on the ground floor; we are proposing to put it on the roof at the top.

The architect is the same as the ritz carlton addition (Charles Blozsies) and DPR is signed on to build it. I don't know anything beyond that.....

BTinSF
Aug 20, 2007, 7:48 AM
^^^Thanks. I went to his site at http://www.archengine.com/ and, sure enough, there is a render of the addition there but it isn't a format I can paste here.

citizensf
Aug 20, 2007, 5:27 PM
BT, here's the render I think you are referring to from http://www.archengine.com/

(the images are all in a flash file, so the only way I could grab it was by using a screen capture utility)

http://www.dunderball.com/skyscraperpage/mktstreetrender.jpg
(credit: www.archengine.com)

BTinSF
Aug 20, 2007, 6:46 PM
^^^Yup. Thanks.

Arriviste
Aug 30, 2007, 9:25 PM
This is awesome. The founder of The Gap, Donald Fisher, has a very large private collection of 20th and 21st century art, apparently one of the largest. He wants to build a 100,000 square foot museum in the Presidio, called the Contemporary Art Museum. Sounds exciting!




You lucky devils. Actually I might be lucky too, for perhaps it will be complete in time for my possible move to the Bay area in Dec 2008.

LBDman449
Sep 13, 2007, 5:23 AM
New to San Jose area.... anyone have details on the numerous projects going on here, on this side of the bay?

peanut gallery
Sep 13, 2007, 6:18 AM
San Frangelino has gathered some really cool info on SJ here (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=136313).

San Frangelino
Sep 19, 2007, 1:31 AM
If anyone is curious to see whats going up at Turk and Gough.

From:http://www.cahill-sf.com/experience/details.php?segment=Housing&sub_segment=Senior+Housing+%26+Assisted+Living&project_no=730

http://www.cahill-sf.com/images/upload/730_PARKVIEW_TERRACE_W1.jpg

BTinSF
Sep 19, 2007, 3:26 AM
^^^When the wraps come off, I'm going to see more of it than I want to--it'll block a sliver of my view (but not enough to lose much sleep over).

That's my condo in the rendering on the next block (beyond the yellowish building just over the girl's head).

BTinSF
Sep 22, 2007, 4:03 AM
Lincoln set to build after record buy
Shorenstein partnership sells downtown parcels for $60M
San Francisco Business Times - September 21, 2007
by J.K. Dineen
Story Images

Paying a record price for land in downtown San Francisco, Lincoln Property Co. has acquired office building sites at 350 Bush St. and 500 Pine St. for more than $60 million and plans to start driving piles as soon as next spring on a speculative basis.

The seller was a partnership of Shorenstein Properties, the Swig Co., and Weiler & Arnow Management Co. The three family-owned real estate corporations had assembled the sites over the course of four decades and received approvals for the projects six years ago.

The price, more than $150 per buildable square foot, reflects both the difficulty of entitling office projects in downtown and the fact that the parcels are the only two office building sites remaining in the north financial district.

Lincoln Property Executive Vice President John Herr said his company would start construction "as soon as possible" on the two buildings, a 19-story, 350,000-square-foot tower at 350 Bush St. and a five-story, 50,000-square-foot structure at 500 Pine St. The two buildings would cost about $250 million to develop, based on current construction costs.

"We believe the San Francisco office market is and will remain one of the strongest office markets in the country," said Herr. "It has proven itself with the level of investment sales over the last 18 to 24 months. The opportunity to build institutional quality, class-A office buildings in a premier location amidst strong demand and limited competition we found to be very compelling."

Lincoln, which owns 601 California St. and Waterfront Plaza, has hired Bill Cumberlich of the CAC Group to lease the new buildings. Lincoln's financial partner on the deal is ASB Capital, a union pension fund adviser based in Bethesda, Md.

The decision to sell was motivated by the fact that the three family-owned companies are each busy on other projects and were not in a position to "co-develop," particularly on speculative basis, according to Shorenstein Executive Vice President Tom Hart and Swig CEO Jeanne Myerson.

Hart said that the unloading of 350 Bush St. should not be seen as a signal that Shorenstein is not committed to San Francisco. Shorenstein and SKS Development are building a 450,000-square-foot biotech campus for FibroGen in San Francisco's Mission Bay, and the firm is negotiating with the Port of San Francisco to build a recreation complex with office space and a ferry terminal at Piers 27-31. Shorenstein started out as a San Francisco developer and has evolved into a national real estate fund sponsor.

"Everyone's first reaction is Shorenstein is pulling out of the city," said Hart. "This was an old, longtime partnership of more than 40 years, and each of us has migrated to other platforms and business plans. It was better to sell than co-develop something."

The Swig and Shorenstein companies still jointly own the Russ Building at 235 Montgomery St., which Shorenstein is moving to from 555 California St.

Myerson said it was hard to part with the sites, which took more than three years to take through an excruciating, complex approval process. But it was important to find a developer willing to break ground without a tenant in hand.

"Lincoln is going to do a very good job, and we are thrilled they are going to move ahead on a spec basis, which is what you need to do with a property like that," she said.

HellerManus designed both buildings. The Bush Street design incorporates the historic terra cotta façade, pediment and columns of the Mining Exchange building on the site and includes outdoor balconies and a 120-car garage. The 500 Pine St. project includes a rooftop garden connected to St. Mary's Park. Under the city approvals, the two buildings must be developed simultaneously as the developers agreed to expand the green space at 500 Pine St. as mitigation for shadows 350 Bush St. will cast on St. Mary's Park.

Herr said the design would not change.

"Our intention is to build the building that was approved by the Planning Commission with no material modifications," said Herr. "We think it's a high-quality design and will be well-received in the marketplace when completed."

There is one speculative highrise under construction downtown, Tishman Speyer's 555 Mission St., scheduled for completion in late 2008. Along with Beacon Capital Partners' 535 Mission St., approved last month, 350 Bush is the lone office highrise likely to be delivered in 2009. Other major proposed office projects -- 181 Fremont St., 350 Mission St., 222 Second St., 50 First St. -- are unlikely to be completed before 2010 or 2011.

While the California Street canyon still represents the spine of San Francisco's business community, the south financial district has been gaining ground in recent years. The two most well-regarded office towers constructed in the past decade -- 560 Mission St. and 101 Second St. -- are both along South of Market's dynamic and rapidly developing Mission Street, as is Millennium Partners new condo tower and Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Contemporary Museum, with its blue metal cube popping out of an old brick power station.

The new Transbay Terminal and Tower, which could add as much as 1.5 million square feet of office space by 2012, will further solidify Mission Street as the center of the city's economic engine.

But HellerManus Principal Jeffrey Heller said the traditional northern financial district still has an allure. The Bush Street building will be next to Belden Place's outside dining and offer views of nearby Union Square and Nob Hill.

"I think 350 Bush really completes that area around the BofA and that hopefully it'll be a gemstone," said Heller.

jkdineen@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4971


Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/09/24/story1.html?t=printable

SFView
Sep 22, 2007, 8:29 PM
(edit)

San Frangelino
Sep 24, 2007, 9:45 PM
10th and Mission Affordable housing
From:http://www.cahill-sf.com/experience/details.php?segment=Housing&sub_segment=Affordable+Housing&project_no=758

http://www.cahill-sf.com/images/upload/758_10TH_MISSION_W1.jpg
OVERVIEW
This project involves the construction of 136 apartments for lower income families in a 12-story post tensioned concrete frame building with precast concrete and glass exterior skin.

Ground floor space along Mission and 10th Streets is planned for retail use and a youth recreation/activity center. Secure open space, a multi-purpose room, property management offices, and parking are also planned.

BTinSF
Sep 24, 2007, 11:33 PM
^^^Cool. To reiterate, here's some pictures of that project I took about a month ago:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x128/BSTJr/P1000309.jpg?t=1190676677

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x128/BSTJr/P1000310.jpg?t=1190676713

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x128/BSTJr/P1000316.jpg?t=1190676760

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x128/BSTJr/P1000318.jpg?t=1190676791

dimondpark
Sep 27, 2007, 5:43 PM
23-story office tower planned for City Center
Site is one block from high-rise Shorenstein finished in 2002
By Kelly Rayburn, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 09/26/2007 07:25:22 AM PDT

OAKLAND — Oakland City Center is moving up.
Developers' plans to build a 23-story, 500,000-square-foot office tower will be given to city staff today, as Shorenstein Properties, working with MetLife Real Estate Investments, hopes to capitalize on what it sees as another ripe development opportunity downtown.

The tower is planned for an undeveloped patch of land bounded by 11th, 12th and Jefferson streets and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

Shorenstein, which owns City Center, has had plans for the site for years.

Executives with both companies joined Mayor Ron Dellums in saying plans to build the office tower reflected a healthy economy in the city for such projects.

"I think this is a tremendous statement of optimism on behalf of the business community with respect to the future of Oakland," Dellums said.

A more tangible impact — the building's effect on Oakland's skyline — won't go unnoticed, either.

As financial markets swayed, the company originally planned to build office space, before switching its plans to condos and then back to office space when the housing sector tanked.

