The 5M Project’s Buildings, Timing, And Public Open Space Plans

As we first reported yesterday, Forest City’s proposed 5M Project, as in Fifth and Mission, would yield over a million square feet of renovated or new office space, 750 new dwelling units, 150,000 square feet of ground floor retail, educational, and cultural uses, and 34,000 square feet of privately-owned publicly accessible open space down in SoMa with five new buildings ranging in height from 50 to 400 feet (click image above to enlarge).

A full rundown of the buildings and proposed renovations, including a two story addition to the Chronicle Building, the project timing, and an overview of the proposed open space:

Building M-1 (Chronicle Building): The interior layout of the Chronicle Building would be renovated and two partial floors would be constructed on top of the existing three-story building. Renovations to the Chronicle Building would include: 1) vertical addition of two partial floors; 2) a potential additional staircase for public access to a proposed rooftop open space area, and modifications to existing staircases to service the proposed rooftop area and meet tenant needs; 3) a potential increase in the number and location of pedestrian entrances and exits into the building on Minna and/or Mary Streets (where none currently exist); and 4) a new façade where the connection to the Examiner Building would be removed.

The renovated Chronicle Building would be a five-story, 80-foot-tall, 157,200 square foot office building. The two proposed additional floors would be set back from Mission and Fifth Streets, approximately 65 feet away from the existing clock tower at the front of the building. The rooftop area (on the top of the third floor) remaining after the addition of the two partial floors would provide up to 22,000 square feet of privately‐owned publicly accessible open space (provided to meet, in part, open space requirements for proposed residential and commercial buildings).

Building N-1: Located south of building M-1, Building N-1 would be a 28-story, 400-foot-tall building of 798,900 square feet. The ground floor would contain approximately 47,500 square feet of active ground floor retail/office/educational/cultural space. The remaining floors would contain 751,400 square feet of office uses.
The building base would be constructed to the lot lines on Natoma, Minna, and Fifth Streets and would define the street wall. Building N-1 would have varied floorplate sizes at its lower levels (1 through 4), midrise levels (5 through 10), and high-rise levels (11 through 28). The setback of the upper levels from the base street wall would be established in the Design for Development. The Camelline Building (430 Natoma Street) would be demolished to allow for the construction of Building N-1.

In addition, the existing two-story, 14,000-square-foot connector across Minna Street would be demolished and replaced with a single-story connector between Buildings M-1 and N-1. The proposed 1,600 square foot connector would be located approximately 65 feet above the existing street grade and would have dimensions of 40 feet by 40 feet (the existing connector is located approximately 16 feet above the existing street grade and has dimensions of 35 by 195 feet). The new pedestrian connector is intended to promote circulation between Buildings M-1 and N-1, including to and from the proposed rooftop open space on the renovated Building M-1.

Building H-2: Located at the southeast quadrant of Natoma and Mary Streets, Building H-2 would be an 11-story, 175-foot-tall building with 240,800 square feet. The ground floor of the building would contain 32,000 square feet of active ground floor retail/office/educational/cultural space. The remaining floors would contain 208,800 square feet of office space. The upper seven levels would be set back 30 feet from Howard Street.

N-1/H-2 Connector: The proposed N-1/H-2 Connector would be an eight‐story, 43,600 square foot connector over Natoma Street between Buildings N‐1 and H‐2, and would be located approximately 50 feet above the ground floor. The connector would have typical dimensions of 50 feet by 105 feet, spanning the 35‐foot width of Natoma Street and extending into the N‐1 parcel. The N‐1/H‐2 connector would contain office space.

Building N-3 (Dempster Printing Building): The existing four-story Dempster Printing Building located at 447 Minna Street would be rehabilitated to accommodate 12,000 square feet of office uses. Renovation would include alterations to the interior of the structure and potentially the exterior envelope (in the form of additional or modified entries). No vertical addition to the structure is proposed.

Building M-2: Located along Mission Street west of Building M-1, Building M-2 would be a 16-story, 165-foot-tall, 204,800 square foot building with 192,000 square feet of residential space above 12,800 square feet of active ground floor retail/office/educational/cultural space. The building would include approximately 260 residential units.

Building H-1: Located on the northwest quadrant of Fifth and Howard Streets, Building H-1 would be an approximately 38-story, 400-foot-tall, 373,000 square foot building with 360,800 square feet of residential space above 12,200 square feet of active ground floor retail/office/educational/cultural space. The building would include approximately 488 residential units.

Building N-2: Located to the west of Building N-1 and east of the central segment of Mary Street, Building N-2 would be an approximately three-story, 55-foot-tall, 18,200 square foot building. This building would contain multi-use arts/cultural/education uses.

Currently proposed to be constructed in two phases which could occur concurrently depending upon demand and financing, Phase 1 of the 5M project would include the following five components and is expected to take 48 months to complete, starting in 2015:

1. Demolition of three existing buildings located at 910, 912, and 924–926 Howard Street
2. Construction of Building M-2
3. Construction of Building H-2
4. Renovation of Building M-1 (Chronicle Building) and construction of two-story addition
5. Renovation and rehabilitation of Building N-3 (Dempster Printing Building).

Phase 2 of the 5M project would include the following four components and is currently slated to begin in 2018:

1. Demolition of the existing Examiner Building at 110 Fifth Street, the existing two‐story pedestrian connector between the Chronicle and Examiner Buildings, the existing Camelline Building at 430 Natoma Street, and the existing building at 190 Fifth Street
2. Construction of Building N‐1
3. Construction of Building H‐1
4. Construction of Building N‐2

In addition to the proposed 22,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space atop the renovated Chronicle Building, 9,750 square feet of open space to be known as “Mary Court” would serve as the proposed project’s central public space, created by vacating the existing Mary Street segment between Minna and Natoma Streets.

A portion of Building N-1 would cantilever over Mary Court which is envisioned to accommodate “events, workshops, and speaker series, hosted in part by adjacent tenants, as well as less formal interactions among residents, employees, and the public.”