SF Archives
Whole Foods Does Real Estate: 690 Stanyan
Haight NIMBYs are so not having 690 Stanyan, a condominium development set to occupy the defunct Cala Foods at Haight and Stanyan Streets. Remarkably enough, Whole Foods is marketing the plan— not the other way, as is usually the case with residential developments. The plan calls for the construction of a four-story, 115,400 square foot mixed-use building with a Whole Foods at ground level and 62 condos situated above it— 26 studios, 20 one-bedrooms, and 15 two-bedroom units. One lucky buyer will score a three-bedroom penthouse (and a much-coveted view of the drum circle in Golden Gate Park. Whole Foods is, of course, taking the "positive economic impact" and "pedestrian friendly" angles in their marketing campaign— they've even preempted the hates by publishing a comparative study of WF's likely effect on the nabe. Now, what to do about the gutterpunk magnet McDonald's across the way?
· 690 Stanyan [website]
· Haight Neighbors Make Compelling Argument Despite Lack of Design Skills [SFist]
Daly Ejected from Mensa Over Mission Closure Plan
"It's an intriguing idea, but this isn't a very smart proposal. Chris Daly is not exactly the president of Mensa." Thus spoke Gavin's spokesman of Daly's proposition to close (by and large, at least) a two-mile stretch of Market Street from Octavia Boulevard to the Embarcadero. According to Gav's people, Daly's chances are "slim to none;" similar proposals have been bouncing around City Hall for well over a decade. So what's the damage? Yesterday's comment box was filled with support for the idea— ne ultra-pragmatic reader called it best: "Who would drive down Market Street? It is much faster to take other nearby streets. Anyone knows that." We concede: Market is indeed a mess. (How many times have you directed a cabbie to cut to Mission Street?)
As IF the City Would Ban Cars From Market Street ... Right?
"It's the city's grand boulevard ... Why don't we go for the gold?" Seriously now, Daly— this comedy sketch is teetering dangerously toward tragedy. In an announcement made at City Hall yesterday, Supervisor Chris Daly proposed a ban on all motor vehicles along Market Street, between Octavia Boulevard and the Embarcadero (save mass transit and some cross traffic, mind you). Nothing new here— Willie Brown proposed the same during his tenure, and was shot down in short order. While San Francisco does tend to boggle the mind on the legislation front— hello, Global Peace Center— we can barely conceive of a Market Street devoid of the clusterfuck of cars, scooters and fixies that makes traversing the greater downtown area so invigorating. By now, however, we're grown up enough to know better— never say never, folks.
· Plan to ban cars on part of Market St. [SF Gate]
iPhrenzy UPDATE: Not in Stock, People
Curbed H.Q. has debunked for the Palace hotel, site of the Inman Real Estate Connect conference— and a mere stone's throw from the Apple store. No surprise then that we've become rather obsessed with scoring an iPhone for ourselves watching as other techtards wait for hours upon hours as if the iPhone were the last bowl of porridge in the orphanage. Great expectations tend to yield disappointment— so let's all hold hands and fall from innocence together now, shall we?
UNION SQUARE—Our very own Apple flagship isn't even answering the phone, if that's any indication. See above for line— not so bad, but we'd venture to bet that they're flush out of stock by now.
STONESTOWN—At least they managed to pick up the phone today. All three models in stock. 4-5 hour wait. Note to the hopeful: You are fucking insane.
CHESTNUT STREET—Dead zone. Total wash. No-go. S.O.L.
· APB: iPhrenzy Still Going Strong in Union Square [Curbed SF]
PriceSpotter Big Reveal: Garden Party in Noe Valley
PriceSpotter is Curbed's asking price guessing game. We provide you with some details and pictures from an apartment listing, and you take a crack at the price in the comments. Wednesday reveal. And hey, cheaters never win, and winners never cheat!
This week we looked at a Noe Valley home that, while not the most attractive we've seen in the area, makes up for its slightly awkward spaces and wall-to-wall carpeting with plenty of light, a huge garden, and 2,696 square feet of space. To recap, 1360 Dolores Street is a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with attached studio and plenty of outdoor space — complete with hot tub. We're thinking you guys have Noe Valley pegged, as the guesses were all pretty close this week. So close that accusations of Googling were made and quickly debunked (we won't name any names). Low guess: $1.795 million. High guess: $2.1 million. Actual listing price: $1,885,000. Taking home this week's PriceSpotter no-prize is Curbed SF reader Shibi with an incredibly close guess of $1.87 million. Right price?
