As we outlined in the third quarter of last year:
Shuttered back in 1999, the old Schlage Lock factory and Southern Pacific Railyard parcel along Bayshore Boulevard, near the heart of Visitacion Valley, was leveled 10 years later in order to clear the way for a proposed 20-acre transit village to rise.
As approved back in 2014, at which point it was expected to break ground the next year, the development is slated to include nearly 1,700 units of housing, up to 47,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space (including a new full-service grocery), two new public parks, parking for nearly 1,200 cars and the rehabilitation of the historic Schlage office building which was left standing at the corner Bayshore and Blanken.
And while some rough grading and site work has since been conducted, the construction of any new buildings has yet to get underway.
But according to an update from the Visitation Development team, they’re now planning to secure building permits for the first phase of the project, which includes 574 units of housing and the grocery store site, as well as the future Leland Park, across Blocks 1-6 on the northern portion of the site.
If all goes as currently planned, the first phase of construction will be completed by the end of 2021.
But the redevelopment of the aforementioned historic office building is looking like it will likely be pushed to the second phase of the project, as could the construction of a pedestrian way from Bayshore Boulevard to the adjacent Bayshore Caltrain station.
Since dubbed “Baylands North,” the project team still has yet to start building, but that should soon change.
Work on the dormant site is now slated to re-start by the end of this year. The rehabilitation of the historic office building, which will be converted into a visitor/community center and café, has been clawed-back into the first phase of the project and should commence in the first quarter of 2020. And Phase 1 construction, which will rise up to 76 feet in height, is now expected to commence in the third quarter of next year with Phase 2, south of Visitacion Avenue, including the aforementioned pedestrian connector to the Bayshore Caltrain station, slated to commence circa 2024.
I realize it’s become all too expected to say it, but; these projects take way too long to start.
But Bobby, It’s the SF, Bay Area, California way to operate in “geologic time”.
The continents will recongeal into New Pangea before ground breaks on the average project.
At this point i will only believe this development will go forward when i see significant effort to mobilize. That said i do hope that it goes forward and i also hope that there is a significant traffic plan in place that does not assume freeway access via Bayshore Blvd. Tunnel Ave. or via Little Hollywood/Candlestick Cove.
I think I saw somewhere that part of the larger plan is to realign Beatty and Harney into a continuous street to better connect Candlestick to Bayshore.
This may be ignorant of me but we should give all large projects to Forest City, they start on their work sites the second they get their approvals. This is anecdotal but they have started actually doing things both on 5M and Pier 70.
Forest City doesn’t technically exist anymore. It was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management (out of Toronto).
I was reading the chronicle report on this and it’s interesting that the SF side is almost building the same amount as the Brisbane side even though the Brisbane side is much larger. The state should push Brisbane to build more housing. These parcels are right next to the Bayshore Caltrain station and the T line, therefore they should be taken advantage of
Exactly and the train should loop up to balboa park station and down across and around the BVHP auto provide transit options from pier 70 to India basin and BVHP and around to Sunnyvale and new Geneva harney developments which include bi-county investment in LRV lines that will reduce auto use.
I was reading an article on the Chronicle about this and I find it interesting that the SF side is building almost as much housing as the Brisbane side even thought the Brisbane side it much larger. I think the state should push Brisbane to build more housing. The entire “not in my backyard” mentality is making our housing crisis worse. Additionally, these parcels are located right next to great public transit (Bayshore Caltrain Station [one of the least used train stations on the system] and the T-Line). We should take advantage of this because it is one of our last big development opportunities.
The Sfmta is bogged down downtown, than they have the westside 19th ave recent push forward (late as usual) and again more housing piling in without adequate transit improvements bi-county….. wait till all the construction starts and traffic doubles…. you think delays will be bad due to the chase center ? / this is total ignoring of the problem by planners…. be ready to fee the clot down the peninsula 10x worse and good luck getting to SFO….
