HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Global Projects & Construction > City Compilations


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #101  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2008, 10:23 PM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
Quote:
KMD Architects' Design for Innovative 1100 Broadway Highrise and Adjacent Historic Building Ok'd by Oakland Planners


Note: The building on the Left, also by KMD, is the SF PUC building to be built on Golden Gate Ave. 1100 Broadway is on the right.

New 20-story office tower by KMD Architects Aims for Top East Bay LEED Rating.(PRNewsFoto/KMD Architects)

OAKLAND, Calif., April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oakland Planning
Commission has voted 6-0 to approve designs for the new 20-story 1100
Broadway building, which is targeted to be the highest LEED rated high-rise
office building in the East Bay and will preserve an adjacent national
historic landmark, the Key System Headquarters. Developed by SKS
Investments and designed by KMD Architects, 1100 Broadway is seen as a
dramatic departure from typical Oakland high-rises both in its stirring
appearance and its innovative sustainability features.

Said Planning Commission Vice Chair Michael Colbruno, "I've staffed
land-use committees for years, the first time about 20 years ago, and this
is one of the best projects I've ever seen." Added Chairman Douglas Boxer,
"This sends the best kind of signal to other builders, that THIS is the
quality of building we want to see more of in Oakland."

The 320,000 square-foot office building incorporates advanced
energy-saving and employee-productivity features, and will be among the
first new high-rises in the Oakland office market in the past five years.
1100 Broadway offers modern, angular lines that complement its downtown
setting and the adjacent Key System facade which is being restored
befitting its designation on the National Register of Historic Places. The
first eight floors, which integrate the new building and the former Key
System building space, will provide large full-floors of 20,000 square
feet.

"Our goal was to create a modern structure which evokes a soaring,
uplifting feeling while complementing the historic Key System building,"
said David Hobstetter, Principal of KMD, which is leveraging its
sustainable-design experience from recent work including Seoul City Hall,
South Korea, the innovative San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
headquarters and others. "Behind an extensive glass skin which provides
sweeping views, 1100 Broadway has tucked away significant energy-efficient,
green attributes such as rain-catching systems to recycle rainwater and solar
panels to generate electricity." SKS and KMD are hopeful that the
project will attain LEED-Gold certification which is the second highest
sustainability rating of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
program of the U.S. Green Building Council.

In response to tenants' increasing interest in offices that enhance
worker productivity, 1100 Broadway also brings more daylight into the
building's interior workspaces.

"Research studies from Europe to California have shown daylight
improves worker productivity and performance while reducing absenteeism and sick-leave," said Hobstetter.

The Key System building once housed the headquarters for the Bay Area's
vast streetcar network which also had its nexus in downtown Oakland. The
1912 structure reflects the classic design style and use of masonry and
terra cotta that is found in many Oakland structures built during the surge
of construction after the San Francisco 1906 earthquake.

About KMD

Since 1963, San Francisco-based KMD (Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz) has been a
leader in green building and sustainable design, with completed projects in
over 30 US states, and 15 countries around the world. The company's web
site is at http://www.kmdarchitects.com.
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4799652&EDATE=
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #102  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2008, 3:28 PM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
Quote:
Friday, April 25, 2008
East Bay hospitals planning $4 billion in construction
San Francisco Business Times - by Chris Rauber

More than $4 billion in hospital rebuild projects are on the books in the East Bay, including huge projects at Kaiser Permanente and John Muir Health, and nearly $2 billion in proposed work at Highland Hospital, Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Summit.

And that doesn't include Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, which is scrambling to escape bankruptcy protection, and has little chance of making rapid progress on a state-mandated seismic rebuild in the immediate future.

With construction costs hovering around $2.5 million per bed and state seismic safety deadlines looming in January 2013, the consequences of making the wrong decision are huge, which explains why some hospital executives are taking their time before making a final decision. Cost inflation has eased in recent months, said health-care principal Gary Burk of Ratcliff Architects in Emeryville, but still remains high, despite slowdowns elsewhere in the economy. "Hospital construction is kind of its own separate category," he said.

