While plans have yet to be formalized, publicized or even submitted to the City for review, a project team is exploring the possibility of demolishing the Thirsty Bear Brewery building at 661 Howard Street and developing a bonus-sized residential tower on the site.
In addition to positioning for a density bonus to build over 250 feet in height on the relatively skinny site, the project team is also proposing to legally merge the parcel with the two adjacent parcels at 657 and 667 Howard Street and incorporate those two existing buildings into the tower development in order to increase the allowable density for the site while incorporating Transferable Development Rights (TDR) to boot. It’s likely the plans for the new tower would extend out over the adjacent parcels as well.
As always, we’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.
It’s hard to see how this project pencils out. Given the sluggish performance of the hi-rise SF condo market and rapidly rising construction costs. Just two blocks away two skinny residential towers have been in development for years (424 and 440 Howard IIRC) and no movement. One has been in the works for almost a decade now. Maybe the developer plans to get an entitlement and sit on it for years waiting for more propitious times?! SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE OF THE sf HI-RISE
It’s extremely hard to see how it would pencil considering we don’t yet have any details in terms of the design, square footage, programming, or positioning. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.
R.I.P., ThirstyBear. Great beer & food and a lot of good times were had in that place.
So is the closing related to this project or to COVID…or maybe even the Ukraine invasion?
The closing is related to Covid. They just couldn’t make it, especially without conventions and tourism.
That and company functions in their upper room. While TB was good for its time (unusual for a “convention trap” venue), at least on the beer aspect they were lapped by more recent upstart breweries. A lot of the early microbreweries seem to be stuck 1990s at their peril. Expect the closures to continue.
I had our office Christmas party upstairs there in 1997!
End of an era!
Disagree with the them being “lapped by more recent upstart breweries” – even pre-pandemic they were producing some really good, interesting brews.
Thanks
(and for those curious about my latter comment: the link – which was redacted – explained that the name came from a headline in a Russian newspaper “Thirsty Bear Bites Man for Cold Beer.” I believe many – like me – thought it might have to do with the state animal ..or maybe, being San Francisco, it had some…well other connotation).
Sad. Was a great SF business.
UPDATE: Tower Plans Shelved, Brewery Positioned for a Revival