It was nine months ago that one reader wondered what was in the works at 77 Van Ness and another quickly answered: “an eight-story, 100-foot-tall mixed-use development providing residential, office, and retail space.”
And now we’ll add: it’s either 50 or 56 condos (depending upon how the 6 BMR units were resolved); almost 20,000 square feet of office space; and 1,350 square feet of ground floor commercial. And we’ll ask: has anybody seen (and care to share) a rendering or two?
∙ Reader’s Questions: That Eureka Moment [SocketSite]
It may look similar to 818 Van Ness Ave since it is the same design firm, Forum Design.
I am all for this construction on VanNess and I hope more on Geary but my goodness I hope BRT works or this “transit first” city is going to be gridlock
Zigg.. the only real way to prevent chaotic gridlock is to create tolls to get through the city during the day. It sounds harsh, but I believe it is necessary, and it will work to get ME off the road and encourage me to take transit if that is the case, so I know it will be the same case for most other drivers. $10- $20 minimum to drive through the city during rush house is what needs to happen.
congestion pricing is an ok idea but it will not be politically tenable unless 100% of the money goes into transit and there is some big commitments to improvements up front
Our system is simply awful
10-20$ seems to high as well
Congestion pricing would totally suck for people who live in the city and commute to the Peninsula where the transit system is abysmal. Plus, communities on the Peninsula have the power to halt transit developments as they see fit, so even if SF shapes up transit, there’s nothing to say that any cities on the Peninsula will do a damned thing to help the problem.
Plus, even in the rain today, it only took 45 minutes from Pac. Heights to San Carlos. The one-way streets (Franklin, Gough) do a great job of funneling thousands of cars efficiently onto 101.
If the city can’t even get free internet off the ground, building a system on every single downtown street that during certain hours can automatically monitor the license plates of cars passing through and bill each driver will be impossible.
Can you imagine what the privacy advocates would say about such a monitoring system. NFW. Never gonna happen. Not in a million years. Might as well suggest human RFID chip impants and have a union square pedestrian congestion surcharge on holidays and weekends.
Anyway, great news that this neighborhood is getting a boost. Market St always has so much potential that is so far untapped.
“Plus, even in the rain today, it only took 45 minutes from Pac. Heights to San Carlos. The one-way streets (Franklin, Gough) do a great job of funneling thousands of cars efficiently onto 101. ”
Jimmy, what time do you go in? I left my place in pac Heights this mornign at 7:30 and it took 45 min to get to South San Francisco.
Can only assume that this is going to be a rental only building given lack for any serious marketing push, thoughts?
all you have to do is install toll plazas at all the freeway onramps, so it costs to come into and out of the city. Wouldn’t be that difficult.
looks like a stubby boring box to me. hopefully it is somewhat affordable.
Congestion pricing is a way for the city to reclaim/claim ownership of a valuable city resource: street space. If you think of street space a s a scarce resource, right now the city gives it away, yet pays to maintain the negative consequences of “excess” traffic. Congestion pricing is a way to create a market where one didn’t exist. It is a capitalist solution to a market failure that improves our lives. The technical challenges are not insurmountable (london has a lot more streets in its downtown than we do) and the technology is already being used for fast trak.
I agree that the figuring out who gets access to the data is a barrier. Spouses have subpoenaed fasttrak data in contentious divorces. but this city should not be stopped from a smart, simple solution by these concerns. It should solve them.
radioradio is right about letting the market guide peoples decisions. Until we end the enormous subsidies backing automobile travel this Tragedy of the Commons will continue to degrade the quality of life.
Maintaining privacy of the electronic records is an easy problem to solve. FastTrak could do it too if they wanted to.