"It's been in active planning of some sort for probably two-and-a-half, three years," said Shorenstein President Glenn Shannon.

The tower would rank among the city's tallest buildings.

Only six buildings in Oakland are more than 23 stories, according to Emporis, an independent research group that catalogues high-rise construction.

Those buildings are the 28-story Ordway Building on Valdez Street, the 28-story Kaiser Center on Lakeside Drive, the 27-story Lake Merritt Plaza on Harrison Street, the 24-story tower at 1111 Broadway, the 25-story Kaiser Engineering Building on Harrison Street and the

24-story Clorox Building on Broadway.

By comparison, 555 City Center Tower, oneblock east of the proposed building's site and completed by Shorenstein in 2002, is 20 stories.

Ground breaking for the new building is scheduled for April. Construction time is estimated at two years.

Shorenstein executives declined to estimate how much the project will cost, but it will be completed without city subsidies.

There's no word yet on who the tenants will be, though Shannon said preliminary conversations indicate there's high anticipation.

"We feel really good about the level of interest from the tenant community," he said.

555 City Center struggled at first to fill up after its anchor tenant, Ask.com, pulled out.

But Shorenstein executives said the building is now 100 percent leased — and that more than more than half of the companies there came from outside Oakland.

Shorenstein aims to make its newest building not only taller, but also more environmentally friendly.

Executives said the building, designed by architect Ted Korth of the firm Korth Sunseri Hagey, will be constructed to meet the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

There are various levels of LEED certification, and Shorenstein development head Todd Sklar said he did not yet know what level of certification would be sought.

"We don't know yet," he said. "We know that we will be certified. We're going to be pushing it as hard as we can."

LEED certification would make the tower the largest privately owned green office building in downtown Oakland, executives said.


Contact Kelly Rayburn at krayburn@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510-208-6435.

Here's an image of the site from the article
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site181/2007/0926/20070926_082505_tower_GALLERY.jpg

Here's a rendering from abetteroakland.com
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1440/1444585110_d1ce185a37_m.jpg

peanut gallery
Sep 27, 2007, 7:07 PM
I'd call that an improvement.

Reminiscence
Sep 27, 2007, 11:47 PM
I'd call that an improvement.

It could be much better, but I agree, it is better than whats there now.

Reminiscence
Sep 28, 2007, 3:27 AM
There seems to be a new development (at least new to me) near the waterfront:

From Socketsite.com:

The SocketSite Scoop On The 8 Washington Street Project

Pacific Waterfront Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System have been working on plans to redevelop the area “bounded by The Embarcadero, Washington and Drumm Streets.”

And as proposed, the 8 Washington Street Project would replace a surface parking lot (which could be a problem considering it's Seawall lot 351) and the current Golden Gateway Tennis and Swim Club with 170 housing units above street level retail and restaurants; public green space; and underground parking (both public and private). And yes, it also provides for a new and improved Tennis & Swim Club as well.

They have some minor renderings available on the main page, it should be the first story coming up.

BTinSF
Sep 28, 2007, 7:35 AM
^^^Isn't this where the hotel that Aaron Peskin scotched (didn't want anything over a couple of floors) was to be?

Reminiscence
Sep 28, 2007, 9:31 PM
^^^Isn't this where the hotel that Aaron Peskin scotched (didn't want anything over a couple of floors) was to be?

Apparently so, plus some other neighborhood activists protecting their own best interests. I believe this article on the Examiner goes back to a couple of months ago when the fight was on:

http://www.examiner.com/a-836140~Garcia__In_deep_at_the_port.html

peanut gallery
Sep 28, 2007, 9:45 PM
It could be much better, but I agree, it is better than whats there now.

Well said.

San Frangelino
Sep 29, 2007, 2:20 AM
I got this from http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2007/09/28/curbed_inside_arterra_part_ii.php#more

It looks like there's activity on the site of the Arquitectonica designed, 16 story apartment tower in Mission Bay.

http://sf.curbed.com/uploads/2007_08_arterra2a.jpg

mthd
Sep 29, 2007, 7:39 PM
^^^Isn't this where the hotel that Aaron Peskin scotched (didn't want anything over a couple of floors) was to be?

the one you're thinking of is probably the one on broadway - but there have been many attempts to develop this parcel.

Reminiscence
Oct 6, 2007, 5:07 AM
I havent updated this in a while. Hopefully on the next one, I can add 45 Lansing, and maybe even One Rincon Hill's North Tower :)

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1518/sfdiagramgs7.gif

peanut gallery
Oct 6, 2007, 5:45 AM
Looks good, Reminiscence! Also for next time you can remove the crane from the Intercontinental (it's long gone and the glass is complete where it used to be) and you might consider adding the 11-story City Residences building to Millennium. It will just be a relatively short tower crane for now, but they're getting close to street level.

Reminiscence
Oct 6, 2007, 6:11 AM
Looks good, Reminiscence! Also for next time you can remove the crane from the Intercontinental (it's long gone and the glass is complete where it used to be) and you might consider adding the 11-story City Residences building to Millennium. It will just be a relatively short tower crane for now, but they're getting close to street level.

Thanks a lot! :)

I havent heard too much from Intercontinental, so I pretty much just went with what I last knew (which was more than a month ago). When I first created the diagram, I decided to draw only the buildings over 300 feet, so as to not get overwhelmed with amount of smaller construction, although I was meaning to make an exception for Millennium as soon as the construction reached street level.

Hopefully Turnberry and associates reveal a new, more detailed rendering (either to BT or to the general public) of 45 Lansing so I can draw its outline for the next diagram :)

Reminiscence
Oct 7, 2007, 7:48 AM
How about ...

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/5961/sfdiagramyx0.gif

The Millenium's 11 story ammenities building is behind the tower, its a little hard to see, but its there with it own crane (partially shown)

I couldnt wait until next month to add the other two :)

briankendall
Oct 7, 2007, 8:29 AM
Its good to see 45 Lansing on there. Is it really going through? Also, when I walked by earlier this year it said the tower was 450' with mechanical penthouse.

Reminiscence
Oct 8, 2007, 2:10 AM
Its good to see 45 Lansing on there. Is it really going through? Also, when I walked by earlier this year it said the tower was 450' with mechanical penthouse.

Apparently, the way has been paved for 45 Lansing to initiate construction, I guess now its just up to the developers side to start the project. It looks like we can expect construction to begin "any day now", but they've been saying that for a while now. If they hope to finish the project by 2009, it would seem that they should start before the end of this year, right along One Rincon's North Tower.

peanut gallery
Oct 9, 2007, 8:51 PM
Today I walked by the two new restaurants under construction along the Embarcadero (across from Hills Plaza). They are coming along very nicely. Not sure if anyone posted details yet, but one of them will be a seafood restaurant called Waterbar. The other will be called Epic Roasthouse. They're both supposed to open in January. 7x7 San Francisco has more details here (http://www.7x7sf.com/eat_drink/blog/10273937.html).

northbay
Oct 10, 2007, 12:13 AM
^ i walked by them too the other day. the buildings are nice, but nothing spectacular. i thought they were pretty nondescript.

Frisco_Zig
Oct 10, 2007, 3:40 AM
NIMBYs and the Port Commission


SAN FRANCISCO
Proposed pier project's scale upsets many in area


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/09/BAD1SM8JL.DTL

A proposal for a four-story office building and cruise ship terminal on aging piers at the foot of Telegraph Hill is raising objections from environmental and neighborhood groups that say the plan is out of scale with the waterfront and offers too little public recreation space.

Shorenstein Properties LLC is scheduled to unveil the plan at today's Port Commission hearing. It is the latest proposal hammered out between Shorenstein and the Port of San Francisco for a partnership in which office development would be the economic engine for restoring the rotting Piers 27-31 as a primary cruise ship terminal and a recreation center.

The port favors a cruise ship terminal at Pier 27 because, although the pier needs millions in repairs, it is San Francisco's longest berth and can accommodate modern cruise ships. In contrast, Pier 35, which has served as the cruise ship terminal for decades, is not as long and is similarly dilapidated and damaged by termites.

While office development has been part of Shorenstein's plan from the start, the question has always been how much. Waterfront and neighborhood advocates say Shorenstein's latest proposed office building violates area height limits - currently three stories or 40 feet - and the plan shortchanges recreational uses, which the port and state agencies have prioritized in the city's waterfront land-use plan.

"I don't know how we get past those problems," said Vedica Puri, president of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers. "If you give this project a height exemption for the office building, then everyone will want one ... . The whole point was that this space was supposed to be devoted to recreation and it's simply not."

Puri's group and others were instrumental in halting a five-year effort by shopping mall builder Mills Corp. of Virginia, which spent $30 million on studies and a public relations effort, but failed to win support for a project that would have included a YMCA, a marine sports area and 331,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and offices.

Residents and politicians were concerned about traffic and congestion on the Embarcadero. Mills finally gave up in March 2006 and sold its development rights to Shorenstein and its development partner, Farallon Capital Management.

While Shorenstein's office development would produce tax revenue to pay for $60 million of $145 million needed for rust repairs and earthquake stabilization, state agencies that regulate what can be built on the public shoreline generally consider office space to be in conflict with public use of the waterfront.

