Plan for new Transbay Terminal in, under budget
April 22nd, 2010 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
By John King
April 22nd, 2010
The iconic tower intended to come first is nowhere in sight, but San Francisco’s new Transbay Terminal is ready to go.
There are still plans for a 5.4-acre park that will rest atop three levels of shops and bus platforms, 70 feet in the air. The architecture retains the glassy futurism of the concept selected with fanfare in 2007.
Now, after two years of tweaking, the completed terminal design will be presented today to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. Officials say the first stage of construction - demolition of the existing terminal at First and Mission streets - should begin in August or September.
Under this scenario, the $1.189 billion terminal would open for bus service by 2017. An additional $400 million will be spent to build a shell beneath ground that will eventually house a train platform and concourse. [More...]
Citigroup Center going back to lender
March 5th, 2010 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
March 5th, 2010
In late March, Prudential will take title to the 550,000-square-foot tower, called the Citigroup Center, and has brought on the Barker Pacific Group to manage the property, according to multiple sources familiar with the transaction.
The deal comes on the heels of Morgan Stanley’s decision to transfer five office buildings to AREA Property Partners and Hines’ calculated move to default on 333 Bush St., which paved the way for Brookfield Real Estate Finance to take ownership. In recent months, nine downtown San Francisco office properties, totaling more than [More...]
SFMOMA, city reach land agreement, allowing for museum expansion
February 22nd, 2010 Filed Under Development Updates, Tenant Activity, Yerba Buena, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Business Times
By Sarah Duxbury
February 22nd, 2010
The city and SFMOMA have reached a land agreement that is critical to the art museum’s planned expansion.
Under the agreement, announced today by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office, the city will give SFMOMA the existing fire station on Howard Street. In exchange, the museum will build the city a state-of-the-art fire station on Folsom Street, a deal that essentially translates to a $10 million gift from museum leadership to San Francisco, the mayor’s office said. [More...]
The 222 Second Street Scoop
February 16th, 2010 Filed Under Development Updates, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
Socketsite
February 16th, 2010
While truly plugged-in people have known about the proposed development of 222 Second Street on the corner of Howard for well over two years, details for the proposed 26-story development are now online via a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
As proposed, the project would be a rectilinear tower of diminishing bulk from the building base to a height of approximately 350 feet. At the fifth floor, the north façade of the building would be set back 5 feet from Howard Street and the west façade would be set back approximately 20 feet from the westerly property line. At the 17th story, the east façade would be set back 24.5 feet from Second Street, and the South façade would be set back 44.5 feet from Tehama Street. In addition, the fifth floor would include a further 5-foot recess, or “reveal,” on all four facades, [More...]
Pyramid’s steep path from civic eyesore to icon
December 27th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Chronicle
By John King
December 27th, 2009
The Transamerica Pyramid is San Francisco’s tallest and best-known tower. It’s a registered corporate trademark, a fixture on postcards - and proof that snap judgments on buildings can often be wrong.
Construction began 40 years ago this month over the loud objection of anyone who was anyone in urban design. The city’s top planner called the proposal “an inhumane creation.” The Washington Post’s critic recoiled at “a second-class world’s fair Space Needle.” Progressive Architecture magazine warned the impact on San Francisco would be “no less reprehensible than … destroying Grand Canyon.”
Instead, the 853-foot-tall tower that opened in 1972 has become a civic icon. [More...]
S.F. real estate story line: Flight to quality
December 18th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
December 18th, 2009
San Francisco office tenants are increasingly gravitating to downtown’s most prestigious trophy towers, taking advantage of desperate landlords to lock in cheap rents, according to a study by Jones Lang LaSalle.
While overall San Francisco tenants gave up 1.3 million square feet more than they leased in 2009, the city’s 49 most prominent buildings — JLL calls them the Skyline 49 — actually had about 100,000 square feet of positive absorption over the past two quarters. [More...]
Towering plan for new S.F. skyline unveiled
November 19th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
By John King & John Cote’
November 19th, 2009
The recession hasn’t stopped San Francisco’s city planners from thinking big.
The Planning Department released an ambitious set of proposals Thursday to turn the blocks around the Transbay Terminal into a commercial and transportation centerpiece of the region over the next two decades.
The 145-acre “Transit Center District” would redraw San Francisco’s skyline with a half-dozen towers taller than almost any in the city, including one stretching at least 100 feet higher [More...]
Exploratorium a step closer to waterfront site
September 25th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, North Beach/ Waterfront, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
By John Cote
September 24th, 2009
Picture Courtesy of Socketsite
The Exploratorium is a step closer to getting a new home now that the city’s Port Commission has approved a 66-year lease to move the interactive children’s science museum to the waterfront, making it just a short walk from the Ferry Building.
The lease deal for side-by-side Piers 15 and 17 marks a major milestone for the proposal to move the renowned museum from the Palace of Fine Arts to the Embarcadero, where it would be readily accessible to pedestrians and ferry, BART and Muni passengers.
“It’s such a great location,” said Jennifer Sobol, project manager for the port. “It will be so easy for schoolkids and families to get there.” [More...]
Efforts to turn empty lots to a glass half full
September 4th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Midmarket/ City Hall, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
John King
September 3, 2009
Even as San Francisco’s development scene continues to languish, city officials and at least one private landowner are exploring how to fill empty sites in creative ways - including art installations and a working farm.
“If you leave a blank landscape, that’s an invitation to blight,” said Matt Jacobs of Turnberry Lansing, the owner of 45 Lansing St., a Rincon Hill lot that also fronts Harrison Street. “It’s better to do something that’s interesting and that the neighbors like.” [More...]
San Francisco considers expanding Moscone Center
June 26th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Yerba Buena, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The following article from the San Francisco Chronicle, written by James Temple, explains in good detail the likely path to Moscone Center expansion.
This is a crossover issue for those of us in the commercial real estate world because one of the buildings listed as potentially being razed to create additional convention space is 680 Folsom, which has been advertised as available for lease over the past year. 680 was going to be rehabbed with a beautiful glass exterior prior to the economic downturn that has lowered lease rates and occupancy levels across the City. [More...]
