Having been redesigned by Brick to retain and incorporate the existing garage’s façade on the O’Farrell Street site, a façade which was known to be a contributor to San Francisco’s Uptown Tenderloin Historic District and had raised preservation related concerns, the refined plans for a 111-unit residential building to rise up to 130-feet in height at 550 O’Farrell Street are slated to be approved by Planning next week (versus as originally envisioned).

As proposed, 22 of the 111 units (20 percent) would be offered at Below Market Rates (BMR), with 13 of the units priced to be affordable to low-income households earning up to 55 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), 4 of the units priced to be affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the AMI, and 5 of the units priced for middle-income households earning up to 110 percent of the AMI with an additional $1.5 million to be paid to satisfy the total inclusionary housing requirements for the development (which would require 25 percent of the units to be offered at below market rates to be fully compliant).

At the same time, the project’s previously proposed parking garage for 21 cars and ground floor retail space have been eliminated from the project plans to address transit and impact mitigation concerns. And with the project slated to be entitled, building permits for the project have now been requested as well and are working their way through Planning.

13 thoughts on “Tenderloin Development Redesigned, Slated for Approval”
  1. While this is a limited improvement. There is no link between the old and new, specially in the shape of the windows. And a building of 12+ stories is oversized.

    1. Oh yeah, not like there’s a building built in the 1930s at almost three times the height almost directly across the street. Way out of character for the neighborhood.

      Thanks for your contribution.

      1. 1929 (if that’s what you’re referring to)

        Details aside, I believe the “character (of) the neighborhood” is determined more by the average height than the outliers…which doesn’t exactly support ‘JB’s argument, but rather points out that if you replace all the short buildings, then yes, the character will change.

      1. What a vast improvement. Great reporting.

        We are the Paris of the West and we need to start acting like it again.

        The people who hate neighborhood character irritate me endlessly. Feels like I am heavily outnumbered these days, but perhaps more projects like this can show the way.

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