State laws generally allow maritime uses, historic and environmental restoration, recreation, and retail and other commercial activities if they are available to the general public.

In the face of opposition from state regulators and environmental groups, Shorenstein withdrew plans before an expected Port Commission vote in January. In May, the company announced it would reduce a plan for 440,000 square feet of office space and work with the port to create the new terminal.

On Monday, Shorenstein executives, who plan to move Shorenstein's operations to the piers if the project goes through, said the costs of the development and the tax revenue it would provide for the cruise terminal and repairs justify the amount of proposed office space.

"We will bring in public benefits in excess of $100 million, bring a cruise ship terminal over and pay rent for the next 66 years, and for that we need to have class A office space," said Tom Hart, executive vice president at Shorenstein.

Hart said the plan scheduled to be presented today would feature three acres of open space on Pier 27 and two acres devoted to recreational uses on the top floor of a new three-story building between Piers 27 and 29. The building also would house cruise terminal operations and a parking garage.

The fact that the recreational space was reduced from earlier plans illustrates the port's change in priorities, Hart said.

"My impression is that the city has decided that a cruise ship terminal is more important than an exclusively recreational project," Hart said.

Byron Rhett, who is managing the Piers 27-31 development for the port, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Shorenstein's presentation today will be to inform the Port Commission about changes in the proposal. The commission would not vote on the plan before Oct. 23. If approved, it would go before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Bay environmental advocates said the commission and the board should be guided by the city's waterfront plan, which put a premium on public recreational uses at the piers.

"A cruise ship terminal may or may not be a good idea, and it may allow for some of the approved public uses, but office space is not," said David Lewis, executive director of environmental group, Save The Bay. "The developer may be betting that the city's desire for a cruise ship terminal will allow them to get their approval ...."

Lewis said he would not be surprised if Shorenstein's presentation today raised concerns among regulators and neighbors.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whose district includes the piers, and who opposed the Mills plan, described the proposal as a set of trade offs.

"I'm excited about the cruise terminal," Peskin said. "We would have to come to terms with a reduction in the long-promised recreation as well as a request for up zoning on the pier; they need to be weighed and balanced."

If you want to attend:

Shorenstein Properties LLC will present its development proposal during a San Francisco Port Commission meeting that begins at 3:15 p.m. today at the Port Commission Hearing Room on the 2nd floor of the Ferry Building.

E-mail Robert Selna at rselna@sfchronicle.com.

twinpeaks
Oct 10, 2007, 4:06 AM
"I don't know how we get past those problems," said Vedica Puri, president of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers. "If you give this project a height exemption for the office building, then everyone will want one ... . The whole point was that this space was supposed to be devoted to recreation and it's simply not."

[/email].

These Dwellers would rather have rotten piers. Selfish indeed.

viewguysf
Oct 10, 2007, 4:11 AM
NIMBYs and the Port Commission

SAN FRANCISCO
Proposed pier project's scale upsets many in area

A proposal for a four-story office building and cruise ship terminal on aging piers at the foot of Telegraph Hill is raising objections from environmental and neighborhood groups that say the plan is out of scale with the waterfront and offers too little public recreation space.

The port favors a cruise ship terminal at Pier 27 because, although the pier needs millions in repairs, it is San Francisco's longest berth and can accommodate modern cruise ships. In contrast, Pier 35, which has served as the cruise ship terminal for decades, is not as long and is similarly dilapidated and damaged by termites.

The fact that the recreational space was reduced from earlier plans illustrates the port's change in priorities, Hart said.

"My impression is that the city has decided that a cruise ship terminal is more important than an exclusively recreational project," Hart said.

"A cruise ship terminal may or may not be a good idea, and it may allow for some of the approved public uses, but office space is not," said David Lewis, executive director of environmental group, Save The Bay.

If the NIMBY's continue to fight every development proposal for that site, nothing will ever be built because no one will be able to afford it.

It's absolutely brain dead to think that a new cruise ship terminal may not be a good idea! Do they really like the impression that Pier 35 currently makes? When I got off my cruise ship in August, the place smelled like pee, was very over crowded, embarrassing and totally disgusting. What a way to say "Welcome to San Francisco"!

BTinSF
Oct 12, 2007, 11:25 PM
Equitable Life building gets faux-marble makeover
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

The white marble-clad Equitable Life building at 120 Montgomery is getting a new skin -- and a new address.

After years of problems with cracking and crumbling of the 1955 building's exterior, owner Hines is replacing the skin with a new white glass product that combines the appearance of stone and the toughness to better withstand the "rigors of the Bay Area climate," according to Hines Senior Vice President Paul Paradis.

The renovation, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, will take about 14 months. The lobby and entrance will also be revamped and the address of the structure will be changed to 100 Montgomery St.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/10/15/newscolumn1.html?t=printable

BTinSF
Oct 12, 2007, 11:27 PM
^ i walked by them too the other day. the buildings are nice, but nothing spectacular. i thought they were pretty nondescript.

I believe the idea was to keep them low and "nondescript" so as not to detract from the waterfront itself.

nequidnimis
Oct 14, 2007, 1:02 AM
the "rigors of the Bay Area climate,"

???

Reminiscence
Oct 14, 2007, 3:28 AM
???

They probably mean the winds and the moisture carried by the dense fog.

peanut gallery
Oct 15, 2007, 7:50 PM
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/10/15/newscolumn1.html?t=printable

I walked by 120 Montgomery today. The stone doesn't look bad from the street, other than some streaking that looks like it's from the work mentioned in the Biz Times article. Perhaps the problem is leaking and other things you don't really see from the outside. I'm also curious if they plan to redo the wavy pattern between the windows. That feature looks a bit dated and I wouldn't mind seeing it go.

peanut gallery
Oct 16, 2007, 6:43 PM
Cross-posted from the Greater Bay Area Rundown:

SF Chronicle update from this weekend on Oakland's Uptown Development (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/14/RE3KSNPGI.DTL&hw=uptown+development&sn=001&sc=1000). The Forest City plot mentioned in the article is where the A's had hoped to build a new urban ballpark village. Ex-Mayor Brown preferred it to be developed into housing. As an A's fan, I was dissapointed. But I'm glad to see the development become reality, rather than nothing at all.

Also buried in here is a very brief update on Oakland's Oak-to-Ninth Street development along the waterfront. Signature Properties (one of the developers at Uptown) hope to break ground on that next year. All-in-all there's a lot happening in Oakland these days.


http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/10/14/re_uptown01.jpg

Jerry Brown's downtown vision still sparkles with Signature and other developments

Dana Perrigan, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, October 14, 2007

When Jerry Brown was elected mayor of Oakland in 1998, a lot of people thought the city was a bit like the Tin Man in the "Wizard of Oz": It had a lot of things going for it, it was full of potential - but it didn't have a heart.

Career politician Brown has since gone on to work as state attorney general, but long before embarking on the yellow brick to Sacramento he announced his 10K Housing Initiative. Bring 10,000 new residents downtown, he said, and their collective heartbeat would surely revive the area from its lingering malaise.

It has been nearly a decade since Brown began his initiative. Those who believed in it, invested in it and remained behind to carry it out say the former mayor's vision - despite the recent cackles of the wicked witch over the current real estate market - is alive and well.

Mike Ghielmetti counts himself among that group.

"Twelve months from now, this area will be transformed," said Ghielmetti, president of Signature Properties.

On a bright and blustery afternoon with more than a hint of autumn in the air, Ghielmetti leads the way from his firm's sales office to the entrance of the new Broadway Grand - a stylish, Art Deco-inspired building featuring 132 new condominiums and town homes in the heart of Oakland's Uptown neighborhood.

With underground parking and 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, Broadway Grand represents Signature's contribution to the revitalization effort. Signature bought the property two years ago, broke ground soon after that and plans to have it ready for occupancy in a month or two.

The condos begin on the fourth floor of the seven-story building. Built around the perimeter of a large central courtyard lined with planter boxes and private patios, they range in size and price from the 722-square-foot one-bedroom for $387,000 to the 2,108-square-foot four-bedroom, three-bath for $901,900.

With hardwood floors, recessed lighting, room-by-room temperature control, higher-end appliances and fixtures and generous views of the urban landscape below, they seem to be the embodiment of Brown's promise of "elegant density."

Ghielmetti isn't very worried about the condition of the current market. He's been in the business long enough to know that it's cyclical, and that if you build a good product it'll usually work out. He plans to break ground on Phase II - an adjacent parcel that runs up to 24th Street - next summer. When completed, it will add 370 new homes and 120,000 square feet of retail space to the area.

"I think in a market like this there's a certain amount of caution," he said. "(People) aren't buying sight unseen like they were a couple of years ago, but we're making sales."

Ghielmetti is also moving forward on the huge Oak-to-Ninth project, a 62-acre mixed-use, urban-infill development on Port of Oakland land south of Jack London Square. The project includes 3,100 housing units and 200,000 square feet of retail space. Signature hopes to break ground on the 15- to 20-year project next year.

