SAN FRANCISCO | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Was that the plan? I thought they were going to build a new building on the lot between the building on the corner and the church. Or is the idea to both use that lot and incorporate the building on the corner?

The idea for the new, separate building (design by Legoretta) more or less died with the Mexican Museum's inability to raise the money to build it. The plan to incorporate the museum into an expansion of the building next door was sort of a "rescue plan" but I'm pretty sure it's the latest and most likely approach:

after years of delays and stalled fundraising efforts, the Legorreta building has yet to rise, and probably never will.
"It's likely that it won't be built," said Tom Peterson, a longtime trustee of the Mexican Museum, which was founded in a District storefront by artist Peter Rodriguez in 1975.
Instead, the museum, whose Fort Mason galleries have been closed for two years, could be integrated into a tower that Millennium Partners and JMA Ventures want to build at Third and Mission streets, overlooking Jessie Square. The developers have been talking to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, which owns the land and had committed $20 million to build the shell of the Legorreta building, about making space for the Mexican Museum in the planned mixed-use tower.
That structure, which hasn't been officially presented, would presumably rise from the site originally envisioned for the Mexican Museum and merge with the landmark ochre-brick Mercantile Building to the east. A spokesman for Millennium - which built Metreon, the garage beneath the Contemporary Jewish Museum on Jessie Square and the Four Seasons hotel that towers behind it - confirmed that the company is "having conversations about developing a project with the Redevelopment Agency and the Mexican Museum," and that another prominent Mexican architect, Enrique Norton, has been hired to create designs for the "potential" project.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&sn=004&sc=369

[BTinSF]

San Frangelino: OMG! There's a bush on Bay View hill that's so pretty when it blooms in the spring and I won't be able to see it while fishing in the Bay if they build those towers. I'm going to organize the opposition to them.

[nequidnimis]

Count me in!

[botoxic]

Save BT's bush!!!

[JAC6]

It's not a skyscraper, but it's hard to talk about the revitalization of SF without discussing the Ferry Building and John King does just that in today's Chronicle. (It is amazing that it has been five years already.)

Ferry Building looking better than ever
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../DDDFVE7F5.DTL

Here's the intro:

Five years later, the Ferry Building looks better than ever.

It's hard to remember the decades when this 1898 landmark with its campanile-like clock tower was an artifact of a bygone age. In April 2003, the first shops opened behind the sturdy sandstone facade, and history started anew.

Now it's a reborn symbol of San Francisco - not the blue-collar city on a bridge-free bay, but an international metropolis where food is a religion for residents and visitors with money to spend.

And while it's easy to scoff at the frills - no longer need I search in vain for a $32 bottle of truffle-infused olive oil - the architectural and urban design basics still shine. This is as good as a $100 million development project gets: Nothing else here in the past decade better shows how to breathe life into the city without diluting its essence.

So the next time you find yourself at the foot of Market Street, ignore the artisan chocolate and Slanted Door's cellophane noodles. Instead, check out the surroundings; they're a lesson in what urban renewal should be.

[Downtown Dave]

Most of our favorite new construction together...

[c1tyguy]

I found some incredible simulation clips depicting the future Rincon Hill skyline. My mouth kind of dropped when I saw the before and after! Quite stunning.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...6_CONCEPTS.DTL

Note: These simulations were created in 2004. The grey outlined buildings are said to have been ''approved''. If this is the case, where are they?!

Do we have any insights on the accuracy of these simulations as things presently stand?

[BTinSF]

^^^They're getting built. Here is the map from your link:


Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object...0/22&type=news

It shows, on Rincon Hill, the two ORH towers (one built, the other, we hope, to start within a couple of months), 45 Lansing and The Californian. Only The Californian is unlikely to get built soon.

On lower Folsom St, it shows The Infinity--built--and 201 Folsom which we have been discussing some in The Infinity thread. The latest we know is construction is planned for 2010.

Then it shows an assortment of highrises in the TransBay Project area. Serious proposals for these are awaiting revision of the zoning for that area, expected this summer. Interestingly, it shows a much shorter TransBay signature tower than is now anticipated and I don't think it shows 301 Mission (there is an existing structure which could be that but the scheme appears to be to show future buildings in a lighter color and 301 was a future building in 2004) or 555 Mission.

All things considered, I think we are making good progress so far.

[peanut gallery]

Isn't The Californian on the wrong side of Fremont? It should be diagonal from the second ORH building, not directly across Harrison from it.

[SFView]

That could be 340-350 Fremont Street instead. The Californian tower seems to be missing from this early graphic.

[BTinSF]

I'd like to solicit all you photographers to provide current photos of:

- The Argenta

- 77 Van Ness

- 818 Van Ness

- The project @ Geary & Polk

- The project @ 10th & Mission

- The project (if anything's happening) on Market next to the LGBT Community Center

[hi123]

I second that request for 77 van ness , that project is a total mystery!

