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Curbed Reports: Plugging In to SoMa
Embedded Curbed SF operative Andy J. Wang weighs in with a firsthand account of last night's goings-on at the SoMa grand.
A methadone clinic, the homeless to"people like us" ratio, and gated alleys: such was the fodder at last night's SocketSite-sponsored soiree at the SoMa Grand. Editor Adam Koval hosted several dozen plugged-in peeps on the fifth-floor terrace for some light schmoozing and boozing, followed by a SoMa-centric panel discussion.
If we may, a quick and dirty rundown of the evening:
1) "Big plus": The Federal Building.
2) Still blows: Methadone clinic, "illicit activities," and hypodermic needles — "totally uncool for my dog Toby," in the words of one concerned resident.
3) Keep all eyes peeled for: That new SoMa Grand eatery from Slanted Door chef Charles Phan (ETA: fall 2009), plus gates on Stevenson to keep out those nighttime activities. No nabe talk is complete without a shot at the Board of Supes— from a disembodied voice in the crowd: "I personally like the gates at Stevenson Alley, if only for the irony of having Chris Daly living on a gated street." Respect.
Curbed SF Reports: Tension High at SoMa Task Force Meetup
— Curbed SF operative Andy Wang dishes on last night's goings-on.
Western SoMa can't be feeling too much love these days. The tension was fairly thick Thursday evening when the nabe's citizens task force met with the city's Business and Land Use committee Business and Land Use committee of the nabe's citizens task force met to tackle the "Interim PDR Loss and Replacement Policy," a that comes down from some 2001 decisions that the task force has apparently just realized they've been saddled with. In short, it says all projects occurring in almost half of Western SoMa have to build the entire lot's square footage equivalent in production, distribution, and repair (read: light industrial) space in order to proceed — until said task force presents an alternate plan, and you better believe they are scrambling to get all over that.
Needless to say, the item, which was supposed to be the fourth on the agenda, instead got top billing last night, with a healthy "WTF?" tag line beneath it. Planning Department rep Paul Lord spent a good half of the evening trying to explain just what the hell the new policy means for Western SoMa, let alone how the task force should go about addressing it.
More play-by-play >>Game On: New Map for Muni... and BART
Last week, a Curbed operative spotted a new Muni map at the Van Ness station. Beta test, yes, but no matter: our readers launched a scathing comment war on the inanimate object, bantering back and forth with that special sort of scathing criticism San Franciscans tend to reserve for public transportation. Enter one Demian Rosenblatt, a local designer who just. can't. cope. with the state of public wayfinding. "In a fit of desperation, I put together a little book to set it right," writes Demian, who we're hoping sent his 60-plus page proposal to someone other than us. (May we suggest the Planning Department?) So, shall we kick off a little healthy competition? Oh yes, we shall. The challenge: Save SF's signage. Competitors are welcome to send their submissions along to the Curbed Inbox, post haste. Perhaps we'll do a little vote, award a little prize... you know, like the old days. Opine away!
· Demian Rosenblatt: Parallel Designed [website]
· Spotted: A New Map for Muni? [Curbed SF]
Shot Down: Readers Boot King's CAMP Locale
So, the votes are in, and though the margin was rather, well, marginal, our readers voted down Chron arch critic John King's proposed new location for Don Fisher's CAMP museum. "Build it as-is" said 36.7 percent of you, while 31.2 percent agreed with King, and 32.1 percent said "to hell with it all." Lucky for us, Don Quixote King took another jab at it in today's edition, charging at windmills laying waste to another list of possible plans and locales (including a somewhat logical— both are government-controlled— but still rather random comparison between the Hirshorn Museum on the National Mall, in Washington D.C., to CAMP. Stretch? Indeed.) King pegs Fort Scott and Mission Bay as no-goes before beating would-be critics to the punch on last week's bid for Infantry Terrace. Yes, King concedes, a preschool would be demolished should CAMP be relocated to that spot. And new school must be built in its place— absolutment! (Enter another round of where-to-build madness... ) CAMP conundrum solved? Negative, Ghostrider.
· The right place for the Fishers' art museum [SF Gate]
· A New Home for CAMP? Make the Move, Says King [Curbed SF]
· CAMP Protesters Will. Not. Stop. [Curbed SF]
· Trouble in CAMP Land: "Adverse Effects" Feared [Curbed SF]
· Shocker: Don Fisher Wins CAMP Go-Ahead [Curbed SF]
· CAMP revealed: Fisher Delivers Design [Curbed SF]
A New Home for CAMP? Make the Move, Says King
"If we build it, they will come" or "Are we going to build the damn thing, or what?" The Presidio development/ Don Fisher/ CAMP debate grows sloppier still in today's Chron, where John King lobbies for an alternate spot for the museum, backing his argument with a couple of vagaries as to why the building won't mesh with its proposed location. ("These moves show Gluckman's elegant care, his desire to make the museum feel like it belongs. Unfortunately, they're [sic] also a tacit admission that it doesn't quite fit.") Very interesting, given that Gluckman Mayner haven't yet released their final design (as per the Chron in the first place!). Critical inquiry? Doubleplusgood, always. Stirring up the shiz this early in the game over a building that itself remains in a preliminary stage? Doubleplusungood. But hell, it's Friday— let's take this one down to Chinatown. Or the Presidio, rather.
· Fisher's awkward location for Presidio museum [Chron]
· CAMP & Co. [Curbed SF archives]
· CAMP Protesters Will. Not. Stop. [Curbed SF]
· Trouble in CAMP Land: "Adverse Effects" Feared [Curbed SF]
· Shocker: Don Fisher Wins CAMP Go-Ahead [Curbed SF]
· CAMP revealed: Fisher Delivers Design [Curbed SF]
[Map courtesy Team Chron Graphic Design— love youse.]