Standing outside once again at the corner of Broadway and Grand, Ghielmetti gestures toward the surrounding area. Signature plans to install antique streetlamps, plant trees along the wide sidewalks and tulips in the center divider of Broadway. The Paramount Theater, a block down Broadway, and the Fox Theater, in the process of being renovated over on Telegraph, will serve as the linchpins of a burgeoning new entertainment district. Ghielmetti envisions visitors and residents strolling in the evening on their way to dinner, followed by a show or a cocktail.

"There's good bones down here," Ghielmetti said. "You look at all the revitalized areas around the county, there's no reason why Oakland can't be part of the renaissance." As if in anticipation of the transformation, a number of restaurants, cafes, clothing stores and galleries have already opened.

"I was aware of the plans when I bought the place," said Rick Mitchell, owner of Luka's Taproom and Lounge, across the street from Broadway Grand. "There haven't been a lot of changes, but they're imminent. Here in Oakland it's good to be skeptical, but we're excited about the changes and we want to be a part of it."

So does John Eudy, executive vice president of Essex - a real estate investment trust that is putting up 238 apartments a block or so from Broadway Grand at Grand and Webster. The steel for the 10-story building, which will also contain 9,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, is already up. Begun in late 2006, the project is scheduled for completion in about a year.

"We bought into the whole revitalization idea he (Brown) was pushing, and we believe in it," said Eudy, whose firm has invested $90 million in the downtown area. "What's been happening in Oakland during the last eight years has been pretty phenomenal."

Like Ghielmetti, Eudy isn't very concerned with how the market will affect Essex's interests in Oakland.

"It may slow some of the condo development," he said, "but the rental market's only firmed up."

For Forest City Development, whose mixed-use project a few blocks away from Broadway Grand is considered by some to be the anchor of development in the Uptown area, the decision to invest in the neighborhood was largely based on logic.

"It's a transit-oriented site," said Susan Smartt, senior vice president for Forest City Residential West. "It's the centralized hub of the BART system, and the city has a positive attitude toward redevelopment."

Other factors that weighed in the decision, Smartt said, included good weather and the fact that 70,000 people work in downtown Oakland.

And then there was the intangible factor.

"There is something very unique about the ethnic diversity of downtown Oakland," Smartt said. "It's full of good spirits. The people who live in Oakland know it and love it."

Situated between 19th and 20th streets, Telegraph and San Pablo avenues, Forest City West's Uptown Project received a $40 million subsidy from the city to buy land and finance 140 below-market units. The development is a joint venture between Forest City Development and MacFarlane Partners, which are making a $187 million investment in downtown Oakland. In addition to urban infill developments in Denver, Chicago, Boston and Brooklyn, Forest City built the 800-unit Bayside Village at the San Francisco anchorage of the Bay Bridge. Forest City will also be the developer of the Public Health Services Hospital building in San Francisco's Presidio.

Altogether, there will be about 1,000 units, including 665 apartments, and 9,000 square feet of retail space on the site. A 25,000-square-foot park adjacent to the project is also planned. The first phase, which includes the park, is scheduled to open by next spring.

Smartt said the city of Oakland is intent on continuing the revitalization efforts.

"It's begun to take on a life of its own," she said. "It's happening organically - and that's good."

Oakland City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, whose district contains the new development in the Uptown neighborhood, says it's difficult to say whether 10,000 new residents have come to the downtown area, and she believes the softened market may slow the influx.

"We are subject to the whims of the market just as every other city is," she said. "But the market will rebound. And Oakland is a city that's in the center of everything: It's a great place to develop."

The former mayor - dubbed by some at the time as "Downtown Brown" - he couldn't be more pleased by what's been happening in Oakland.

"When I became mayor," he said, "there hadn't been any significant building in downtown Oakland in decades. Now it's gone beyond my imagination."

Brown, who still has his loft on 27th Street, was excited about the grand opening, which he attended the day before, of the Whole Foods store, built on the site of a former Cadillac dealership at 27th and Harrison streets. He attributes the continued influx of business and real estate investment in the area to "private investment and a minimum of red tape," and a city that isn't afraid to invest in itself.

"You have to see development as a positive factor, as an asset and not a liability," he said. "Unfortunately, there are those who have more of an affinity to poverty than prosperity."

Having completed the tour, Ghielmetti walks back across the street to Signature's sales office. Sure-footed workers methodically dismantle the scaffolding from the face of Broadway Grand. One worker picks up a plank, passes it down to the next man who, in turn, hands it off to a third man standing on a flatbed truck.

As the third man drops the plank into place, a cloud of white dust explodes into the air and, caught by the wind, is swept down Broadway.

BTinSF
Oct 20, 2007, 6:01 PM
Friday, October 19, 2007
Cal Pacific's new diagnosis
San Francisco Business Times - by Chris Rauber

California Pacific Medical Center, chastened by what it sees as politically motivated delays to $2.4 billion in San Francisco hospital replacement and expansion projects, is proposing a comprehensive overhaul of its system, balancing controversial moves with sweeteners in a bid to gain city support.

Martin Brotman, M.D., the hospital's longtime CEO, laid out in an exclusive interview a new CPMC master plan designed to mollify critics and alter the city's health-care topography. Specifically, it would:

Turn both St. Luke's Hospital and California Pacific's main Pacific Heights campus into outpatient "hubs," while augmenting its Davies campus.
Build several community-care clinics, primarily south of Market Street, and contribute $20 million annually "to continue the mission of St. Luke's."
Use its California campus in the Richmond District as its sole labor and delivery site, moving about 1,000 deliveries per year that now occur at St. Luke's.
Include in its new $1.7 billion Cathedral Hill facility a "much enlarged emergency department" and advanced medical-surgical and women's and children's services.
Consider giving the city part of the St. Luke's site as a possible new campus for city-owned San Francisco General Hospital.
Converting St. Luke's, one of the city's main safety-net hospitals for poor patients, to an outpatient center is political dynamite in San Francisco. CPMC hopes the other elements of the overall plan will be enough to help it gain favor.

"What we're seeking is to build a partnership with the city, (to address) some of the most difficult unmet health-care needs in San Francisco," including the lack of adequate skilled nursing and psychiatric facilities, and the much-delayed rebuild of San Francisco General Hospital, Brotman told the San Francisco Business Times.

Sal Rosselli, president of SEIU's United Healthcare Workers West unit, scoffed at the idea that CPMC and its Sutter Health parent have the city's best interests in mind.

"How can they present a plan that will be better for the population south of Market and for San Francisco if they don't involve the community," he said, characterizing CPMC's new plan as a cynical public-relations move "to politically accomplish their goals of maximizing profits and market share."

Unless CPMC and Sutter change their ways dramatically, Rosselli predicted, "all of the rest of us will come up with (an approach) that excludes them. They can just leave town."

California Pacific hopes to present its new vision to Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in coming days, including at an Oct. 25 supervisors' hearing, as well as to the San Francisco Health Commission in a hearing next month. Some city officials have been briefed on aspects of the plan in recent days, said hospital spokesman Kevin McCormack.

Union clout

The move comes as 677-bed CPMC -- the city's largest private hospital -- faces tough odds for getting its proposed $1.7 billion Cathedral Hill hospital and other projects approved by a reluctant Board of Supervisors, unless it bows to pressure from the politically powerful Service Employees International Union on contract and other issues and makes other concessions. CPMC was blocked from gaining a quick go-ahead on a $20 million Neuroscience Institute late last month by the supervisors, with indications that other projects could face similar scrutiny. The supervisors -- with a strong push from the SEIU -- required that CPMC provide a comprehensive environmental impact report for all of its proposed work in the city.

And time is tight. CPMC needs a replacement hospital, both for its own sake and to meet a state-mandated seismic safety deadline of January 2013, and getting city and state approvals for a new hospital and other major projects can take years under the best of circumstances. That gives SEIU, and other opponents, a lot of leverage.

"The most important thing is to have an open discussion of the issues," said Brotman, who has been accused of being naive about San Francisco politics. If the SEIU objects to closing St. Luke's acute-care services, has concerns about lost union jobs or is worried about salaries and benefits, he said, "let's sit down and talk about it."

Political jujitsu

Both the SEIU's United Healthcare Workers West unit and the California Nurses Association have attacked CPMC in recent months for its rumored plans to shutter St. Luke's. CPMC hopes to turn the tables on its adversaries, by turning both St. Luke's and the Pacific campus at 2333 Buchanan St. into ambulatory hubs, and creating a network of community clinics in under-served neighborhoods.

Keeping St. Luke's open as an acute-care hospital past 2009 isn't economically feasible, according to Brotman and other CPMC officials. That's the deadline CPMC agreed to in order to gain regulatory approval to merge operations with St. Luke's in January.

St. Luke's medical staff has been shrinking for years, both before it affiliated in 2001 with Sutter Health and since, and it's been losing in the vicinity of $35 million annually in recent years, according to hospital officials. They say CPMC and Sutter have invested "well over $200 million" in the facility, given it substantial cosmetic upgrades, improved its clinical technology and other infrastructure, and made other improvements, all to no avail. St. Luke's average daily census is about 55 to 58 patients, roughly 60 percent of its beds are typically empty, and some major departments, such as its neonatal intensive care unit and inpatient pediatrics unit often have a single patient in-house -- not enough, officials say, to justify the facility's continued existence as an acute-care hospital.