For those on the fast track -- led by Walnut Creek's John Muir Health and Kaiser Oakland -- the die has been cast, and construction crews are on site.

John Muir has work under way at both its Walnut Creek campus, where a $621 million expansion and seismic replacement project is in the works, and its Concord campus, which is moving on a $170 million project aimed at expanding the emergency room and cardiovascular institute and adding 61 beds, with the potential to add an extra 59 on top of that. "We've been doing mass excavations at both campuses," said Michael Monaldo, its vice president for facilities development. "At Concord, we're at the bottom of the hole," and at Walnut Creek nearly so.

The Walnut Creek project will add 92 beds to the current 324, create 230 new private rooms, expand emergency room and surgical capacity, and include other improvements, some of them already partially complete, including the new ER and a 785-space parking structure. Muir is working in Walnut Creek with Clark Construction Group LLC on the main project and Charles Pankow Builders Ltd. on the ER, Monaldo said. In Concord, Rudolph & Sletten Inc. is its general contractor.

Kaiser project

Kaiser is moving ahead on a 346-bed rebuild of its flagship hospital in Oakland and a proposed 263-bed hospital in San Leandro, as part of a nearly 850,000-square-foot medical campus there to replace its aging Hayward medical center, as reported in last week's Business Times. Observers say those projects will likely cost $1.5 billion.

Along similar lines, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, part of Sutter Health, has decided to move forward with a 130-bed inpatient rebuild project, dubbed Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley, to replace the existing 176-bed hospital, built in 1954.

The project has a $300 million budget, and a building project application was filed with Alameda County in early April. "I don't know how certain anyone can be," CEO George Bischalaney said about the budgeted cost, "but we're going to try very hard to do that."

The new hospital will include 40 "universal care" beds for stays of less than 24 hours, which are not licensed as inpatient beds. That gives the hospital the flexibility to house patients who don't need higher-cost inpatient care, he said, "rather than take up space in the emergency department," which is also expensive.

Bischalaney hopes to file plans with state officials this year, and gain state approvals by late 2009, so construction can start in early 2010 and be complete by the end of 2012. Eden has hired the Greenwood & Moore civil engineering firm, DPR Construction, and Devenney Group architects for its project, and brought on Jesus Armas, a former Hayward city manager, to consult on the entitlements process and provide help on government affairs and community outreach.

"The team has had several meetings with Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development representatives," said Bischalaney. "We're trying to engage them early on, and also working to submit our plans in phases," to expedite the process and save money.

Moving slower

Others are moving much more slowly, and in several cases mysteriously.

Sutter's Alta Bates Summit Medical Center -- with campuses in Berkeley and Oakland -- has debated plans for years to rebuild and expand its "Pill Hill" Summit campus in Oakland. The latest plans call for $300 million in work, including a new inpatient tower of unspecified size and a new ER at Summit, but details are sketchy. Earlier, a much larger 350-bed, $600 million Oakland replacement facility was its "preferred option." Now spokeswoman Carolyn Kemp and hospital officials aren't talking, although a source familiar with some of their thinking doubts $300 million will be enough to do the job. "We remain in a planning process, and the details are still being worked out," Kemp said.

At Highland Hospital/Alameda County Medical Center, plans still call for an up to $700 million makeover of the aging public hospital, which cares for many of the county's poor and uninsured residents, according to spokeswoman Andrea Breaux. That includes a new 161-bed hospital and other projects, which saw cost estimates spike last fall from $550 million to as much as $700 million.

Breaux says an environmental impact report will be submitted next month, and that plans call for hiring a general contractor by early 2009. Alameda County is prepared to use a combination of commercial "bridge" loans and a bond issue to fund the rebuild and associated projects.

Uncertainty also surrounds a proposed $700 million rebuild of Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, following the February defeat at the polls of its $300 million bond issue. It's unclear whether Children's still intends to build a 12-story, 250-bed replacement hospital at its current campus or at another unidentified East Bay site. "The hospital is still evaluating its options and has decided to withhold public comment until our internal reviews and evaluations are completed," said spokeswoman Venita Robinson.

