Even If you can’t make this evening’s community meeting (from 5:30-7:30) to discuss traffic circulation and parking revisions for San Francisco’s temporary Transbay Terminal Project (hey, different strokes for different folks), you might appreciate the background.
The Temporary Terminal Project will provide temporary replacement bus terminal facilities in order to relocate existing operations from the Transbay Terminal, allow demolition of the existing terminal and construction of the new multi-modal Transbay Transit Center. The TJPA is currently working with Carter-Burgess, Inc. to design the Temporary Terminal facilities, planned to occupy the block bounded by Main, Folsom, Beale, and Howard Streets.
Design of the Temporary Terminal is anticipated to be completed by March 2008 with construction beginning of Fall 2008. Operations are expected to commence August 2009 and run through demolition and construction of the new Transit Center, ending in 2014.
And as RinconHillSF notes, once the new terminal is finished the temporary terminal site will be “repurposed as a 1.1-acre park and some 700 residential units developed by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.”
∙ Transbay Transit Center: Temporary Terminal [transbaycenter.org]
∙ Temporary Transbay Terminal Facility Public Meeting [Rincon Hill SF]
So is this good new for anyone on the Northwest corner of the Infinity? They’ll have to deal with looking at a bus terminal until 2014, but that’s better than a high rise going up and ruining their city view. And in 2014, it’ll be a park.
A park and 700 residential units, which most likely be in high-rise construction
Even for temporary erections this palm tree fetish has gone on a bit too long.
The palm trees are the only thing I like about this bus terminal. Let’s hope the bums who live in and around the current terminal don’t decide to make the temporary terminal their new home.
The Infinity’s western tower is an interesting building in that their views are going to be blocked in three directions. Highrises will be built to the North (550′), West (400′ & 350′), and the other Infinity tower in the SE (450′). Those units which still have great views in 10+ years from now are going to be very valuable.
anon, I’m not sure where you obtained your information from about the highrises surrounding the infinity but you’re off base.
According to the Transbay Redevelopment Area Map (draft) from 4/07 the building to the north (Block 1) is zoned for 251-300 ft. You might be right about the buildings in the other direction.
I posted my notes (which of course are biased by my perspectives, as is true with most folks’ writings) on my Rincon Hill neighborhood blog: http://www.rinconhillsf.org/2007/12/13/178
Interesting thing about the palm trees at the temporary terminal. The speaker said that the trees are being donated by AC Transit who inherited about 25 palm trees from some piece of land they’ve acquired (or maybe they’ve owned for awhile, who knows).
Thanks Jamie! The two highlights that struck me:
1. Eventual retail/housing on the temporary terminal land along Howard Street and along Folsom Street with a park in the middle of the two strips of buildings. Any talk of how high those strips might be?
2. The parking spaces lost to the temporary terminal won’t be replaced. Deeded parking spaces in the neighborhood are getting more valuable by the day.
This will be great for the neighborhood long term. Gone will be that ugly parking lot, replaced with a park and midrises (I don’t think it is zoned for a highrise). And it’s not only the views that make units valuable, but the improvements to the whole neighborhood, including the Folsom corridor project…
Hi Anna,
The height limits weren’t discussed during this meeting, but he speaker thought the retail/housing development would be limited to mid-rise buildings.
I should say … the speaker believes they will be limited to mid-rise buildings, but he didn’t know a specific number for the height limits.
So, the palm trees are homeless wanderers? Perfect!
Romo, the heights for the residential tower on that lot are part of the Transbay proposals which took place this fall, after the 4/07 map you mentioned. Of course ground won’t be broken until 2015 at the earliest…so who can say for sure. But the buildings to the west and obviously the other infinity tower are approved already. One thing I can tell you about zoning in SF…exceptions are made on a continual basis as long as enough cash is involved!
Enough with the palm trees already! If the palm tree trend in Soma continues, we may end up having more palms in San Francisco than Palm Springs! (Which is the only location in California where two types of palms grew naturally there before human settlement) Why can’t designers in San Francisco start using trees and plants that are native to the Bay Area?