SAN FRANCISCO | One Rincon (Tower One) | 641 FT / 195 M | 60 FLOORS

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

The national and global financial situation has not been static. It has gotten rapidly, progressively and dramatically worse rather rapidly catching some of America's top executives and financial experts by surprise. To the extent that it has similarly caught any of us, that is nothing to be embarrassed about.

I don't disagree with you, but I also think that we have been on a downward slide for well over a year. There are also only so many luxury condos that can be sold, even in San Francisco, especially considering the glut of properties in so many overbuilt cities around the country and the fact that ridiculous mortgages had been offered for so long. Yes, I know that we're special, but my perception of reality and a gut feeling kept telling me that things were not pointed in a good direction and that another downturn was coming. I anticipated that construction would basically stop here as it has before and did not expect ORH II to be started anytime soon. Fortunately, I pulled all of my investments out of the stock market at that time. In some perverse way, 45 Lansing, Crescent Heights, 375 Fremont and other proposed projects contributed to saving me a substantial amount of money. Does it please me that our building boom has ground to a halt though? No! It was a great ride in several waves that lasted longer than one would have thought. Let's hope that we don't have another seven year construction drought here. They're boring and I have a feeling that many younger forumers would not be able to cope with that very well. Thankfully, we have Mission Bay and more economic diversity than most places. Things will eventually come back, but with the contraction of financial and legal firms, there probably won't be any demand for office space for quite some time.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by nequidnimis

Construction of the second tower is not moving forward due to a softening of the residential real estate market that has been evident for months, even in San Francisco. As to the press release about solid financing in place, it is lthe kind every financial institution on the brink of collapse, starting with Fannie Mae, has put out in its final days.

Of course it is. No one questions that. There has been no "press release" about ORH financing recently. The only information we have on that subject that's recent is their continued stated intention to build the second tower when they sell out the first one. When that may happen I don't know--or whether they really will proceed. I do think they may be facing a lawsuit from buyers in the first tower if they completely abandon plans to build the second.

So anyway, what's point you guys are trying to make--that you're the smartest guys here? Reminds me of my favorite expression from college many years ago: BFD.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

I pulled all of my investments out of the stock market at that time.

A lot more should go into that decision than your prognostications for the economy such as (1) capital gains taxes, (2) loss of yield (you aren't getting much on your cash), (3) your degree of certainty that you will get back in at the right time.

Personally, I prefer to be widely diversified (as to asset classes as well as specific equities) in high-yielding holdings with solid balance sheets and not pretend I'm smarter than I really am.

[peanut gallery]

While we mourn the state of tower 2, work continues on the rest of the development.

Trees have been planted along Harrison:


Landscaping continues in front of the tower:


And at long last, the forms come off the new retaining wall:

[Reminiscence]

Thats a beautiful wall they put up there. Will they be adding landscape between the wall and the freeway entrance, or will they be realigning the lane?

[peanut gallery]

I'm not sure, Rem. They're doing a lot or work just out of the frame in the last shot. They might be preparing to move the roadbed over a bit. I didn't look that closely to see what exactly they were doing, but I'll try to check it out the next time I walk over there.

[BTinSF]

The trees: More magnolias?? Love 'em in South Carolina but . . . .

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Mark Choey at SF New Developments posted some photos from the 60th floor. Here are a couple. There are more at the link above.

I find it incredulous that with SF's density and simply cost of land that there would exist so many surface lots in the city.

[WonderlandPark]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Oh, that's what they are doing with those. I saw those in a parking lot when I was there last spring. I thought those panels were for the Bay Bridge renovation.

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by trvlr70

I find it incredulous that with SF's density and simply cost of land that there would exist so many surface lots in the city.

Overall, I agree there are too many surface lots, but keep in mind that a lot of those are where the former Embarcadero freeway was located and CalTrans has been using much of them for Bay Bridge construction staging. It will take time, but one-by-one they are biting the dust.

[peanut gallery]

The townhouses seem to be in the home stretch:

[wiru]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

The townhouses seem to be in the home stretch:

great shot peanut, thanks for the picture.

wiru

[BTinSF]

Well now, IMHO this is KOOL:

Lights atop One Rincon Hill signal S.F. weather
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 9, 2008

(12-08) 19:26 PST -- Starting at dusk tonight, a band of lights around the top of the One Rincon Tower in San Francisco will turn the building into a weather beacon, glowing amber, blue, red or green to forecast the weather, a bit like a 64-story mood ring.

