City planners, can we get your take here? The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency has reviewed plans to demo and rebuild a 20-acre site in Hunter's Point that currently houses 267 units of public housing, only 154 of which are rented by the SF Housing Authority. Six towers' worth of units— 740 in all— will tower over 65 feet above the Bay, according to the new schematic; 267 will serve as public housing, 315 will sell at market rate, and 141 are to be designated as BMR units. (Random: seventeen will be built by Habitat for Humanity. Didn't know developers would let those folks near a construction site.) Today's Examiner describes the plans as such:
Narrow, tree-lined streets in the redeveloped site will follow a classical grid-pattern that connect with roads in surrounding neighborhoods
High rises on narrow streets in a "classical" grid-pattern make us think of harsh hoods where the grid isn't exactly associated with tenant's given positions on ecologically-sound living. Planners, what say you? Moving forward to a future of smart, dense living (good) or setting up the nabe for even rougher times (bad)? At first blush, seems the former. But it's worth asking about the latter, no? Indulge our earnesty here, people.
· Public housing in Hunters Point to have soaring views [Examiner]
A Socket Site tipster— the developer, actually— has blown the whistle on, who else by Supe Aaron Peskin, who it appears is trying to put thebreaksbrakes on 55 Laguna, the proposed redevelopment of Hayes Valley's UC Berkeley Extension at the corner of Haight and Laguna Streets. A mixed-use development of housing (428 units' worth), retail, and public green space is planned for the site. According to Socket's report, Peskin is attempting to stop the project by introducing a measure (today, in fact) that appeals to the Landmarks Board and preservation planners at the Planning Department, both of whom have long opposed the project on grounds of— well, because it's going to change the city landscape, that's why, regardless of an Environmental Impact Report that indicates a strong leaning toward keeping things in line on the "keeping things the same" front. According to the developer, however, the project will be absolutely dead in the water should Peskin's plan garner approval.
· Supervisor Peskin Engineers An End-Run (And Ending) For 55 Laguna [Socket Site]
· Berkeley Hayes Valley Extension Redesign Approved [Curbed SF]
Affordable housing and historic preservation— fodder for a real estate throwdown of San Franciscan proportions. Enter the following set up scenario: Back in December, a developer donated a 130 year-old boating shack to the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which plans to build 208 affordable housing units on the site, located near India Basin Shoreline Park. Fine. Good. Until a couple of months down the line, when the project fell under fire as it since has. Over 550 petitions have been signed by locals— many boat-builders and union members— seeking to protect the hut from Big Bad Development, leaving the THC in a lurch; if the house stands, 12 units will have to be sacrificed to the preservationist cause in order to build around it. Looks like someone should have looked that gift horse straight in the mouth: the timber building is the last of its kind standing, and has been up languishing on the list of buildings nominated for landmark status since 2005.
· Historic cottage could dent India Basin development [SF Examiner]
Concrete walls are beginning to rise up from the sea of rebar covering Mission Walk at 330— 335 Berry Street, a soon-to-be dev of 131 so-called affordable housing units (and a whole cache of new buddies for the commuting dot-comers and scientists in the nabe. Down with homogeneity, people.). The buildings are designed by San Francisco architects Leddy Maytum Stacy; Just yards away from Mission Creek, each is centered around a landscaped central courtyard. Creek side units will feature sweeping views of all Mission Bay construction projects, natch. To the gallery!
Socket Site picked up the scent on the latest deets on the Japantown redevelopment effort. What started out as truly nabe-centric project is now beginning to smack of "big business," as it were: Local residents are feeling the rub of developer The ADCO Group's proposed 38-story, elliptical shaped phallus tower at 1481 Post Street. The scheme allows for market-rate units built atop tennis courts, with 5 levels of underground parking beneath it all— all well and good, right? What Japantown really has on its hands, however, is a bona fide Catch 22. Though logic dictates that with increased height yields greater density— along with more room for more bells, whistles, and most importantly, units— the nabe is nevertheless uneasy with the idea of such a tall tower setting a precedent for future development in the area. A shorter building will yield a decrease in the number of affordable housing units however, which in turn will give those displaced by redevelopment efforts less to come back to. Sure, the redevelopers have offered to reconsider the plans. But let's be honest: for better or worse, tall buildings tend to beget tall buildings. Looks like Japantown is about to feel the Rincon Hill Effect, no?