West Contra Costa woes

Matters are similarly murky at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, which is working to emerge from an October 2006 bankruptcy filing with help from a joint powers arrangement with Contra Costa County, a state emergency fund, Kaiser and John Muir. Despite all that, it has few if any funds for a rebuild, acknowledges Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who chairs the joint powers authority that oversees Doctors.

The budget for the next three years "does not build in any money for seismic," Gioia said, and neither the hospital nor the county has studied Doctors' seismic replacement needs and related costs.


crauber@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4946
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #103  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2008, 5:51 PM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
I was in San Jose last night and walked by 360 Residences.

First, this is what it will eventually look like:


Currently, it's at this point (looking north along Market):


Now looking south along Market:


Part of the building extends over to First street to the east (looking north):


A little bit closer look at the tower:


I also tried to get some shots of Axis, but never got closer than this (looking north up Almaden):
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #104  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2008, 11:57 PM
rocketman_95046's Avatar
rocketman_95046 rocketman_95046 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: SD/SJ, CA, USA
Posts: 1,879
Thanks, it's great to see pics of SJ projects. Any pics of Tower 88?
__________________
1,000 posts and still going...
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #105  
Old Posted May 1, 2008, 4:49 AM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
I only got those two. By the time we were done with dinner it was too dark.
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #106  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 2:08 AM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
At long last, here are two pictures of the South City office building going up between 101 and San Bruno Mountain. Sorry for the quality. It was the best I could do from the company shuttle zooming down the freeway.



Here's a closer look at the glass:
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #107  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 6:50 AM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
More on that South San Francisco office building. Not sure how clear this will be from these terrible photos, but the glass will appear to literally wrap around the building like a shower towel. That angled metal support across the front extends from a notch in the floor plates and I believe will be covered with the same glass, giving the appearance that the glass is loosely wrapped around the steel. These were taken from CalTrain today:





This is from a couple of weeks ago and might help demonstrate what I'm talking about:
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #108  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 7:57 AM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
That's really nice. I guess they can't build stuff like that in the city because the 13 committees that have to approve everything couldn't agree on the color of the glass (just kidding--he said pathetically).
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #109  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 2:46 PM
San Frangelino's Avatar
San Frangelino San Frangelino is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 655
Thanks for the update Peanut Gallery. I like the blue glass, but it seems I recall the original rendering of the building being white. Anyhoo, I Can't wait to see the second building rise alongside.
__________________
I ♥ Manhattanization
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #110  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 8:27 PM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
My pleasure. Is that the second building rising up behind in the second picture above? I thought it might be a parking garage, but haven't really gotten a good look at it.
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #111  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2008, 5:05 PM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
S.F. builders pitch project in Oakland's Uptown

Quote:
Friday, July 18, 2008
S.F. builders pitch project in Oakland's Uptown
San Francisco Business Times - by Blanca Torres

Oakland's Uptown neighborhood may receive another boost to its "up-and-coming" status with the addition of a proposed mixed-use project.

Avant Housing, a partnership between San Francisco firms AGI Capital and TMG Partners, is looking to build up to 200 housing units, a 650-car parking garage, a full-service grocery store and a 150-room hotel.

The site, on Telegraph Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets, now houses a two-story public parking garage and a Giant Burger restaurant.


"Even if the Oakland market is down right now, this is planning for the future," said Eric Tao, executive vice president and chief investment officer for San Francisco-based AGI Capital. "This is the new up-and-coming part of Oakland."

The entire project could eventually cost about $100 million to $200 million and would comprise about 800,000 square feet.

Avant, started in the fall of 2006, primarily focuses on what it calls smart, urban in-fill development and was kicked off with a $100 million equity investment from the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The two firms, AGI and TMG, worked together on the SoMa Grand in San Francisco, a 22-story condo and retail development.