[northbay]

i dont know where else to put this, but im afraid i have to rant:

not against sf, but for it

i just came back from a week trip to ft lauderdale/miami (my first time to the south), and i have to say that i was sorely disappointed (in the land use patterns that is), the ladies were ok.

but back on topic, i seriously drove for tens of miles and all i saw was strip mall after strip mall. no large parks, just parking lot after parking lot. even the medical centers where in the strip malls

'new urbanism', in ANY form, simply doesnt exist. when i went to downtown miami, i couldnt believe it. i felt like being in hunters point - with skyscrapers with huge parking garage podiums and NO CONSIDERATION to the street presence. shops were boarded up, and the shops that did exist were like pawn shops and the like - not what i expected from a 'world-class' city.

not to mention the lack of cafes, or decent food.

were lucky to live in northern california - this is seriously paradise compared to that shit

plus we can get good sourdough bread





ok - back to topic: END OF RANT

yes, i third the request 4 photos

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by northbay420

i was sorely disappointed (in the land use patterns that is), the ladies were ok.

but back on topic, i seriously drove for tens of miles and all i saw was strip mall after strip mall. no large parks, just parking lot after parking lot. even the medical centers where in the strip malls

Had you gone north to Orlando or Tampa or Jax you would have seen a lot of the same thing. Those three and Miami do have downtowns, but they are surrounded by many square miles of suburbs that are as you described.

By the way, so are Phoenix and Tucson and Southern CA.

[peanut gallery]

Most of those are a pretty long hike for me. I'm usually shooting during my lunch and only have so much time. I might be able to get to 10th & Mission (as well as the new green government building on Golden Gate you asked about before) when I'm over at Trinity as it's only a couple more blocks. But that's about the limit to what I can get to most days.

However, we're thinking of going to the Easter parade and egg hunt on Union St. this Sunday. If we go, I'll try to convince my wife to go on a little building-shooting excursion (her favorite thing! lol).

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

I'd like to solicit all you photographers to provide current photos of:

- The Argenta <<< Still covered in black, looking exactly the same.

- 77 Van Ness

- 818 Van Ness

- The project @ Geary & Polk

- The project @ 10th & Mission <<< Still a parking lot on the south end and a hole in the ground on Market street, looking exactly the same.

- The project (if anything's happening) on Market next to the LGBT Community Center <<< Much graffiti has been added to all sides of the lot. A large backhoe has been sitting there for weeks; nothing is happening.

I thought I'd give you a little verbal update on three of these until one of our great photographers covers these sites!

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Had you gone north to Orlando or Tampa or Jax you would have seen a lot of the same thing. Those three and Miami do have downtowns, but they are surrounded by many square miles of suburbs that are as you described.

Being quite familiar with Florida, I have to say that Orlando has a really cool downtown, small scale but much nice modern and older architecture; it's also very lively at night and a lot of fun. Jacksonville is rather dead downtown, but it has some great older architecture that has been preserved, including a beautiful movie palace. It's also very clean and pretty in a number of spots, especially along the Saint Johns River. Tampa has come a long way. It too has interesting architecture, a restored movie palace, Ybor City with it's night life, the University of Tampa and both the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bay. None of these compare to a San Francisco, Chicago, etc., but they beat the hell out of downtown Miami.

Northbay420, I'm sure that you went over to Miami Beach and South Beach though...right?

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Most of those are a pretty long hike for me. I'm usually shooting during my lunch and only have so much time. I might be able to get to 10th & Mission (as well as the new green government building on Golden Gate you asked about before) when I'm over at Trinity as it's only a couple more blocks. But that's about the limit to what I can get to most days.

However, we're thinking of going to the Easter parade and egg hunt on Union St. this Sunday. If we go, I'll try to convince my wife to go on a little building-shooting excursion (her favorite thing! lol).

Don't bother going over to the PUC building site on Golden Gate either because it's exactly the same. There is no sign of pending demolition and one of my contacts at the PUC thought that the project had been somewhat delayed.

I have a feeling that your wife will not be happy if you do this on Easter Sunday, especially since there's nothing much to shoot.

[BTinSF]

Friday, March 21, 2008
Sullivan casts new mold for Foundry Square building
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

Wilson Meany Sullivan is thinking bigger in Foundry Square.

The blue-chip development firm has filed an application to expand its Foundry Square III building by 75,000 square feet. If approved by the Planning Commission, the larger building at 525 Howard St. would grow the size of the proposed building from 178,000 square feet to 252,500 square feet, according to WMS principal Tom Sullivan.

The new design would add 50 feet of width to the proposed structure, in addition to another story. Sullivan said the expansion will make the building the same size as the other three Foundry Square structures, which house headquarters for Barclays Global Investors, Gymboree and the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

The expanded footprint is made possible by the fact that Wilson Meany Sullivan last year bought 525 Howard St., a single-story, 10,000-square-foot structure that functions as a Goat Hill Pizza by day and Club NV, a dance club, by night.

The site is adjacent to Wilson Meany Sullivan's proposed LEED Gold building development, Foundry Square III. Studios Architecture is designing the building.

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

[BTinSF]

WMS to cut hotel out of New Montgomery project

Wilson Meany Sullivan has decided to drop the hotel component of its redevelopment of the historic Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co. building at 140 New Montgomery St. Originally WMS had proposed a combination of posh hotel and condos -- similar to what was done at the St. Regis and the Four Seasons. But after further scrutiny, the firm changed its proposal to 135 extra-large residential units on floors 2 to 26 of the art deco structure, for a total of 368,000 square feet. The ground floor will house an 8,500-square-foot restaurant and an existing parking garage, accessible from Natoma Street, would accommodate 70 valet-parked cars.

"The level of the quality and luxury is the same as it would have been with a hotel," said Sullivan.

The architect on the project is Hornberger + Worstell.

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