950-974 Market Street was supposed to be a big, flashy development with a design from Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a community performing arts center, and hundreds of new housing units and hotel rooms. Developer Group I has, however, canceled the arts center plans and chosen to scale back the rest of the development to fit into current zoning requirements, reports the Chronicle. The arts center was part of a deal with the city that would have provided an increase in height limits from 120 to 200 feet for the development, but negotiations over the financing of the center ultimately ground to a halt. The city expected the developer to cover all costs, while Group I wanted nonprofit arts groups to chip in 50 percent.
The project will still move forward without the arts center and with fewer housing units and hotel units than originally planned. There were to be 310 new units and 250 hotel rooms. BIG will stay on to design the downsized development, although no new designs have been released. The most recent designs showed the complex broken into three main forms, with one dedicated to the arts center. A shared lobby would have connected the three, and a green roof would have been located on the roof of the arts center. Group I previously hoped to start construction in early 2016, but a revised timeline has not yet been released.
· Dramatic Renderings Show BIG's Latest Designs for Complex at 950-974 Market [Curbed SF]
· Mid-Market Development Loses Highly Touted Arts Center [SFGate]
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