Brotman hopes that plans to convert St. Luke's into a robust ambulatory care center, and surround it with community clinics focusing on preventive care and disease management for conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity and congestive heart failure, will be enough to transform CPMC's image with city power brokers and residents in neighborhoods affected by its planned construction projects. Various studies, by the city, CPMC and other groups, have indicated "that the real need was for an ambulatory care center south of Market that was culturally competent, linguistically competent and focused on chronic disease management," he said. "What you see in the population that is underserved is chronic disease that is not properly managed."

Reinventing care

To reverse that, CPMC has launched a pilot program called HealthFirst to focus on preventive care and avoidance of unnecessary emergency room visits. It's backed by $3 million in philanthropic donations from two outside funders -- Atlantic Philanthropies and the Skirball Foundation -- and the hospital's commitment to dedicate $20 million annually to "continue the mission of St. Luke's south of Market," after St. Luke's acute-care services are transferred elsewhere.

A Bayview child-care clinic opened in March, and CPMC hopes to open three more community clinics in coming years, possibly in the Excelsior district, Stonestown and Potrero Hill.

Another proposal CPMC is considering, Brotman and other hospital officials said, is to "give" or transfer St. Luke's patient tower to the city's Department of Public Health, as a potential site for a rebuild of San Francisco General Hospital. (The city is planning to build a $900 million replacement at S.F. General's current location.) Such a scenario would give San Francisco additional backup -- consisting of a rebuilt S.F. General at the St. Luke's site and its old campus in Potrero Hill -- in the case of a catastrophic earthquake, terrorist attack or other disaster, Brotman said, although there are no indications that the city would consider such a proposal.

After the Cathedral Hill campus is built, meanwhile, he said California Pacific's California facility at 3700 California Street would be held in reserve, possibly for a number of years, to see if it's needed as an assisted living or long-term-care facility.

"This is not pie in the sky," Brotman insisted. "This is all approved by our board (CPMC's) and by Sutter's board. And this is too important to come down to whether or not SEIU comes to an agreement with Sutter Health -- it's far more important than that."

How city officials and CPMC's powerful opponents react to CPMC's ambitious new stroke remains to be seen.

crauber@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4946


Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/10/22/story2.html?t=printable

BTinSF
Oct 20, 2007, 6:08 PM
Pedestrian plaza now unlikely in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 20, 2007

A retired Berkeley planner who wanted to create an innovative pedestrian plaza in the Gourmet Ghetto said Friday the plan is nearly sunk, due to bitter opposition from small-business owners and neighbors.

"We were out-shouted," said David Stoloff, a North Berkeley resident who worked for 21/2 years without pay to bring the North Shattuck Plaza to fruition. "There were people who glommed onto this as their next big fight, and they vowed they weren't going to lose. They didn't."

The plan was so mired in divisive community meetings that it never made it to the official city planning process. Now Stoloff, a city planning commissioner, said he's so frustrated he's close to abandoning it.

North Shattuck Plaza would have transformed the parking strip and a short portion of Shattuck Avenue between Vine and Rose streets into a park-like promenade with trees, grass, artwork, a farmers' market and benches where people could have slices of Cheese Board pizza and swill lattes from the original Peet's.

But a group of neighbors and merchants said the plaza would quickly be overrun with trash, graffiti and homeless people and would hinder motorists trying to shop. The debate rapidly degenerated into shouting matches at community meetings, taking a spiteful and personal tone that surprised even the most grizzled veterans of Berkeley neighborhood wars.

"There was so much screaming," said Marcia Masse, owner of Masse's Pastries on Shattuck. "It created a lot of ill will. I'd hoped that I could say my opinion, and if people didn't agree, that would be OK. It wasn't."

Masse said she wasn't opposed to the plaza but was concerned about how it would be maintained. The city has enough trouble keeping up its current public spaces, she said.

The main problem was that even though the plaza was debated at numerous community meetings, merchants and neighbors felt they had little say in the matter, said John Coleman, manager of Earthly Goods on Vine Street.

"We're not sad to see it go," Coleman said. "What it boiled down to was developers and politicians against neighbors and small-business owners, and in Berkeley that's a bad mix."

Other merchants complained about enduring six months of construction and reconfigured parking. The diagonal spaces on Shattuck would be lost, but more spaces would be added near Rose Street.

"My business would probably not survive prolonged, disruptive construction on the street," said Bob Brown, co-owner of Black Oak Books. "That and parking were the issues for me."

Stoloff, a retired planner for UC Berkeley, said he just wanted to create an inviting public space where people could meet and enjoy the outdoors. He also wanted to transform an awkward stretch of Shattuck Avenue where traffic veers to the left, leaving an orphan lane dating back to the old Key system.

City Councilman Laurie Capitelli, who represents the neighborhood, said he hopes a plaza or park could still happen in the area.

"I certainly hope that someday, in a saner and calmer environment, we could get rid of some of the asphalt," he said. "How it gets configured will have to make sense to small-business owners, because this time they have appeared to have carried the day."

Stoloff, meanwhile, said he's disappointed and depressed that his plan wasn't better received.

"It's awful. People were so angry, and it got so personal," he said. "But it made for impressive political theater."

E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/20/BA3IST5TQ.DTL

peanut gallery
Oct 25, 2007, 6:06 AM
Today I walked by the two new restaurants under construction along the Embarcadero (across from Hills Plaza). They are coming along very nicely. Not sure if anyone posted details yet, but one of them will be a seafood restaurant called Waterbar. The other will be called Epic Roasthouse. They're both supposed to open in January. 7x7 San Francisco has more details here (http://www.7x7sf.com/eat_drink/blog/10273937.html).

Today I brought my camera. I'm actually quite happy with these. They maintain a low profile, both in size and design, yet are pleasant looking and will definitely have some great views. Given their location, I'm OK with them trying to fit in, rather than making a grand design statement.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2418/1738585737_7cfb11f541_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2178/1739543256_313cdf3457_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2001/1738585757_6e98255114_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/1739543232_9ddffe425b_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/1739543274_4f9a19efdb_b.jpg

Reminiscence
Nov 2, 2007, 3:18 AM
Here goes the November update:

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/5471/sfdiagramby6.gif

BTinSF
Nov 2, 2007, 4:56 PM
St. Francis sees $150M hotel upgrade
San Francisco Business Times - by Ryan Tate

The owner of the Westin St. Francis outlined $150 million in hotel upgrades, including a new restaurant from Michael Mina -- but its CEO said he is unlikely to spend all that money unless San Francisco opens its own pocketbook for more tourism advertising.

Laurence Geller, CEO of St. Francis owner Strategic Hotels & Resorts, said he met with Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials to lobby for a variety of policy changes that, according to Geller, would set city tourism on the right track.

The policy ideas include looser rules on converting hotels to condominiums or timeshares as well as more money to market the city on a nationwide basis to convention planners and prospective tourists.

Without such changes, Geller said, Strategic Hotels may not proceed beyond an initial $40 million renovation it is now undertaking, which will include plans, still under discussion, for a new Michael Mina brasserie and bakery facing the street.

"The city has to coalesce in a touristic sense to move itself forward," Geller said in an interview. "I want to see if the city is committed to the city."

Geller added that San Francisco no longer evokes the "magic" reaction it did in the years after Tony Bennett's "I left my heart in San Francisco" was released in 1962.

Later, in comments to roughly one dozen top hotel clients, Geller said, "The city is a disappointment."

"You have one of the three or four best convention centers in the country ... but you underspend on marketing the city, and shame on you all for allowing it to happen."

Geller returned repeatedly to the issue of condominium legislation, but insisted he has no designs on installing housing at the St. Francis. Instead, Geller said, he is concerned that San Francisco's moratorium on converting portions of large hotels to condominiums is discouraging investment in the city.

Geller lives in Chicago, where Strategic Hotels is located. His company has owned the St. Francis only since June of last year, but previously owned the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. It has 21 hotels overall and about $940 million in annual revenue.

The St. Francis is getting lobby and rooms improvements and the hotel is installing a variety of new bars and restaurants, including a bar near its century-old lobby grandfather clock; a wine, cheese and chocolate bar tentatively called Eno; and the Michael Mina brasserie, which will not only take the former Oak Room, but also include a bakery fronting on Post Street.

St. Francis General Manager Jon Kimball said the brasserie plans are "likely to happen" but that design work is still under way and the final cost not yet been established.

If costs are too high or talks with Mina fall through, it is possible the brasserie plans may not move forward.

Geller hopes the upgrades will drive new business into a hotel he paid dearly for, some $440 million, or close to $400,000 for each of the 1,200 rooms. Geller conceded that business is six months to a year behind his projections, despite an increase of roughly 10 percent in revenue per room over the past year. Occupancy hovers in the 75 percent to 85 percent range, and Geller clearly would like to see the hotel fuller.