· 1360 Dolores Street [MLS]
· PriceSpotter: Garden Party in Noe Valley [Curbed SF]
Public Sounds Off On Bridge Barrier Designs
At a meeting last night, Bay Area residents had a chance to sound off on the newly unveiled design proposals for a Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier. In attendance were families of those who have jumped, and those who survived their icy plunge into the Bay; both agreed than leaping from the Art Deco span is often an impulsive decision and that any type of deterrent would make a successful impact. Most of the crowd was made of bridge purists who weren't buying it (surprise!). That camp supports a proposed increase in funding for "suicide patrols" instead of altering the iconic design. "I jumped and lived. Now I want to do whatever I can to prevent others from jumping," said one survivor— kinda hard to argue with that one, no? The Ferry Building will play host to another public sound-off tonight, and bridge officials will vote on the proposals in October.
· Emotions high at forum on suicide barrier [SF Gate]
· Golden Gate Bridge Barrier Renderings Revealed [Curbed SF]
· Advocates Call Golden Gate Bridge a "Loaded Gun" [Curbed SF]
New PUC Not To Be
Remember that hot new glassy Public Utilities Commission building proposed a while back? The one that planned to earn Platinum LEED certification and include embedded solar panels and "solar green houses" on each floor? The building that would reinforce the city's green design strategy to lead by LEED example? Yeah, well, scratch all of that. Though construction was scheduled to begin this year, the city has placed the project on hold due to rising costs. Apparently solar green houses on every floor don't come cheap, and those embedded panels don't work as well as expected due to shadows and weight issues. At least we have the Federal Building.
· SFPUC plan for green building held up by cost [Examiner]
· Rebuilt: SF Public Utilities Commission H.Q. [Curbed SF]
Board of Superfriends Reconsider New Justice Center
There's new hope for Mayor Newsom's Community Justice Center, a specialized court designed to deal with street crime by serving sentences geared towards social services. Previously, the Board of Supervisors blocked the pilot program, which is based on a successful New York model, due to budget constraints, but after polling results indicated that the public supports the idea, they're starting to change their tune to back the mayor's idea. In today's Chron, the cause is personalized with a tale of a beat cop and a homeless man—whose crimes included attacking said police officer—with a 16 page rap sheet who has only served 64 days in jail "in the interest of justice." In a possible vote today, the Supes might reconsider exactly whose "justice" is being served and how it could actually benefit residents in The Tenderloin and SoMa. Brace.
· Community Justice Center picking up support [SF Gate]
· Justice for Gav's Tenderloin Community Court [Curbed SF]
· No Justice in the 'Loin [Curbed SF]
APB: iPhrenzy Still Going Strong in Union Square
All this time and you still want an iPhone? Allow us to save you the trouble.
UNION SQUARE— Limited quantities of 8 and 16 gig phones, in black, AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW. The catch: 3 and a half hours' worth of queue time. The tents and costumes are getting a little old, people.
STONESTOWN— Not even answering the phone. After 20 rings or so. Twice.
CHESTNUT STREET— Bother not— they're sold out for the day.
· Still Going: Apple Queues Stretch On[Curbed SF]
· iPhone Madness in Union Square [Curbed SF]
Construction Watch: Full Frontal at 1 Kearny Street
Quick checkup on 1 Kearny Street, the "seismic bookend" designed by architect Charles F. Bloszies and sandwiched between the 1902 building to its right, and the Charles Moore-designed, circa 1960's annex situated to the left. While a modest Bloszies characterizes his project as "one of a very few new architectural expressions in an architecturally conservative downtown historic district," our readers beg to differ, by and large. A few choice snippets of commentary on the subject: "This some weird love child of a mansard roof building with a Renzo Piano building," said one commenter during an earlier kvetch sesh on the project. Another chimed in: "The new additions to the left and right of the 1902 building are so fugly I thought that's what was being replaced! Ugly ugly ugly..." And we have an optimist !: "You know what, its better than the Ritz-Carlton add-on thing nearby." Here's a view from Market Street.
· Construction Watch: 1 Kearny Street Rises [Curbed SF]
· Construction Watch: 1 Kearny Revealed [Curbed SF]
· Rumblings & Bumblings: Can We Get a Witness at 701 Market Street? [Curbed SF]
· Construction Watch: 1 Kearny Street [Curbed SF]
Back to top
Sign up for our email newsletter.
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
Email Curbed SF
Full Content FeedArchives
Curbed SF
Editor
Sarah Hromack
Contributing Editor
Jimmy Stamp
Blogger
Andy J. Wang
Logo/Banner Design
Khoi Uong
Publisher/GM
Kyle Crafton
Head of Technology
Eliot Shepard
Other Curbed Sites
San Francisco
Eater SF
New York
Curbed NY
Eater NY
Racked NY
The Beach (seasonal)
Los Angeles
Curbed LA
Eater LA
Contact Us
Email Curbed SF