Avant is banking on the area evolving into a lively cultural arts and residential district. The proposed development is two blocks from the Uptown, a Forest City retail and residential project that is expected to be completed this year. That project, which takes up four city blocks, will include 665 apartments.

Uptown also features the popular Flora restaurant, just nine months old, and the Fox Theater, a 2,500-seat performing arts venue undergoing renovation, and the adjacent Oakland School for the Arts, a charter high school, both of which are expected to open this fall.

"Our place gets packed in the evenings," said Thomas Schnetz, co-owner of Flora. "You definitely get a sense that people are beginning to know this area a little more. There's some nice stuff coming up. A year from now, it will be a big difference."

Uptown is the area just north of downtown that was once a thriving shopping district and home to high-end department stores such as Capwell's and I. Magnin. The district's many historic buildings were neglected until a recent wave of development.

"We've also put a lot money into façade improvement and tenant improvement programs for businesses," said Jens Hillmer, urban economic coordinator with Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency. "Over all, it's going to change the image of the neighborhood. Previously, there wasn't much going on there, but that's changing."

Avant and the city are still negotiating an agreement that could take a year to finalize. Under the proposed deal, Avant will buy the land from the city for about $2.6 million and develop the parking garage. It will then sell the garage to the city at cost, which will probably be $20 million to $25 million, and the city will operate it as public parking.

The owner of the Giant Burger, the Hahn family, will stay involved with the property as owner of the retail space.

Oakland allocated $32 million of its current capital budget to create additional parking in its downtown core.

"There's a lack of parking, especially in the Uptown area and Chinatown," Hillmer said. The neighborhood lost about 1,200 parking spaces when Forest City began its project.

Tao said the Avant project will be built in three phases, the first being the parking garage that could be complete in two to three years. The retail and residential would come next, followed by a hotel. Avant has not decided if the residential will be rental or condos.

Construction on the hotel is slated to begin by 2011.
By that time, city officials expect greater demand, especially from business travelers visiting office buildings in the Lake Merritt district, which doesn't have a hotel. A report from Oakland's development agency mentions Hotel Indigo, a franchise of the InterContinental Hotels Group, as a potential operator.

"We see a movement toward urban living," Tao said. "With the increased cost of gas and with Oakland's proximity to BART and ferries ... there's going to be a more vibrant downtown and Uptown."


btorres@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4960
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #112  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2008, 1:34 AM
yakumoto's Avatar
yakumoto yakumoto is offline
I enjoy discussing issues
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: MEGATITS
Posts: 411
SAN JOSE CONSTRUCTION!!!!!

SKYLINE IS READY FOR BUISNESS!!!!





360 S MARKET STREET IN THE HOUSE





THIS IS BIG TEXT



THE 88 INCORPORATES STREET LEVEL RETAIL



AXIS



OH BY THE WAY, UNLIKE RETARD CITIES LIKE LOS ANGELES, OUR DOWNTOWN CONSTRUCTION DOESN'T CONSIST ENTIRELY OF RESIDENTIAL. THIS IS NEW OFFICE BUILDING, AND THERE IS MORE ON THE WAY. WORLD CLASS CITIES DON'T ONLY HAVE A BUNCH OF ASS CONDOS DOWNTOWN.

__________________
San Jose: God's gift to Urban Enthusiasts
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #113  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2008, 2:35 AM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
I was hoping someone would give an update on San Jose.

Was River Park always planned to be two buildings? If so, there was a long wait between the two. I don't remember exactly when that went up, but it's been longer than 10 years.
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #114  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2008, 2:45 AM
rocketman_95046's Avatar
rocketman_95046 rocketman_95046 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: SD/SJ, CA, USA
Posts: 1,879
River Park #2 shocked me when i flew in to SJ for the 4th. I hadn't even seen news that it was going to be going up, then next thing you know... its done!

It would be nice to see Adobe's lots just south of the Shark Tank go up next!