Geller said he plans no layoffs. "I just want them busier," he said. "We need more volume in the hotel so we can afford them -- afford them better."

Geller said he has drawn up plans to spend $110 million or so over the next five years to return the hotel to preeminence in San Francisco. Plans submitted to the city Planning Commission include additional meeting space and a possible rooftop addition, but Geller said he is mulling alternatives.

He added that Strategic is also considering outfitting the 100-year-old front section of the hotel with the most luxurious rooms in the city, a move that would presumably retain more affordable lodging in the 32-story rear extension added in 1971.

"The St. Francis will be what it deserves to be and what it once was, without it being a fake facsimile," Geller said. "It has the best bones of any hotel in the city, (but) it is the most neglected hotel in the city."

rtate@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4968


Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/11/05/story3.html

Note: In spite of the article's phrasing in several places, Mr. Geller does not "own" the St. Francis. Strategic Hotels and Resorts is a publically traded hotel REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) of which he is the CEO. I have no idea how much of the stock he owns (I'd guess not very much). As a matter of disclosure, I used to own some too but don't right now. The St. Francis and I go back a ways. Prior to the last 2 owners, the hotel was owned for about 2 decades by a private limited partnership, Westin Hotels Limited Partners, of which I was also a limited partner (very limited).

rocketman_95046
Nov 30, 2007, 5:26 AM
Giants swing at waterfront project
Ballclub teams up with Cordish for shot at prime property
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

The San Francisco Giants have joined forces with Baltimore-based Cordish Co. in a bid to develop the 13.6-acre parking lot across the Lefty O'Doul Bridge from AT&T Park.

While the concept is in the early stages, and other development teams are still coalescing, the Giants-Cordish group will be a clear front-runner in the competition to take on the prime port-owned waterfront parcel known as Seawall Lot 337.

Cordish specializes in mixed-use projects linked to ballparks. The team also includes San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management as a financial partner and architect SMWM as part of a larger design group, according to Giants Senior Vice President Jack Bair.

Bair said the proposal would be a "mixed-use project that includes a substantial open space component.

"We want the space to have public feel and be synergistic with the ballpark and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood," said Bair.

Bair said the lot is "of particular importance" to the Giants because it serves as the team's "primary parking facility" with more than 2,000 spaces.

"We are keenly interested in making sure that any development of the site is well-conceived and responsive to the needs of the ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood," said Bair. "The Giants have 50-year history in San Francisco and will be long-term neighbors of SWL 337 as we have more than 50 years remaining on our ballpark lease with the port."

While the Giants are the obvious favorite, other seasoned developers are also making a run at the site. Kenwood Investments, which has managed entitlements for the redevelopment of Treasure Island, the Sacramento docks and El Cerrito BART Village, is also looking at it.

"It is a fabulous piece of real estate and the city deserves a first-class project on that site," said Kenwood principal Jay Wallace.

Other prominent developers who attended a Nov. 15 pre-development meeting on the site include Archstone Smith, Boston Properties, Build Inc. and Security Properties. Local architects talking to different developers include Patri Merker, BAR, Hornberger + Worstell, KwanHenmi, and Field Paoli.

"There is a lot of dancing around right now, and we don't know who we'll end up with," said Dana Merker, a principal with Patri Merker.

Badly needed revenue
The northeast corner of Mission Bay, Seawall Lot 337 is among San Francisco's most valuable developable sites, and is a central part of the cash-hungry port's plan to generate income it needs to repair rotting piers. The Port of San Francisco has $1.2 billion in capital needs, but only $400 million is funded, according to its 10-year capital plan. The port has had remarkably little success in developing property in recent years; attempts to redevelop Piers 30-32 and Piers 27-31 have been stymied by political opposition and high construction costs.

But the port is hoping Seawall Lot 337 will be a different story. Working with neighborhood groups and State Sen. Carole Migden (D-S.F.), the port in October passed Senate Bill 815, legislation that gave the port more control over waterfront development on four so-called "seawall" parcels, the biggest of which is lot 337. The legislation enabled the port to develop projects that are not normally allowed by the State Lands Commission, which controls waterfront development.

Under the seawall lot plan, a developer would sign a 75-year ground lease, with annual ground lease rents for the property likely to start at as high as $15 million.

Real estate consultant David Prowler, who under former Mayor Willie Brown was the project manager for Giants ballpark development, said the port made lot 337 more attractive by plunging into the contentious neighborhood politics before even issuing a request for proposals. A series of community meetings was held to help shape the request for proposals.

"They have shown their dedication to developing the site by getting state legislation passed and drumming up the local support needed to get that legislation passed," said Prowler. "That is very unusual. I think the port is very serious about making it happen this time."

Splashy enclaves
Cordish Co. has carved out a niche for creating downtown mixed-use entertainment districts around music and sporting venues. In St. Louis, Cordish is building the $650 million Ballpark Village next to the new Busch Stadium, which includes 450,000 square feet of retail/entertainment, 1,200 residential units, 300,000 square feet of office and 2,000 parking spaces. In Kansas City, the firm is building the Power & Light District, an $850 million downtown redevelopment project. It has done similar projects in Houston, Atlantic City, N.J., and Louisville, Ky.

In addition to parking and open space, the lot 337 development would likely include some housing and retail. The housing would most likely be rental because building condos on leased land is problematic, according to Build Inc. principal Lou Vasquez.

"You can do condos on a ground lease, but you would have to sell at such a severe discount, I don't know if it would work," he said. "I don't want to be the first one in the pool on that one."

Vasquez said he hoped the lot would be developed by an assortment of architects and builders to ensure an eclectic neighborhood with a San Francisco feel.

"What we don't want to do is continue the campus feel of the rest of Mission Bay," he said.

"What we don't want to do is continue the campus feel of the rest of Mission Bay," he said.

Sylvia Kwan of KwanHenmi echoed several architects who are hoping to be have a crack at the parcel.

"It's going to be great opportunity for a team with vision -- it's one of the few great sites left," Kwan said.

In October, port planner Diane Oshima said the port is committed to conducting periodic meetings between the development team and neighborhood interests to make sure the two sides are aligned.

"It's a reality check for both sides," Oshima said. "We have high expectations on public venues and amenities and high expectations for the development potential and revenues."

jkdineen@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4971

BTinSF
Nov 30, 2007, 6:43 AM
They probably mean the winds and the moisture carried by the dense fog.

Exactly. The "maritime layer" is very corrosive.

WildCowboy
Nov 30, 2007, 7:24 PM
I'm intrigued by the Giants' stab at Lot 337...this could be really good. They'll have significant vested interests on both sides of the channel. Looks like they've got an outstanding team lined up, too.

Gordo
Nov 30, 2007, 7:54 PM
I'm intrigued by the Giants' stab at Lot 337...this could be really good. They'll have significant vested interests on both sides of the channel. Looks like they've got an outstanding team lined up, too.

As long as they don't leave a large portion of it as surface parking. I don't mind there being a parking element, but I'd like to see some other uses for the land. It would be nice if the Giants could come to some kind of agreement with UCSF to use the parking garages there for game days.

WildCowboy
Nov 30, 2007, 9:29 PM
As long as they don't leave a large portion of it as surface parking. I don't mind there being a parking element, but I'd like to see some other uses for the land. It would be nice if the Giants could come to some kind of agreement with UCSF to use the parking garages there for game days.

No way will it be surface parking...it'll have to be structured in order to leave enough room for stuff to allow them to afford the ground lease from the Port.

UCSF already offers 500+ spaces in its Third Street Garage for Giants games. The remaining spaces on the eastern part of campus are needed for employees and residents, and the Community Center garage is reserved for needs on that side of campus...it's generally pretty full even without Giants traffic.

Reminiscence
Dec 1, 2007, 8:46 AM
Here is my update for December, the last of this year (my goodness, where does the time go ...)

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/865/sfdiagrameq2.gif

Downtown Dave
Dec 1, 2007, 1:46 PM
Thanks, Mario. I really appreciate those diagrams! It really helps put the work into perspective.

BTinSF
Dec 1, 2007, 7:17 PM
I'm not clear on why you show unfinished work on the top of ORH South. The work on the top of the building is finished but is that meant to indicate there's still a bit of other work to do?

Reminiscence
Dec 1, 2007, 9:33 PM
I'm not clear on why you show unfinished work on the top of ORH South. The work on the top of the building is finished but is that meant to indicate there's still a bit of other work to do?

In part, yes. What I've decided to do is to remove the building from the diagram once its officially finished. For example, Intercontinental is still there, even though its clearly been topped off and most, if not all, the exterior work has been completed. As far as I know, the building is scheduled for opening in February, so I'll remove it from the diagram then. Likewise with ORH South, both of the buildings could be gone at same time for the same update in February, at which point I'll switch over to ORH North (hopefully).

Reminiscence
Dec 1, 2007, 9:34 PM
Thanks, Mario. I really appreciate those diagrams! It really helps put the work into perspective.

And thanks to you too Dave, your awesome photo updates help make this possible :).

peanut gallery
Dec 1, 2007, 11:18 PM
Yeah, thanks Reminiscence! Love seeing the progress vis-a-vis the plan.