While I’d love to see more housing, keep in mind the “7 million square feet of office and biotech space,” i.e. space for about 28,000 workers, to be built on the Brisbane side.
IIRC Baylands itself (office development) is almost 9 million feet. Add in several million more feet planned for SSF/Oyster Pointe and that is a massive amount of office space. Perhaps more than all the proposed office developments in SF. By Contrast HP/CP would have “only” 3 million feet of office space. That project seems to be morphing due to the toxic soil situation so not sure if the office development will go forward in full as envisaged. Better it not. Make HP/CP a totally residential development given the 30K or so new workers the SSF/Brisbane office developments will generate and the massive housing demand that will create..
As previously noted above, YRI (or the plans have since changed).
there is massive building and building plans in the works in south san francisco on the east side of 101. the biotech companies have pushed against allowing housing there, but its crazy. there are 250 biotech companies in SSF among other business and ZERO housing
All the more reason to make the Geneva harney an LRV strain running the east west loop over to balboa park station out around candlestick and up to portrero and pier 70 redevelopment along cargo way…..
I doubt you’d find many people who disagree with this idea in principle. At the same time, we also know the funding isn’t there right now for such a project. This is why we can’t have nice things.
There are plans in the Candlestick/Hunter’s Point redevelopment for a BRT route that mostly that route.
Yes. And what makes it worse is that Baylands (the office project) in Brisbane will have almost 9 million feet of office space. Almost 3 times the office space at HP/CP. The latter project may have to be scaled back depending on the toxic cleanup. Really, HP/CP should drop the office component and build only housing as the area will be overwhelmed by tens of thousands of new workers at Baylands and other major Oyster Point office developments.
The proposed commercial component of the entire Baylands project, which includes Baylands North, is actually closer to 7 million square feet (including retail, life science, R&D, office and hotel space), along with over 140 acres of new open space and parks and a total of around 4,000 new homes.
“Transit village”, out in the boonies. Caltrain currently stops at hour intervals give or take. Northbound. middle of the day, there’s a 90 minute gap. Meanwhile… the T takes half a lifetime to get to the Embarcadero, all the while all you get out there is a grocery store and the sweet smells of the recycling center?
On a windless day you’ll find plenty of less appealing smells within the City proper, lemme tell you.
Consider the upside of long lead time: Caltrain will have electrified long before this thing is close to having transit-hub populations.
You can’t use Caltrain’s current schedules as a predictor of the future. Caltrain periodically adjusts schedules to meet changing demands. 1700 units of housing will increase demand at the Bayshore station.
[Editor’s Note: As will another 6,000 new units at – and adjacent to – Candlestick Point.]
The 90 minute gaps are a temporary schedule to accommodate electrification.
Post electrification, it’ll be back to 60 minute gaps that might be reduced to 30 should this construction ever finish.
Don’t forget the 8, Muni’s only route that runs express on 101 all the time including evenings and weekends. Not sure what happens to the bus during commute hours (bus lanes on 101 needed?) but I’ve ridden off-peak and found it surprisingly fast between this hood and SoMa. The 9R also makes good time with the new bus lanes on Potrero.
Do we know why it’s taking so long? Is the problem the city? Financing? Something else?
It’s a bad design, overseas ownership, construction costs, low rents, Phased development, hot dirt, and unrealistic expectations.
Too much office space and unrealistic transit/traffic studies.
Jerry Brown and his ending of Redevelopment was a major factor in the nothingness we see today. Recall that the site was nearing the end of the Redevelopment adoption process when the Governor pulled the plug. Years of effort wasted.
they’re gonna build almost 600 units of housing right next to the Caltrain station, and yet no way to get from the former to the latter?
Good point. Blame the adjacent property owner, Martin Building Company, for objecting to the pedestrian pathway because it would cross an easement to their property.
Still waiting for the article titled “New New New Timing for Major Visitacion Valley Redevelopment”
So are we, unfortunately, with the timeline and major milestones now stuck at “TBD.”