Many mock downtown SJ but it is getting better every year and is about 100X better than even 10 years ago!
__________________
1,000 posts and still going...
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #115  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2008, 8:24 AM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
Quote:
Originally Posted by peanut gallery View Post
I was hoping someone would give an update on San Jose.
I'd prefer it without the negative commentary on other cities, personally.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #116  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2008, 3:33 AM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
Me too. I just ignore that stuff.
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #117  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 5:57 PM
krudmonk's Avatar
krudmonk krudmonk is offline
Of Heart's Delight
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Sannozay
Posts: 1,658
That first picture of Tamien Place is actually way south of downtown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTinSF View Post
I'd prefer it without the negative commentary on other cities, personally.
With Yakumoto, it's usually on the subject city, too. So goes the territory.
__________________
real cities are full of fake people
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #118  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2008, 3:34 AM
wrkrbee wrkrbee is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1
Update on 360 S Market: Officially Topped Out 7-25-08.

The last major concrete poured as of today.
Work is moving quickly-- all crafts, plus mock-up units etc, progressing at a fast and steady pace.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #119  
Old Posted Aug 15, 2008, 4:20 PM
peanut gallery's Avatar
peanut gallery peanut gallery is offline
Only Mostly Dead
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Marin
Posts: 5,234
New construction should be starting soon in Berkeley. From the SF Business Times:

Quote:
SNK Realty gets the money for Berkeley’s Arpeggio project
San Francisco Business Times - by Blanca Torres
Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 12:37 PM PDT


Despite a slowdown in new residential projects, the development arm of Dallas-based SNK Realty secured financing to start construction on a mixed-use development in Berkeley known as the Arpeggio.

The nine-story project, located at 2055 Center St., will include 143 condominiums that will hit the market in 2010 and rehearsal space for Berkeley Repertory Theater.

SNK first announced the development in 2005 and signed on New York-based Real Estate Capital Partners to help out. The firms recently landed $65 million in financing from Pacific National Bank and will begin building right away.

Across the Bay in San Bruno, SNK teamed up with MacFarlane Partners for another mixed-used project called the Crossing, that also nailed down construction financing earlier this year.

“Good deals are still getting financing and smart deals are still getting financed,” said Angelyn Lowe, a spokeswoman for SNK.
__________________
My other car is a Dakota Creek Advanced Multihull Design.

Tiburon Miami 1 Miami 2 Ye Olde San Francisco SF: Canyons, waterfront... SF: South FiDi SF: South Park
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #120  
Old Posted Aug 17, 2008, 3:53 PM
San Frangelino's Avatar
San Frangelino San Frangelino is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 655
From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BACV12AFKH.DTL

Quote:
Smart growth at the San Mateo racetrack
John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer
Sunday, August 17, 2008

When it opened in 1934, the Bay Meadows racetrack marked eastern San Mateo County's evolution from a quiet outpost of San Francisco into a busy corridor of the metropolitan Bay Area.

After today's races at the San Mateo County Fair - fittingly titled "The Last Dance" - the track becomes history. Bay Meadows will begin to symbolize something else: the evolution of suburbia.

An 83-acre site dominated by asphalt and bleachers will be cleared to make way for 19 blocks of office buildings and multi-unit housing accompanied by parkland and plazas. Many buildings will be 55 feet high, tall by local standards, and they'll line streets that tie into the existing city grid.

Where midcentury suburbia came with spacious yards and low-slung homes with wide driveways, the Bay Meadows plan is designed to encourage transit use and errands on foot. It trades private space for a well-landscaped public realm.

"You can't stick your head in the sand and pretend nothing is going to change," said Robert C. Gooyer, an architect who serves on the planning commission and has lived in San Mateo since 1982. "Not everyone wants or needs to live in a 1950s ranch-style home."

From the start there's been opposition from residents who see this sort of district as antithetical to the community they chose to live in decades ago. But the San Mateo City Council approved the overall plan in 2005, and the specific designs for the 21-acre western portion of the site in April.

