The Market, Octavia neighborhood plan was approved, which calls for a 400' ! tower at Van Ness and Market, in place of the Honda dealership. This should really bring this intersection back to life!
photos SFNewDevelopments
There is the possibility of 400 foot towers on all four corners.
Now, the bigger picture for me is that it seems the planning department is becoming much more liberal in its height zoning, as you can see in this diagram (SFNewDevelopments):
Funny that some neighborhoods like Hayes Valley are actually losing height, to 'preserve' the neighborhood, because I guess you can have a 3 story monstrosity built (I'm thnking "The Hayes) instead of a beautiful glass tower and it somehow preserves the neighborhood all the better
I wish this city would focus more on bringing good DESIGN instead of short buildings which a lot have been proven to be simple and boring.
In other news, the CCSF board of Trustees has APPROVED the new 2 building campus and exempt city college from local city zoning laws. A 14 story, 215 foot tower will stand where the current height limit is 65' (fuck of HILTON!). Plans are to open the new facility in 2010.
photo SFGATE
What do these two stories have in common? They are great signs that the city and community is becoming much more liberal in allowing much taller heights in certain downtown neighborhoods in order to "preserve" the smaller neighborhoods, something that I think it is a great sign of things to come!