WildCowboy
Dec 2, 2007, 5:39 AM
I'm not clear on why you show unfinished work on the top of ORH South. The work on the top of the building is finished but is that meant to indicate there's still a bit of other work to do?

In part, yes. What I've decided to do is to remove the building from the diagram once its officially finished.

I think the issue is that your representation of the white portion of the crown looks an awful lot like the outline used for unfinished portions of structures.

Reminiscence
Dec 2, 2007, 7:49 AM
I think the issue is that your representation of the white portion of the crown looks an awful lot like the outline used for unfinished portions of structures.

I see what you mean, it does actually. I've gone back and changed the color somewhat to make more of a distinction. Thanks for pointing that out by the way :).

BTinSF
Dec 14, 2007, 11:53 PM
Tower developer hopes to command luxury prices

The developer of a 42-story Oakland condo tower plans to price his units at the luxury end of the market.

Dave O'Keefe, the developer, said the units would sell for around $700 per square foot, with units close to the top of the building commanding a premium that could push their price close to $1.2 million.

The cheapest units would be 600-square-foot studios in the building's lower floors.

O'Keefe is still trying to win city approval for his tower, which at 457 feet is taller than any tower in the city. The current tallest, the Ordway building, rises 404 feet.

O'Keefe did not originally plan a mixed-use project but is now proposing a 90-square-foot coffee shop on the ground floor with outdoor seating. Though a rooftop restaurant was mentioned in a brochure distributed at a community meeting, O'Keefe said such a restaurant is not yet in the cards.

"We did throw that around ... but right now it's not part of the design," O'Keefe said.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/12/17/newscolumn1.html?page=2

CHapp
Dec 15, 2007, 12:33 AM
Any idea *where* in Oakland O'Keefe plans to build this luxury tower? Lake Merritt? Downtown?

peanut gallery
Dec 15, 2007, 5:04 PM
It's by Lake Merritt. It has its own thread (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=135675) and there is more info on it somewhere on here, but I forget where. It talked about the now private park that will be enlarged and made public, and some of the concerns over a tower that high being close to the lake.

CHapp
Dec 15, 2007, 5:54 PM
Thanks, peanut! :) Now that you mention it I remember the deal about the park.

BTinSF
Dec 17, 2007, 3:31 AM
^^^Since peanut gallery reminded both CHapp and myself that that building had a thread, I posted the article there as well. Actually, I was wondering why it didn't have a thread in "Highrise Proposals". :koko:

BTinSF
Dec 17, 2007, 6:10 PM
Berkeley hopes to restore its downtown to life
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007

Berkeley is one of the most affluent, lively cities in the Bay Area, but its downtown looks more like Tombstone, Ariz., on a slow day.

Shuttered businesses dot the streets like tumbleweeds in a ghost town: Barnes and Noble. Gateway Computers. UC Theater. Soon to join their grim ranks: Ross Dress for Less and Shoe Pavilion.

"Berkeley's downtown plan has resulted in a wonderful, vibrant, mixed-use community. It's called Emeryville," said Will Travis, chairman of the city committee charged with revitalizing the beleaguered commercial district around Shattuck and University avenues.

In a few years, downtown Berkeley could look a bit more like downtown San Francisco under a makeover plan to be considered Tuesday by the City Council - a bustling urban center thick with hotels, office high-rises, theaters and museums, but low on parking and sunlight.

The plan was created by the 20-member Downtown Area Planning Advisory Committee, which met more than 100 times in the past two years and looked at everything from sustainability to historic preservation. After a hearing before the council, the blueprint will undergo a lengthy review by the Planning Commission before going back to the council for a final vote in May 2009.

The committee came up with a set of goals to remake downtown into a regional cultural center that would accommodate UC Berkeley's ambitious expansion plans - including a Toyo Ito-designed art museum and a 19-story hotel and conference center - as well as the needs of residents, students, office workers and visitors.

"In 10 years, downtown will be a better version of what it is now," said Berkeley's economic development director, Michael Caplan. "It'll have more cultural venues, hopefully more retail, it'll be cleaner and more attractive and have more green buildings. But it'll still have that lively, urban college town feel."

The committee has proposed raising the building height limit from five stories to seven stories, but allowing a handful of exceptions: two 19-story hotels, four 10-story buildings and four 8-story buildings, all required to have the highest green construction rating.

It also suggests several pedestrian improvements, such as closing Center Street between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street and possibly uncovering Strawberry Creek, widening the sidewalks, adding public art and lighting and creating a series of small parks.

A more elaborate entrance to the University of California is also part of the proposal.

Coupled with the new downtown plan is Berkeley's recently approved Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, a wide-ranging crackdown on rowdy street behavior intended to channel unruly homeless people into shelters and rehabilitation centers.

Merchants, city staff and residents have blamed the decline of downtown Berkeley in part to the proliferation of homeless people. Forty percent of Alameda County's homeless population lives in Berkeley, which has just 7 percent of the county's population.

The plan also coincides with huge private investment downtown, totaling tens of millions of dollars over the past few years. Berkeley City College, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Freight and Salvage nightclub and the Shattuck Hotel are a few downtown businesses that have recently undergone extensive expansions and refurbishing.

The downtown committee was far from unanimous in its support for the proposal. Many members think downtown could use a good cleaning but otherwise is fine as is. High-rise buildings would overwhelm the historic character, bring unwanted crowds and cloak the whole district in shade, they say.

"Some of us voted for increasing the height limits because of the wonderful sustainability elements we added," said Patty Dacey, a planning commissioner who served on the committee. "But it's a compromise. It's like a beautiful sweater - if you pull one thread, the whole sweater falls apart."

The committee voted 11-1, with eight abstentions, to increase height limits to 85 feet, and the fight is expected to continue at the Planning Commission.

Another potential problem with the plan is that no one knows if it's economically feasible. Developers might not be able to make a profit with the proposed height limits and green construction requirements, ultimately leaving downtown in the long-term slump it's in now.

"We're very much concerned. We want to see some real economic measurement," said Deborah Badhia, executive director of the Downtown Berkeley Association, which represents business owners. "There's a lot we agree with, but we very much want to see the business sector remain healthy."

The committee didn't look at economic factors it ran out of time, and "the majority (of members) felt they couldn't trust economists," Travis said. "We felt it was our job to come up with a Christmas wish list for the city. It's up to the parents to decide what we actually get."

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/12/17/ba_downtown56.jpg

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/12/17/ba_d2_berkley.jpg
Looking east on University Avenue near Shattuck, where the height limit will generally remain at 85 feet. Photo courtesy of the City of Berkeley

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/12/17/ba_d2_downtown16_070kw.jpg
Jacob Menough lolls in the doorway of an empty storefront on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. Chronicle photo by Kat Wade

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/12/17/ba_downtown16_020_kw.jpg
Few shoppers pass by the many deserted and boarded-up businesses, including this Barnes and Nobles bookstore, that have turned Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley into a ghost town. Chronicle photo by Kat Wade

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/12/17/ba_downtown16_032_kw.jpg
Deserted and boarded-up businesses have turned Shattuck Avenue into a ghost town. Chronicle photo by Kat Wade

Get involved

The Berkeley City Council will discuss the Downtown Area Plan from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Read the plan at links.sfgate.com/ZBUP.


E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/17/BALCTUP9R.DTL

When I read something like "Berkeley's downtown plan has resulted in a wonderful, vibrant, mixed-use community. It's called Emeryville,", I have to wonder if Berkeley (like San Francisco in some ways) does not suffer from an excess of planning. Emeryville is pretty much laissez faire. In SF, planning has given us the infamous "table top effect" and in Berkeley it may have resulted in driving the vibrancy and the vibrant businesses to Emeryville. But still the good people of Berkeley resist the "unwanted crowds" (i.e. shoppers to keep the stores in business) and are barely willing to accept (gasp!) 85' heights.

Reminiscence
Dec 17, 2007, 8:53 PM
85' height limit is a joke, but only in Berkeley would that be concidered an upgrade. Its a shame they closed the Barnes and Noble there, I used to go there a lot just to read for hours. This plan sounds very ambitious, but that homeless problem is going to have to be resolved before any of this has a chance of success.

BTinSF
Dec 17, 2007, 10:36 PM
Socketsite ( http://www.socketsite.com/ ) put up this rendering of 818 Van Ness today, a building I sat in Burger King sipping (diet) soda and watching them build all summer. Renderings were previously hard to come by:

http://www.socketsite.com/818%20Van%20Ness.jpg

Not bad IMHO. :yes:

J_Taylor
Dec 20, 2007, 3:17 AM
Looks like the anti-growth crowd in Half Moon Bay got bit in the rear.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/18/MNFETSC0H.DTL

BTinSF
Dec 20, 2007, 4:35 AM
Remember the recent article about all the available property around the SOMA Grande having been bought up?

Well now there's some more available: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/19/MNRDU1DJ4.DTL

peanut gallery
Dec 20, 2007, 4:37 AM
^^^^Jerry posted some pictures (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3237342#post3237342) he took.

