Plans for the proposed 584-unit development to rise up to ten stories in height across the Market Street parcels upon which the Civic Center Hotel (1601 Market), Local 38 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Hall (1621 Market) and two-story Lesser Brothers Building (1629‐1637 Market) currently sit are slated to be approved by San Francisco’s Planning Commission next week.

In addition to the 584 units of housing (of which 107 would be below-market-rate, supportive efficiency units), the 1629 Market Street project includes 13,000 square feet of new ground floor restaurant and retail space; a new 32,000 square foot union hall for the UA Local 38; an underground parking garage for 316 cars; and over 23,000 square feet of privately-owned, publicly-accessible open space (POPOS), including an 18,000-square-foot open space at the corner of Brady and Colton which has been redesigned and newly dubbed Mazzola Gardens.

If approved, the project would be constructed in two phases over 44 months, with a total of six new structures rising behind the existing Civic Center Hotel structure and Lesser Brothers Building’s facade and the project team hoping to break ground for the first phase of the project in March of next year.

And while the project’s Environmental Impact Report identified a number of potentially significant impacts with respect to cultural resources (primarily the majority demolition of the Lesser Brothers Building which is considered a historical resource) and potential transportation and circulation impacts for the burgeoning Hub District site, it also identified proposed mitigation measures to match.

23 thoughts on “Transformative Market Street Project Slated for Approval”
  1. Excellent, excellent infill – will improve the entire feel of that section of Market, knitting together the “Hub” and points east with Duboce and Castro.

    1. Agree – very excited for this to be built. Nicely done with the distinct buildings and open space. Need more of this in SoMa!

      1. need more places for homeless to sleep, defecate and shoot up in SOMA? i think not. SOMA needs a ban on open space until the city deals with its homeless epidemic

        1. Ground-floor open space paid for and monitored by private building owners is EXACTLY what SoMa needs—look at the success of Yerba Buena Gardens and the Trinity Place courtyard.

          Projects like this will include private security and money for upkeep, which the city cannot afford for our parks. Regardless, you guys should stop whining on the internet and actually get out and volunteer if you’re so up-in-arms about the homeless situation.

        2. No open space? How about other people who will be living there? Should they be discriminated and humiliated because you think so? Who are you that to propose all of this to other people?!

  2. Why not transfer some of the Hub monster height to this site? Does the Civic Center “hotel” really need to stay?

    1. It”s a cool old brick building which is more interesting than most of the ugly buildings currently being built on Market Street. I’m so happy they’re not going to tear it down.

    2. Faster approval without waiting for a rezoning, and avoiding expensive foundation work (this site is over the BART tunnel), were cited by the developer as reasons to stick to current zoning in BizTimes’ coverage of the project.

  3. And yet there is no dialogue about how a Van Ness BART access could be incorporated onto this development in order to actually start addressing the street and transit gridlock.

    1. In the middle of the Brady block would be an odd place for a station. Probably makes more sense at the Gough/Otis/McCoppin intersection, together with a new pedestrian paseo punched through to the east across from McCoppin.

    2. Walking from this block to Bart is absolutely trivial, and you have Muni right there for more local locations. I’m all for a Van Ness Bart station one day, but we’ve got a lot to fix first don’t we?

      1. I’d rather see a BART station at 30th/Mission than here. It is really a short distance to CC, although not the prettiest walk at any time of day.

        Adding a BART connection here really would do nothing to address the street and transit gridlock. I spent nearly an hour getting from West Portal to Montgomery station this morning. SF would have to heavily invest in splitting up the 5 transit lines running through the Market St. subway by building more tunnels and running more subway lines to more places and carrying more people more effectively and more frequently. That will never happen.

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