As expected, the proposed framework for rezoning San Francisco’s 84-acre Hub District, a burgeoning area which is effectively centered around the intersection of Van Ness and Market, within the City’s Market and Octavia Plan Area, has been adopted by San Francisco’s Planning Commission.

In addition to improving and activating the area’s streets, alleys and public realm, the Hub District Plan, which is now formally known as the “Market Octavia Plan Area Amendment,” would allow for the development of “a taller, larger, denser, and more diverse array of buildings and heights,” including the potential for a tower to rise up to 650 feet in height at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, cementing the intersection as the visual hub of the neighborhood.

If San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors concurs, the public hearings for which will likely commence this Summer, the Plan Area Amendment would allow for up to 9,710 new residential units to rise within the boundaries of the District with room(s) for nearly 20,000 new residents (versus a maximum of 8,070 new units as currently zoned).

And while the plan would result in the development of some new office space as well, such as at the base of the proposed tower to rise at 30 Van Ness, the net increase in the number of new area jobs that the plan is projected to yield, accounting for the loss of existing commercial spaces which would be redeveloped, is now effectively zero as compared to today.

21 thoughts on “Plan to Transform Burgeoning Area Approved by Planning”
  1. From Empire State tower Wikipedia – “ The design for the Empire State Building was changed fifteen times until it was ensured to be the world’s tallest building. Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931. Despite favorable publicity related to the building’s construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s.”

  2. What about west soma? We need to build in these areas, right now is the time

      1. Yeah, time for a new plan to accommodate the jobs planned for Central SoMa. Though luckily, state density bonuses make much of that unnecessary.

        1. state density bonuses [are] not enough to get the right height. Western Soma should be zoned up to 12 floors at least

          1. Exactly. If existing commercial spaces are going to be redeveloped into housing, that is all to the good, as there will be a marked reduction in the demand for commercial space post public health emergency.

  3. Wow, $80,000 in impact fees per unit. On second thought, after removing the existing housing and affordable unit count, the impact fees are $127,750 per unit. No wonder housing is so expensive here…

  4. It cost about 700K to build a one bedroom apartment/condo in SF per a recent Chronicle article. SF has the highest residential construction costs of any city in the world. It is has the highest construction costs of any city in the world. IIRC the BMR fee for the Hub is higher than that for the rest of SF – the deal struck to get the up-zoning. Keep in mind One Oak and the Avant tower near 10th and Mission were abandoned prior to the pandemic. They did not pencil. The 55 story condo/hotel tower at Oceanwide was also recently abandoned. It was to be in the heart of the TTC which is a much nicer area than Van Ness and Market. The empty storefronts that are a hallmark of this area will only increase post-pandemic.

    Bottom line, these units would be targeted to techies. High salaried SF workers. But that segment of the population could see a big drop. Twitter allowing permanent tele-work with some employees saying they will decamp from SF to a place where they can afford a SFH. Twitter may also move it headquarters from SF. As Stripe recently did and as Uber is rumored to be doing in the neat future – to Texas. As it is Uber has laid off 500 plus SF employees. In the next few years there could be a large exodus of tech from SF. If that happens the demand for 4000/month one bedroom apartments and million dollar one bedroom condos in cramped towers will evaporate. Given that it will be hard for the developers to line up financing for these projects. The Hub does not pencil and will likely not come to pass.

    1. This is the same broadly unsubstantiated opinion you’ve made for years, through unprecedented economic boom and bust. Are you familiar with the consequences of crying wolf? And parroting the same exact thing over and over and over again, even when you might get lucky and occasionally be right, doesn’t make the hot take any less hot or any less bad.

      1. Yeah, you keep saying this over and over. There are three high-rises under construction there currently, one just completed, and several more on the way. Sorry you hate it so much. (Also, some of the projects previously abandoned were simply badly managed by out-of-state developers.)

      2. The only subtle shift to Dave’s broken record djing has been markedly less emceeing about the panacea for all things wonderful and amazing within urbanity that is Seattle. We are left to wonder if a few weekends of 99 and 5 north-south traffic Armageddon shifted the mindset. But since Dave never admits error we’ll never know.

    2. Stripe has moved to South SF. You think the makeup of their workers is going to change drastically with that kind of move? This doom and gloom posting is a badly broken record.

      1. makeup of workers wont change but its a big tax loss to SF, and will increase driving to work. BTW. i dont blame them. it was a smart move as SF becomes more and more unfriendly to business

        1. If SF is more unfriendly to business than it used to be, then why are there so many companies here instead of on the peninsula?

          1. because most 20 and 30 something yr olds prefer to live in the city, easier to attract employees

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