SAN FRANCISCO | One Hawthorne (645 Howard) | 240 FT / 73 M | 24 FLOORS
 

I'm going to begin this here, but if the article is to be believed, it should soon be moving to the construction section.

http://www.socketsite.com/One%20Hawthorne.jpg
Photo source: http://www.socketsite.com/

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable

wow, this one flew under the radar (at least for me)

not too shabby, looks better than the soma grand

Woohoo! Didn't see this photo before:

http://www.socketsite.com/645%20Howard.jpg
Source: http://www.socketsite.com

Construction barrier goin' up already.

That's kind of a nice old building to be coming down, though. For some reason, I thought this was the parking lot at 2nd and Howard.

Here's the actual location: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...&name=&dtype=h

I do like the look, but for some reason I have the feeling that the real thing will look a bit underwhelming (ala SF BLU).

^^ Will they be demolishing the building that looks to be surrounded by the construction barrier?

Also, not to be pedantic, but it's actually going to be closer to New Montgomery and Howard than 2nd St and Howard.

The building being surrounded by the barrier appears to be the site--so it would have to be demolished. Like I said, to my eye it's nicer than some buildings on Van Ness that got designated as architecturally "significant" so I'm surprised they would let them demolish it in SF. Check the Mapquest link above for the exact location but you are right that it's about midway between 2nd and 3rd, almost opposite where New Montgomery joins Howard.

The parking lot at 2nd and Howard would be 219 Second Street, where I believe there is another proposed tower of similar height to One Hawthorne. It will be interesting to see how these two towers will relate as near neighbors.

PBuchman and I discussed this project back in early December in the SF Rundown thread (including a near-identical shot to the one from socketsite). At that time there was some question about the transfer of development rights. I guess that's been settled.

This should be a more interesting demo than say 375 Fremont, as they'll have much less room to maneuver.

Plus there will be the other (shorter) Transbay tower; 524 Howard; and eventually the last Foundry Square building all in the next block to the east. This whole stretch of Howard will look very different in a few years.

Actually, I might be confusing 219 Second St. with 222 Second St. across Second St. 222 Second St. is another tower proposal at around 350' and 25 stories tall (shortened from 436' and 32 stories?). That makes 3 new towers in a row along Howard Street around Second Street. I believe that the tallest of the 3, 222 Second St., is in the middle of this row, with One Hawthorne to the west, and 219 Second St. to the east, if I'm not mistaken.

i don't believe 219 second st is happening anytime soon. last i heard there were conflicts with the proposal and the planned tunnel that will serve the new transbay terminal. has there been any movement on this site?

I'm pretty sure 222 Second is the larger parking lot (on the southwest corner) at Second and Howard. There's also a very small parking lot that Zip Car uses on the southeast corner. Is that 219? There is nothing but car parking going on at either of those locations at the moment.

It may have to do with its date of construction. The buildings on Van Ness were amongst the first of their kind in San Francisco. This one might just have been designed to look older than it really is.

More than a few, I fear. Most of these projects date from the late 90's dot-com daze. Many of them have been through the cycle office-->condo-->office-->condo and now, according to the BizTimes, back to office perhaps. And that's just as many are predicting a national decline in commercial real estate (REIT shares, often predictive, are now selling for 70% of the value of the real estate they hold, suggesting a decline in the value of that real estate of nearly that magnitude) to match the one in residential we've already seen. Frankly, I can't understand why the developers don't try to anticipate that a project started now won't be ready for occupancy for 2 years or so by which time the residential market should be solidly in recovery (and office may be still struggling). But perhaps it's just that they'd like to build but can't get money--that's what BizTimes suggested.

Anyway, I don't think a lot of those proposed projects in and around 2nd & Howard will get off the drawing boards any time soon.

Thanks for killing my buzz. :)

Perhaps "someday" would have been a better word choice. But One Hawthorne is underway. 222 Second is supposed to be LEED Gold and thus get fast-track approvals. But as you said, getting construction financed may be a problem. 524 Howard is probably in the same boat. Then there is the Transbay lot a little further west on Howard. I was thinking that had a good chance since it will also help fund the new terminal. But selling development rights and starting construction can be many years apart.

The permit for using the street for demo purposes is good through the end of April, so that should give us an idea of how long it will take to clear the site. Also, the little garage that used to be next door along Hawthorne is already gone. You can just make it out to the far right in this photo from December:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2060/...6d5f2398_b.jpg

The small parking lot is actually 201. 219 has to be the old brick building that sits at the corner of Second and Tehama (across Tehama from Cnet, which is 235). It is currently being renovated inside. So what's this 219 Second St. project you guys are talking about? Is it supposed to replace the old brick building? If so, I would consider that a shame. It's a great looking little building.

SSP listing:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=24868

Isn't 219 Second Street the building that is next to the parking lot? That might make more sense, since to include this and the parking lot site together would allow a more reasonable space to build such a tower. 235 Second Street may be the next building over on the corner of Tehama.

If Windows Live Local is correct, the building just above the arrow is 219 Second Street, the larger parking lot in the center is 222 Second Street, and One Hawthorne is the four or five story building at the lower right.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ondStreets.jpg

...But as FourOneFive points out, there my be a new Transbay tunnel alignment conflict issue in regards to 219 Second Street to solve.

235 is the Cnet building, which is top-middle of the Live Local shot (the other side of Tehama). The shorter building next to the small lot may be 219 if it has more than one street number. It's marked with a smaller number (something between 201 and 219) but I forget what it is exactly. I'll check again tomorrow. The brick building is completely unmarked address-wise.


Yep.

Here's the photographic evidence:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7763/img0401qb6.jpg

Thrilling shot, isn't it?

I double checked the addresses on Second. Here's the stretch where 219 would have to be:
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4788/img0403on1.jpg

The building on the left is marked 215. Next to that is the brick building I mentioned. You can see the green covering and scaffolding on the right side of it. It is being remodeled inside. To the right of that is the Cnet building, which is 235. So 219 either has to be an alternative number for 215 or the brick building. If one of them is going to be torn down someday, I sure hope it's the one on the left.