As we revealed last year, the big plans for redeveloping the Polk Gulch funeral home parcel at 1123 Sutter Street and adjacent three-story garage at the corner of Sutter and Larkin have been supersized.

And as since refined and newly rendered by David Baker Architects below, the development as proposed would now rise up to 152 feet in height upon the mortuary parcel and yield 185 apartments over ground floor commercial and childcare space, with an additional 16 apartments and ground floor retail and professional services space within the redeveloped parking garage structure on the corner and basement garages for a total of 61 cars with their entrances on Hemlock Street.

And with the preparation of a required Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project about to get underway, Martin Building is now positioning to break ground in mid-2022 and deliver the units, 40 of which are slated to be offered at below market rates (BMR), around the end of 2024.

Keep in mind that the existing mortuary building on the site to be razed is eligible for listing on the California Register of Historical Resources. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

13 thoughts on “Target Timing for Supersized Polk Gulch Mortuary Project”
  1. I think the Bible said it best:
    “Let the Dead bury their Dead, and out of the Ground let rise mortar and steel”
    -Developus 20:12

  2. That’s at least three mortuaries I’m aware of that are shutting down and being redeveloped… are people going to stop dying?

    1. Possibly more reasonable to worry about finding a way for the living to find a home than the dead, no? I think we’ll make it work.

    2. We stopped building new cemeteries in 1900, and moved all the remaining ones to Colma in the beginning of the last century. People who die in San Francisco might just move out to the burbs a few days earlier than in the past.

  3. Socioeconomically, the site could be alright for “hearty” middle class people. Some fairly telling businesses were filtering in nearby: design studios, craft bakeries, art galleries, architects, boutique fitness, other condos, day spas, expensive restaurants, colossal gleaming hospital nearby, etc. Probably half of those are out of business now, yet I would guess the vicinity will eventually recover, but at a higher price point.

    Perhaps funeral parlors require too much square footage and special construction (ventilating all that formaldehyde) to make them viable inner-city options, in SF these days. Sullivan’s, for example, went the way of the condo recently.

    1. As a former resident of this neighborhood who has happily moved out of downtown, I will say Polk Gulch will be just fine. The location is ideal, even if the ‘hood is gritty. Whatever businesses have failed will be replaced by new, much friendlier businesses, imo. Rents won’t rise. They will almost certainly fall, at least in the initial year two after pandemic.

      Following the script from the last cycle, building this project now is a home run. Love to see it.

  4. We are assuming there will be an “after pandemic” soon? New virus mutations in South Africa (deadlier) and England (much easier to spread). And Coronavirus vaccines may not prevent further spread but only temporarily provide immunity.

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