· J-Town Concerned About High-Rise Plans [Asian Week]
· 1481 Post Street [website]
· Japantown Plans Revealed [Curbed SF]
· Japantown Revamp: We Smell Condos [Curbed SF]
[Image courtesy The ADCO Group]
53 Columbus Avenue in Chinatown, you've just won a 10-year battle to save your home! What are you going to do now? Uh, per Beyond Chron, smash it to bits: "Senior residents kicked off the wall destruction by punching holes in the buildings wall with a golden sledge hammer." [Beyond Chron]
We're got a definite limit on land here in the Bay Area, so it's by necessity that the city's growing increasingly dense. But increasingly those changes aren't just happening in glitzy SoMa and Rincon Hill towers. Consider three San Francisco housing developments will be reborn as new, denser, more diverse communities designed to replace the existing housing units, as well as create new market-rate housing. The three projects—Sunnydale in Visitacion Valley, the Potrero Terrace-Potrero Annex complex on Potrero Hill, and Westside Courts in the Western Addition—signify another bit of progress for the mayor's Hope SF initiative, launched to rebuild the city's most downtrodden housing developments.
One problem: reconstruction calls for the displacement of several years for current inhabitants, who might just decide to pack it in and leave the city. Another rub? Although the mayor promises community involvement, current tenants had no idea that a construction company had already been selected. Whoops. The city pays lip service by assuring the tenants that the construction companies will work closely with them from this point forward. Seriously. No, really. They mean it this time!
· 3 S.F. public housing areas getting rebuilt [SF Gate]
In what surely must be an unprecedented move, a local developer decided to convert his plans for a market-rate development to an affordable housing development. Frustrated with the snail's pace of the planning process in San Francisco, the developer in question, Joe Cassidy—perhaps best known for the ah...aesthetically-challengedThe Palms—donated his Bayview property to the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. Sure, it's a giant tax write-off, but that's just one of the perks of generosity. The THC will use tax-exempt non-profit bonds to fund construction, which means that no public financing will be needed. This presents another rare occurrence in San Francisco construction — a housing development that could actually cater to current area residents and not rely on municipal lottery system. With units priced at an estimated 80%-120% of median income, we'll see if tell if Bayview residents will really move into the waterfront units.
· Developer donates site for big affordable plan [SF Business Times]
This morning, Gavs and the press core commandeered the Multi-Service Center South, one of there largest homeless shelters in the city. The occasion was an low-on-details announcement from our crusading mayor that two area shelters, including MSC South, were to be reprogrammed and redesigned to integrate Project Homeless Connect (not to be confused with Project Runway) into two San Francisco shelters. Currently that outreach program occurs only once every six weeks. This is the next step in "re-envisioning" the city's shelters. The step after that? Getting rid of all other city shelters, of course. The Mayor is finally going to eradicate homelessness. For real this time— seriously. "Eventually," said the mayor, "I can’t wait until these are the only two shelters remaining in the city and every single other one of them is shut down." Why wait for eventually? There's already one design in but it's not too late to convert SWL 337 into an affordable Mecca, right?
· Mayor Announces Nothing [SFBG Blog]
Almost 600 new affordable housing units are on the way thanks to $4 million in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. The grant will fund 7 affordable housing projects throughout the city, including Octavia Court - 15 units of affordable housing designed for disabled individuals and their families. Located on the corner of Oak St. and Octavia Blvd, the development includes a ground floor commercial space that will accommodate Norcal Vocational Inc, a firm specializing in providing developmentally disabled adults with "the opportunity to use art as a vehicle for developing life skills." Octavia Court stands out from the other projects benefiting from the grants not only because of its noble purpose, but also because it was designed by talented local firm Fougeron Architecture.
The production line is humming along at 18th and Alabama Streets, where the Citizens Housing Company has begun construction on a mixed use development that when completed will house 117 affordable units, 34 condominiums, and 15,000 square feet of community/ commercial/ industrial arts space (we've seen all three descriptions applied to the project.) Architects Solomon E.T.C. (Broadway Family Apartments, Beideman Place Townhouses) are on board the Good Ship Affordable Living, as is general contractor James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corporation. While we've only come across a single low-res image of the project model, we are curious as to how the as-yet-unknown design might mesh with the surrounding nabe. Thinking Valencia Gardens here ...
· Citizen's Housing Corporation [website]
· Solomon E.T.C. [Website]
· James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corporation [website]
Masters of the Universe, whip out your checkbooks. 438 Roosevelt Way is on the market for $2,995,000 making it the most expensive two-bedroom (plus media room) house in San Francisco. Three stories over a three-car garage set into a hillside row of discreet stucco houses from the 1920's. Probably didn't have an architect as much as a wish list. Elevator. Steel and glass staircase and catwalk, perfect for go-go dancers, and although the glass steps have been thoughtfully sandblasted for modesty, this living room is screaming for a disco ball. or a Conga Line. The green stucco exterior's not as harsh in person as in photos, the Araucaria araucana tree out front is spectacular, and so are the views.
