KRON 4 building demolished for senior housing

The circa-1967 building at 1001 Van Ness that was the longtime headquarters of the KRON 4 TV station is almost entirely a broadcast memory now, as demolition at the site finishes to make way for a 13-story building dedicated to senior housing.

According to Handel Architects, the firm that designed the new building, the new 1001 Van Ness will be a 270,000-square-foot senior living building, which includes a 7,000-foot retail space on the ground floor.

To encourage foot traffic near Van Ness Avenue, Handel designers describe a plaza on nearby Myrtle Street created by recessing the new building’s main entrance.

Developer Oryx Partners bought the site in 2014 for an impressive $26.4 million, according to the city assessor.

Originally the company planned for a 239-unit condo development using the same Handel design, but after years of wrangling (the SF Planning Commission approved the building in 2016). it abandoned that idea in favor of the current 247-unit seniors site.

According to the developer’s timeline, the new building should be finished in 2021.

There is seemingly some confusion about the total number of homes—Oryx says 247, but the site dedicated to the building itself says “approximately” 210 units in the tower, but 11 townhomes nearby on Myrtle Street.

The permits on file with the Department of Building Inspection are for 215 units.

[Correction: Oryx cofounder Juan Carlos Wallace tells Curbed SF that Oryx sold the property to Related Companies and Atria Senior Living earlier this year, adding that “The buyer group has reduced the number of units slightly, I believe.” The May sale didn’t show up in the city assessor’s records because it’s still too recent.]

Once upon a time, KRON was an NBC affiliate, working out of the former four-story Van Ness locale for nearly 50 years.

The station and the network parted ways in the early 2000s, and KRON sold the longtime headquarters after moving to Front Street. The building has been vacant for years, although it briefly served as a campaign headquarters during the 2016 election.