“Developer Forest City’s plan to transform the landmark 50 United Nations Plaza from an empty federal office building to a 200-unit apartment complex has hit a wall.
After 18 months of talks on a ground lease, the General Services Administration informed Forest City Residential West that “negotiations were being discontinued and the building will be sold,” said Susan Smartt, senior vice president of Forest City Residential West.
The decision baffled both company executives and city hall officials who had been in discussions with Forest City on how to improve Civic Center Plaza, now a favorite haunt for drug dealers and their customers.”
∙ Feds halt Forest City plan for 50 U.N. Plaza [Business Times]
∙ Historic Federal Buildings: 50 United Nations Plaza, San Francisco [GSA]
This is truly a shame. It could have made for some really interesting spaces and provided for much needed density in the area. I hope that whoever buys it can still turn it into residential housing.
all federal agencies are under a renewed mandate to identify unused real property which will then be sold by GSA, so this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. The government is no longer interested in owning property it isn’t using and 50 UN Plaza is a fairly easy property to unload.
It would make a gorgeous museum. This area has so much potential if it could be cleaned up.
how embarrassing for the city, converting such a building into a residence!!
“It would make a gorgeous museum. This area has so much potential if it could be cleaned up.”
I second these thoughts. We have the most beautiful city hall in America, imho, and if this entire area was cleaned up and this building was a new focus for this change it would make the surrounding area a mecca for new housing and neighborhood developement. This building could be the most amazing museum! Imagine the center courtyard with a glass roof, and being able to walk up to this building without walking over bodies, needles and poops?
There is a similar dissused Government (formerly)owned mammoth building. It’s called The Armory. It too would have made great housing. However it was sucked into the NIMBY politics of our fair City and looked what happened after more than a decade of stupid squabbeling: It’s now a porn studio.
Let’s all hope that a better solution can be found for 50 UN Plaza.
M.R.
Maybe the Fishers should put their contemporary art museum here rather than in the Presidio. It would be much more accessible, and so they’d get far more visitors.