Often called smart growth or New Urbanism, this model of development has made inroads in the Bay Area during the past decade. The difference here is location: Bay Meadows not only sits in the heart of the settled and affluent mid-Peninsula, it's next to a Caltrain stop with direct access to San Francisco in one direction and Silicon Valley in the other.

Because of this, the developers say they're striving for a true mixed-use district - one distinctive enough that people and companies will want to put down roots.

"It's the physical manifestation of a variety of people doing a variety of things," said Keith Orlesky, design director for Wilson Meany Sullivan, part of the development team that purchased Bay Meadows in 1997. "We want to make a place that gains authenticity as it ages."

The centerpiece will be a four-block stretch of Delaware Street that will parallel the Caltrain tracks and begin north of the housing tracts along Hillsdale Boulevard. One side will be defined by four-story office buildings, the other by two-story commercial buildings with a "town square" on the south where condominiums would top a general store and cafe.

That scale continues to the east, where four-story condominium buildings would frame a linear park modeled on spaces like the mall running down Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Beyond the park, buildings would shift to three-story townhouses and be aimed at families, with a kid-friendly green as a centerpiece.

Scale isn't the only thing setting the Bay Meadows plan apart from older neighborhoods in San Mateo and nearby suburbs. The architecture along Delaware Street and the linear park consciously avoids such historical styles as the Spanish revivalism associated with Stanford University.

The office buildings designed by Hellmuth Obata + Kassabaum, for instance, could be caricatured as Crate and Barrel modern rather than Santa Barbara lite; they're glassy and streamlined, though most are clad in terracotta as a nod to the past.

"There's nothing wrong with traditional buildings - we just didn't want that to be the theme of the place," Orlesky said. "The Peninsula today is not defined by this or that style. It's very eclectic."

A lawsuit to stop the project was filed in May by opponents citing flaws in the environmental impact report, a common tactic in California's growth wars. But the developers are confident enough of the outcome that they've scheduled an auction of racetrack equipment on Saturday. After that, asbestos removal will begin the demolition process.

Then comes the hard part: translating pretty pictures into a district that doesn't have the formulaic monotony found in other smart growth enclaves.

One tactic is seen on Delaware Street, where the four-story L-shaped office buildings will bracket one-story retail buildings. It's a way to show off the shops that also will add variety from the pedestrian perspective.

For the residential buildings framing the park, Wilson Meany used a variety of architects in an attempt to mix things up. But with a 55-foot citywide height limit imposed by a 1991 voter initiative, it will be a challenge to keep them from looking interchangeable - especially because they're all the same dimensions and will be clad mostly in stucco.

"People here understand it's all in the detailing," Gooyer said. "I plan to look at the documents ... 20 or 40 years from now, people should look around and see a nice homogeneous community that doesn't feel like a project."

What's in store

The 74-year-old Bay Meadows racetrack will make way for a district with up to 940,000 square feet of office space, most of it in large buildings aimed at corporate tenants; up to 1,253 housing units, all but 24 in townhouses or stacked flats; and 112,000 square feet of retail space along Delaware Street.

There will be 18 acres of open space, including a 12-acre community park on the north edge of the site and smaller parks and plazas within the district.

The commercial buildings and at least some residential ones will be designed to be certified for sustainability by the United States Green Building Council.

When it's coming

Developers say they will start dismantling the racetrack by Labor Day, with construction to start by next spring. The first batch of buildings could open by the end of 2010; the pace of construction after that will be determined by San Mateo's real estate market.

Who's involved

Wilson Meany Sullivan is the developer for site owner Stockbridge Capital Partners. Cooper Robertson & Partners is the planner and master architect.

As for the architecture of individual structures, the office buildings are by the San Francisco office of HOK while the retail buildings are by San Francisco firm BCV. Six other architecture firms have been hired to design the residential buildings.

The landscape architect is CMG of San Francisco.
More renderings here: http://www.wmspartners.com/project_d...c9ead93d074f31
__________________
I ♥ Manhattanization
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Global Projects & Construction > City Compilations
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 9:17 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.