Below is a quick synopsis of recent community activity and development in San Francisco. 

Community

Residents protest Ellis Act evictions of mid-Market building

A group of artists and musicians living in an 84-unit building on Market Street are going toe-to-toe with their landlord after being handed notices of what they say is the largest Ellis Act eviction in San Francisco history for their live-work units late last month.

Supervisor Peskin Introduces Idea for Building ADUs Citywide

Last week at the full Board, District 3 Supervisor Peskin announced legislation to allow for the construction of new accessory dwelling units (ADUs), aka in-law units, throughout San Francisco. At the hearing, he referred to building new in-law homes as a “pragmatic infill strategy” that could potentially add up to 40,000 new homes throughout the City.

San Francisco Planning Takes Lead in Modernizing Environmental Review for New Development Projects

For decades, environmental analysis of transportation impacts focused on how quickly cars moved through a given intersection, a flawed approach that was expensive to calculate, did little to benefit the environment and promoted urban sprawl rather than smart infill growth. The new approach is more comprehensive, looking at the method of travel, how far the person is going, and how many other people are in the vehicle to determine the impact on the environment.

Development

Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architecture is behind the new design, which incorporates more of a natural, textured element to the facade. The building is still slated to be a nine-story, 162-unit structure with subterranean parking, along with 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Canton Seafood Condos Closer to Reality

The plans for razing the two-story Canton Seafood & Dim Sum restaurant at 655 Folsom Street and constructing a modern 14-story building, with 89 condos over 2,300 feet of commercial space and an underground garage for 36 cars with its entrance on Hawthorne, have just been granted an Eastern Neighborhoods based exception from having to complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

Ground Breaks On Condos, Restaurant At Former Pagoda Theatre

...construction officially began this week on the Palace at Washington Square, a condo building with ground-floor restaurant space that will occupy the former Pagoda Theatre site at 1731 Powell Street, near Columbus Ave.

Transbay Joint Powers Authority Approves $160 Million Cash Offer Pre-entitlements

Generally zoned for 750 feet, Parcel F is the last remaining site available for development of a super-tall building in downtown San Francisco and the final parcel that can directly connect to the Transbay Transit Center Rooftop Park via a pedestrian sky bridge. F4 proposes to construct a tower on Parcel F containing 200-300 hotel rooms, 200 residential units, and 250,000-425,000- square-feet of office.

New Condos Proposed for Big Bubble Site

The Cow Hollow parcel upon which the two-story Big Bubble Laundromat sits at 2525 Van Ness Avenue, adjacent to Amero, is zoned for development up to 65-feet in height. And having recently acquired the site, a Vancouver-based developer, the Executive Group, is working on plans for a seven-story building to rise. The proposed 65-foot building includes 27 condos over 1,500 square feet of café/retail space fronting Van Ness Avenue and an underground garage for 27 cars. 

Tenant Buyout Clears the Way to Raise the Roof on Mission

With Anna’s Linens on Mission having closed, and the master tenant from which Anna’s had been subleasing having been paid to forfeit the remaining 30 years on their 99-year lease, plans to renovate the existing 12,000-square-foot structure and add four floors of residential units above are in the works. 

Checking In On Octavia's Planned Micro-Unit Apartments

It's been over a year since we covered plans for Parcels M and N, two narrow Octavia Boulevard-adjacent lots where two micro-unit apartment buildings are in the works. Despite the lack of visible progress, the project is still trucking along behind the scenes. Architect Douglas Burnham from envelopeA+D, which is handling the development, gave us an update.

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