Berkeley Art Museum: Game On for Toyo Ito
New deets are out on Japanese architect Toyo Ito's new building for the Berkeley Art Museum, the plans for which first dropped a few months back. Ito bases many of his designs on the grid, and the new BAM-to-be is no exception: the gallery walls form a grid-like pattern, undulating to form several floors' worth of variegated spaces, which should suit a collection that ranges from the traditional to the ephemeral. (Did you know that BAM was one of the first institutions to collect conceptual art in the 1960's? Well, you do now.)
Note that the existing Mario Ciampi-designed museum won't get the wrecking ball— it will undergo a seismic retrofit and be put to alternate use. As for the current space, Chron's John King considers it an inflexible one: "the wide-open form and stone-hard structure limits its adaptability to new forms of art, such as video installations." A simple read, if we do say. Sure, the space is far from perfect, but anyone who caught Tomás Saraceno's installation of floating "inhabitable spaces" a few months back (suspended from the ceiling, no less) might agree that it's not that rigid an exhibitions space. Hell, we've even seen a painting or two hang from time to time. Back to Ito ...
Hard-hitting analysis, and a prediction or two >>Presidio Trust Issues Enviro Report, Don Fisher Stands Smug
Don and Doris Fisher, you've been served! Today, the Presidio Trust will release its environmental analysis report for the Main Post, planned future home of the Fishers' Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio, along with the Disney Family Museum (where in hell is the protest on that one, people?) and the International Center to End Violence, among others. The report will assess the impact of CAMP, a proposed hotel, restaurant, bar, movie theater expansion, plus a few other odds and ends— the Disney project is, tragically, exempt from scrutiny as it was approved several years ago. Today's findings mark another round in a bout between the Fishers & Co. and the Presidio Historical Association, whose initial plan for the area, developed over years with input from the community, calls for— brace for the shock here— strict guidelines for land usage at the Main Post. While the PHA insists that the proposed projects (read: CAMP) will compromise the area's "historical integrity," locals fear the impact of increased traffic in the nabe. The opulently wealthy tend to remain calm in the face of staunch opposition, and the Fishers are no exception— they won't consider any other location for their project because— oh come on now, let's just admit it— they don't have to.
· Buzz up! Presidio redevelopment plan heads into a fight [SF Gate]
· CAMP Protesters Take it to Traffic Court [Curbed SF]
· CAMP Protesters Will. Not. Stop. [Curbed SF]
· Trouble in CAMP Land: "Adverse Effects" Feared [Curbed SF]
· Shocker: Don Fisher Wins CAMP Go-Ahead [Curbed SF]
· CAMP revealed: Fisher Delivers Design [Curbed SF]
[Map of the Presidio courtesy the Chron's graphic design squad.]
Presidio aerial shot porn— in full color! >>Curbed Inside: The Contemporary Jewish Museum Final Reveal
In Curbed Inside, we take a peek at the latest developments, whether architectural or residential. Project on tap? Harness the power of viral marketing, and drop a line.
As card-carrying members of the Libeskind Skeptic Society, we walked away from this afternoon's tour pleasantly surprised with the new Contemporary Jewish Museum. Both the building, designed by Daniel Libeskind with WRNS, and plaza, designed by Handel Architects with landscaping by Cliff Lowe Associates, are— dare we be so overwhelmingly positive?!— a welcome addition to the ever-expanding museum district that we found to be well informed by the Yerba Buena nabe, nodding to the history of the area while providing an exciting new space to view art and learn about Jewish Culture. We know there are haters out there, but do us a favor and hold that criticism until you visit— just this once, mmmkay? (It opens to the public on the 8th, by the way.) Be sure to click through the Curbed SF mega-gallery to see how the CJM handles its business.
· Curbed Inside Update: The Contemporary Jewish Museum Full Reveal [Curbed SF]
Prop G: Money Can Buy You Love
Off with the stalemate: After last weeks' anointing by the New York Times, the "largest urban development project in the nation"— a.k.a. Hunters Point— just might see the condos, town homes, office buildings, retail, and green space promised by Lennar Corp.-backed Proposition G. Following a nice little volley at the polls, Prop G, as we know, did defeat Proposition F, Pied Piper Chris Daly's pipe dream bid for 50 percent affordable housing in the area. Camp Proposition F is placing the burden of blame on Lennar's $4 million-and-counting publicity campaign, one of the most financially extravagant local measure pushes in California's entire history. (Though Lennar looks like a veritable tightwad when compared to PG&E, which forked over $13 million to pimp several energy measures during the last year.) A $4 million-plus marketing campaign— sure, that'll push the vote. But so will a Benjamin-backed development plan. Money, oh how it talks.
· Lennar spending records sums on Prop. G [SFBG]
· The Largest Urban Development Project in the Nation [Curbed SF]
· Daly & Co. Secure Anti-Lennar Signatures in Hunters Point [Curbed SF]
· Candlestick Goes to the Ballot [Curbed SF]
Trinity Builder Advises: "Just Buy that S.O.B."
San Francisco's newest colossal development, Trinity Place, broke ground last week and its owner, madman-with-cash-in-hand Angelo Sangiacomo has something to say about it: "Who the hell is building buildings today, 440 rentals in San Francisco, and paying all cash? With rents down there at $500 and $700? It doesn't pencil out. I'm trying to tell you, I'm not too smart." Despite his modest claims, Sangiacomo was at one point the biggest slum lord landlord in the city. He's been scheming on Trinity Plaza for years; Chris Daly and the San Francisco Tenants Union put the kabosh on his initial plans. In 2005, all involved parties came to an agreement that provided for permanent rent-controlled units in exchange for a zoning variance that increased the allowable density of the project by over 35%.
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