Lighting up the top of a building to predict the weather has been a tradition most notably in Boston, where the John Hancock Building was opened in 1949 and featured blinking red and blue lights to forecast the weather.

Weather beacons are also used on tall buildings or towers in Syracuse, N.Y; Minneapolis; Dubuque and Des Moines, Iowa; Bismarck, N.D.; Toronto; and in two tall buildings in Brisbane and Adelaide, Australia.

The beacon atop One Rincon Hill will be the first in the Bay Area, although there is a weather beacon atop a television tower in Sacramento.

The lights will cast an amber glow around the top of the One Rincon Tower if the weather is forecast to stay about the same. The lights will glow blue if the forecast calls for a five degree drop in the average temperature, red if the temperature is expected to go up more than five degrees. If there is a 50 percent chance of rain in the forecast, the beacon will be green.

One Rincon's developers have composed doggerel to go with the lights:

Glowing red, warmer weather ahead

Shining blue, colder weather in view

Going green, rain foreseen

Amber light, no change in sight.

There seems to be no light to indicate fog, a summertime weather pattern that often envelops One Rincon. The building, which rises 694 feet above sea level, stands by itself atop San Francisco's Rincon Hill.

The beacon will go on at dusk every day and will remain on all night. One Rincon building engineer Ben Irving will review the National Weather Service forecast for San Francisco and determine the color of the lights every day.

The lights -25 LED floodlights - burn very little energy, according to David Kriozere, one of the developers of the building and the son of principal developer Michael Kriozere. The lights are designed to last about 40,000 hours before they have to be replaced.

The light beacon is mounted on the so called "crown" of the building, a structure that conceals a 50,000-gallon water tank designed to control the sway of the tower in a high wind.

The glass crown, which is illuminated to form the beacon, rings the south, east and north sides of the building-this means the weather beacon is most visible from the East Bay or the Bay Bridge. A metal shield on the building blocks part of the weather display on the western side of the building.

The country's first weather beacon featuring colored lights was installed on the Empire State Building in New York City in 1941, but it was discontinued after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 that year.

According to the One Rincon developers, weather beacons atop buildings or towers are usually used by TV stations or banks as advertising tools. The beacon atop One Rincon is the first on a residential building, according to Kriozere.

"We hope this weather beacon will only add to the beauty of San Francisco's skyline and One Rincon Hill's place in it," said Kriozere said. "It's our gift to San Francisco and the Bay Area during the holiday season."

E-mail Carl Nolte at cnolte@sfchronicle.com.

Source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...BAH714KA7T.DTL




Source both images: http://www.socketsite.com/

[peanut gallery]

I like it. Should be coming on in about an hour.

[Gordo]

Bizarre. But in a very cool way.

[SFView]

I would suggest purple for oncoming fog, but I'm not sure if it is necessary. Anyway, it's nice to see that Rincon Hill may return as a landmark message beacon, this time for telling weather instead of telling time. We can also see color changing LED wash lights at the Guitar Center on Van Ness Avenue to get an idea of the color quality one might see.

[Fabb]

Kool !
Except for color-blinds like me...

[CGII]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Source both images: http://www.socketsite.com/

When the flame is red, it's warm weather ahead!
When the flame is gold, watch out for cold!
When the flame is blue, there's no change in view!
When there's a flickering flame, expect snow or rain!

photopimp on flickr.com

[wiru]

this is really cool IMHO, thanks for the post BTinSF. now i wonder what happens if second tower goes up , both will cast the same color?

wiru

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Well now, IMHO this is KOOL:


Source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...BAH714KA7T.DTL




Source both images: http://www.socketsite.com/

[viewguysf]

this is really cool IMHO, thanks for the post BTinSF. now i wonder what happens if second tower goes up , both will cast the same color?

Well I certainly hope so because I can't see a thing from this side! Bummer... The same certainly can't be said for those bright blinking red lights atop the Millennium Tower--I'm not liking them much.