In a followup report to its feature on Mid-Market grime, this month the Central City Extra digs into what it's like to live on the most rundown portion of San Francisco's main commercial drag. Included are profiles of a number of honest, hard-working people who are big on "city life" and are willing to put up with communal kitchens and shared bathrooms to get that city life. Plus, says a student, there's a sort of "hipness about its slumminess." Another one calls his view onto Market Street a "24-hour peep show." Totally. But as the paper notes, there's more coming to Mid-Market, in the form of 3,772 residential units in the pipeline — some of those units may be "troubled" or dead in the water, but some (i.e. Trinity Plaza) aren't.
As an example of the former, AF Evans filed years ago to build two residential buildings containing a total of 84 units at 145 Leavenworth, currently home to two parking lots. (They later ran into some cash-flow problems. The project's hilariously sad predicted finish time: July 2010.) Trinity, meanwhile, is ready to start on the next phase of their massive project, though they've decided to continue building along Mission instead of jumping to the Market Street side, meaning there are "no immediate plans to demolish the old building at this time." The Extra notes two major projects on Market Street itself that are as yet mysteries: 98 SRO mini-studios at the Strand Theater site, planned for completion March 2012, and a years-old project to tear down two buildings at 1066 Market St, and build a 255-unit mixed-use building. There's also, of course, the Grand Building hostel/restaurant/nightclub, but that's a different story entirely.
· Central City Extra March 2010 (PDF) [Website]
· Stories Behind Some of Mid-Market's Blight, and Possible Renewal! [Curbed SF]
· A Mysterious Proposal for Strand Theater Renovation, Residences? [Curbed SF]
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