I'm all for taller buildings, but I really wonder why they're trying to build 100 feet taller than the lot is zoned for. Asking for height increases is asking for trouble in this town. The city spent the better part of a decade zoning this for 300', presumably to create a staircase effect down towards the waterfront and to limit shadows cast on the
Transbay Park planned for Block 3. I just don't understand why developers keep trying to stir up the NIMBY hornet's nest.
Tishman can rightly argue that the Infinity is 400 feet tall right across the street, and the taller height will allow for more affordable units to be built, but those same arguments failed spectacularly for the
8 Washington project. Maybe they're expecting less opposition since this is farther away from Telegraph Hill/North Beach. Keeping the affordable units on site helps their case too. But, even if this somehow manages to sail under the NIMBY radar (unlikely), it still adds a year or two to the project timeline as it needs new approvals from the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for the height increase.