After developers Prado Group and SKS Investments won the rights to build new housing on the huge UCSF Laurel Heights site, they dove headfirst into community outreach. Neighbors have been relatively civil about the whole thing, but they have raised questions about density and quality of life issues. The site is zoned for as many at 745 new units, but the developers have held off on choosing a number as they work with the community on designs. Now, they seem to be zeroing in on some early direction and plan to file a preliminary proposal with the Planning Department by the end of the year.
At the latest community meeting on Monday, the development team talked about reworking the main 350,000-square-foot building that currently stands on the site as housing and open space. The edges of the site would also probably get housing, retail, or office space, but exactly what that combination will be remains open for debate. Residents want more retail along California Street but are hesitant about uses for the corner of Euclid and Laurel streets, where single family homes sit right across the street. Lower-density single and two-family homes or attached housing and open space are possibilities.
The developers have a team of five architecture firms signed on to design, and have promised restrained architecture in line with the neighborhood. Even more community meetings are scheduled to present designs between now and the end of the year, and nothing is scheduled to be built until 2018.
· Neighbors Unfazed by Hundreds of New Units Planned for UCSF Laurel Heights Site [Curbed SF]
· Sitting on S.F. Gold Mine, Laurel Heights Developers Grapple With How Much to Build [SF Business Times]
· 3333 California Street [Official Site]
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