· 438 Roosevelt Way [Joel Goodrich]
Details are sketchy (pun intended) but a friend of Curbed confirms that the 2007 Sunset idea House is happening at 25th and Alabama Streets here in San Francisco. A joint venture with Meridian Builders. Architect is John Lum. Opens in August. Look for LEED certification and a steel & glass staircase.
· 2007 San Francisco Idea House [Sunset Magazine]
The New York Times takes a look at the eternal conundrum. No, not Gay Marriage. Should I Rent or Should I Buy? will be seen by future generations as our great struggle.
For the now, the smart kids at The Times are advising caution. Suddenly houses and condos are not the sterling investment that realtors and mortgage "brokers" have been touting. And the National Association of Realtors gets a few sharp elbows, with The Times hinting that their members, along with NAR economist David Lereah, are partly to blame for what now appear to be unreasonable expectations. Seems the NAR is still running radio spots with their "now is the best time to buy" mantra. Because dammit if you keep renting, they'll all be working at Starbucks again. But at least for now you can go to dinner parties and hold your head up high and say "I rent!" and look like a total catch.
· A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent [Economix/NY Times]
· Got House? [Curbed SF]
Totally true. Demolitions are already extremely difficult, which is why we ended up gutting our orginal "sub-standard" house -- we merely thought of it as "squalid" -- so that virtually nothing but the facade remained. It cost more to do it that way, and it would have been preferable to tear-down, but but a top-to-bottom "remodel" was much easier than running the Kremlin-style permitting gauntlet that is the Planning Department. That's how we ended up with a house that at one point looked like this absurd hollowed-out shell... The Board of Supervisors is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
[Bold by us] Check out his Project Precita- like LOTR, in three parts over three years, from beginning, during, and finally complete. When peace finally reigned.
· No More Demos [Curbed SF]
It's Monday morning, March 12, and this is the cheapest house for sale in San Francisco. $450K, on the market less than a month. Also one of the smallest. With an estimated 600 square feet, this cottage will set you back a princely $750 per square foot.
· 1363 Brussels Street [Celia Halsey, C21 Hartford via the MLS]
About Curbed SF
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...
City planners, can we get your take here? The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency has reviewed plans to demo and rebuild a 20-acre site in Hunter's Point that currently houses 267 units of public housing, only 154 of which are rented by the SF Housing Authority. Six towers' worth of units— 740 in all— will tower over 65 feet above the Bay, according to the new schematic; 267 will serve as public housing, 315 will sell at market rate, and 141 are to be designated as BMR units. (Random: seventeen will be built by Habitat for Humanity. Didn't know developers would let those folks near a construction site.) Today's Examiner describes the plans as such:
A Socket Site tipster— the developer, actually— has blown the whistle on, who else by Supe Aaron Peskin, who it appears is trying to put the 
Affordable housing and historic preservation— fodder for a real estate throwdown of San Franciscan proportions. Enter the following 
Socket Site 
We're got a definite limit on land here in the Bay Area, so it's by necessity that the city's growing increasingly dense. But increasingly those changes aren't just happening in glitzy SoMa and Rincon Hill towers. Consider three San Francisco housing developments will be reborn as new, denser, more diverse communities designed to replace the existing housing units, as well as create new market-rate housing. The three projects—Sunnydale in Visitacion Valley, the Potrero Terrace-Potrero Annex complex on Potrero Hill, and Westside Courts in the Western Addition—signify another bit of progress for the mayor's Hope SF initiative, launched to rebuild the city's most downtrodden housing developments. 
In what surely must be an unprecedented move, a local developer decided to convert his plans for a market-rate development to an affordable housing development. Frustrated with the snail's pace of the planning process in San Francisco, the developer in question, Joe Cassidy—perhaps best known for the ah...
This morning, Gavs and the press core commandeered the Multi-Service Center South, one of there largest homeless shelters in the city. The occasion was an low-on-details announcement from our crusading mayor that two area shelters, including MSC South, were to be reprogrammed and redesigned to integrate 
Almost 600 new affordable housing units are on the way thanks to $4 million in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. The grant will fund 7 affordable housing projects throughout the city, including Octavia Court - 15 units of affordable housing designed for disabled individuals and their families. Located on the corner of Oak St. and Octavia Blvd, the development includes a ground floor commercial space that will accommodate Norcal Vocational Inc, a firm specializing in providing developmentally disabled adults with "the opportunity to use art as a vehicle for developing life skills." Octavia Court stands out from the other projects benefiting from the grants not only because of its noble purpose, but also because it was designed by talented local firm 