Reminiscence
Jan 1, 2008, 10:16 AM
Here is the first one of the year.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/5878/sfdiagramki1.gif

Happy New Year everyone! :cheers:

Here's to plenty more surprise proposals and groundbreakings in the coming year of 2008!

Downtown Dave
Jan 2, 2008, 4:14 AM
Great as always, Mario! Thanks.

hi123
Jan 12, 2008, 2:33 AM
How far along in construction is this project ( 333 fremont) ?

http://www.asbcm.com/images/333freemont.jpg

hi123
Jan 12, 2008, 2:39 AM
Also, Has this one started construction yet?

http://www.amaa.com/_uploads/photo/project/130_lg1_935-Folsom_01.jpg

hi123
Jan 12, 2008, 4:13 AM
One more question (last one). There is a blue construction crane (same kind as the one for blu ) on harrison street that is easily seen from the bay bridge.
The crane is right next to this building (788 harrison):

http://images.travelnow.com/hotelimages/s/057000/057129A.jpg

peanut gallery
Jan 12, 2008, 8:30 PM
Nothing has started on 333 Fremont, not even site clearing. Next time I'm over that way I'll check to see if demo notices have been posted yet.

What's the address of the second one?

hi123
Jan 12, 2008, 8:59 PM
The adress is 935 folsom. Are you sure they haven't started 333 fremont yet? There are some pics of site being cleared on page 11 of this thread...

roadwarrior
Jan 13, 2008, 10:41 PM
The adress is 935 folsom. Are you sure they haven't started 333 fremont yet? There are some pics of site being cleared on page 11 of this thread...

They have been bulldozing three buildings. Most of that land will go towards The Californian at Rincon Hill (375-399 Fremont), whenever that happens. Last time I went by 333 Fremont, there was a For Lease sign, but I think it has been there for a while, because I can't imagine who would be interested in that dilapidated building.

peanut gallery
Jan 14, 2008, 9:28 PM
Hmmm. Looking at the photos on page 11, maybe 333 is next door to the building I thought it was. There was a cleared lot to the north of the three buildings they are just finishing demolishing for the Californian. Maybe that previously-cleared lot is 333. I thought it was one of the two boarded-up buildings that are still standing, but I couldn't verify that today as neither is marked front or back.

briankendall
Jan 15, 2008, 1:59 AM
333 Fremont was bulldozed last year and now it is an open hole next to where the Californian will go. Nothing happening there yet though as far as I know.

roadwarrior
Jan 15, 2008, 3:35 AM
333 Fremont was bulldozed last year and now it is an open hole next to where the Californian will go. Nothing happening there yet though as far as I know.

Nope, it is still a vacant plot of land. I haven't heard any news on anything happening there or seen any signs of development. I'd be surprised if it were built before the Californian.

peanut gallery
Jan 15, 2008, 4:56 AM
Could they have made an agreement with the Californian developer to not start 333 until demo was complete? It looks to me like they needed access through 333 to bring in equipment and clear the rubble for The Californian. Even if true, it all could be moot as I don't think any developer is in a great rush to start new housing at the moment anyway.

San Frangelino
Jan 17, 2008, 5:04 PM
Found this on the architects website. It looks like it's proposed for the long-standing hole on Market and Noe, in the Castro District. I like the little Apple Store they added to the ground floor retail. Check the website for more renderings.

From http://www.ibadesign.com/

2299 Market Street

Condominium project with ground floor retail and a gallery space (future home of the GLBT Historical Society museum).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2103/2199265725_a0d92f517f_o.jpg

Jerry of San Fran
Jan 17, 2008, 11:01 PM
I hope the project 2299 Market moves along. The site has been a hole in the ground and a hole in the heart of the neighborhood for over 20 years since the church on the site burned. Shame! I am surprised at the height of the building.

peanut gallery
Jan 24, 2008, 10:11 PM
One more question (last one). There is a blue construction crane (same kind as the one for blu ) on harrison street that is easily seen from the bay bridge.
The crane is right next to this building (788 harrison):

http://images.travelnow.com/hotelimages/s/057000/057129A.jpg

Hi123, I just realized that I found the answer to this one and posted it in the SF Rundown thread without realizing it's the same one you were asking about. Here's what I learned (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=3293195&postcount=1176).

peanut gallery
Jan 24, 2008, 10:27 PM
I read on Curbed SF (http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2008/01/23/berkeley_hayes_valley_extension_redesign_approved.php#more) that 55 Laguna (http://www.55laguna.com/index.html) received approval from the San Francisco Planning Commission.

I think someone has posted about this project before, but as a refresher: This project is a redevelopment of the former UC Berkeley Extension campus. It will be remade into housing, a 20,000 sq ft park, non-chain retail and a community center. It will include 428 units of affordable housing, including 80 reserved for senior housing for the LGBT community.

A couple of renderings (follow the link to Curbed SF for more):
http://sf.curbed.com/uploads/2008_01_55laguna5.jpg

http://sf.curbed.com/uploads/2008_01_55laguna3.jpg

Cory
Jan 25, 2008, 8:07 AM
Found this on the architects website. It looks like it's proposed for the long-standing hole on Market and Noe, in the Castro District. I like the little Apple Store they added to the ground floor retail. Check the website for more renderings.

From http://www.ibadesign.com/


Very cool development!

BTinSF
Jan 25, 2008, 6:29 PM
Friday, January 25, 2008
Developer takes on one of S.F.'s toughest corners
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. has acquired one of the most grungy, crime-ridden corners in the Tenderloin and plans to build a $78 million low-income housing development for families with a 15,000-square-foot ground-floor grocery store.

The nonprofit housing group paid $9.3 million for the 22,000-square-foot surface parking lot on the corner of Taylor and Eddy streets, a site that sits behind the Warfield Theater and the empty building at 988 Market St. that housed the San Francisco Examiner from 2001 to 2004.

The 13-story, 130-unit building will be designed by David Baker + Partners, who designed TNDC's highly regarded 67-unit Curran House at 145 Taylor St.

"We've had our eye on this site for a long time," said Don Falk, executive director of TNDC. "It's a rare development opportunity to create something from the ground up that is completely tailored for families and, at the same time, transforms the block and offers the neighborhood this opportunity."

Eddy & Taylor Family Housing will be comprised of 130 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. At least 20 percent of the apartments will be reserved for formerly homeless households. The building will include play areas for kids and community gathering venues.

Perhaps of greater interest to Tenderloin residents is the prospect of a grocery store on the site. TNDC recently commissioned a neighborhood survey showing the demand for fresh groceries in the neighborhood. In the report, Tenderloin residents said they use public transit to grocery shop in Chinatown or at the Safeway at Church and Market streets in the Castro.

Nearly one-third of Tenderloin residents surveyed reported that it was difficult for them to get to a grocery store, and more than half obtain food from soup kitchens or food pantries. The Tenderloin has 30,000 residents, including 4,000 children.

Falk said TNDC has had promising negotiations with at lease one major grocer. He declined to say whether the interested tenant is Fresh & Easy, the start-up chain owned by British supermarket giant Tesco. It has expressed a desire to open in every neighborhood in San Francisco.

Fresh & Easy recently said that it would open its first San Francisco store at 5800 Third St. in the Bayview district, which, like the Tenderloin, has had trouble attracting supermarkets.

"Grocery stores are at the intersection of so many important issues for inner city neighborhoods," said Falk. "It's about health. It's about choice. Why shouldn't inner city neighborhoods have choices?"

If TNDC does succeed in attracting a grocer, it would indicate a change in the industry, Falk said. A little more than a year ago, TNDC contacted 35 supermarket companies and "nobody was interested," Falk said.

"TNDC has a history of taking big risks and having a lot of them work out," said Falk.

At 13 stories, the development also bucks a long-standing reluctance to building low-income highrise buildings. For years, government agencies and public housing advocates argued that highrises were both more expensive than garden style or low-rise projects and tended to foster an impersonal, institutional environment that could lead to antisocial or criminal behavior.

But given the lack of land in the dense Tenderloin, and the fact the neighborhood is so well-served by public transport, taller buildings make sense. In addition to the Taylor and Eddy site, TNDC has plans in the works for a 12-story structure at 1036 Mission St., and a 14 story building at 10th and Market streets.

"If one looks strictly at cost basis, we would never build in the Tenderloin," said Falk. "But density is way of the future and height is the way of the future."

David Addington, who owns the Warfield Theater and office building at 988 Market St., said he advocates an even taller building.

"I thought they should go 300 feet tall at a minimum or let someone build market rate on top of them," said Addington.

jkdineen@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4971
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/01/28/story5.html

SFView
Jan 25, 2008, 6:30 PM
Found this on the architects website. It looks like it's proposed for the long-standing hole on Market and Noe, in the Castro District. I like the little Apple Store they added to the ground floor retail. Check the website for more renderings.

From http://www.ibadesign.com/

I drive by this hole almost daily. It's nice to know this gap will finally be filled with something that looks more contemporary and interesting architecturally. It looks about twice as tall as anything around there, but if it will look as good as it does in the rendering, it should still do well as the new local signature building even at this size.