A decade in the making, ground will be broken on Thursday (11/6) at 255 7th Street for Westbrook Plaza. Replacing two single-story buildings and a surface area parking lot, the development by South of Market Health Center and Mercy Housing California will include a 20,000 square foot community health center and 49 units of affordable housing.
The architectural design for Westbrook Plaza includes a five story building and underground garage [fronting 7th Street]; the first two floors will be the new home of the health center and a retail pharmacy with the three floors above the health center dedicated to affordable family housing.
A second four story building [fronting Moss Street], with additional housing units, will be connected to the main building by a shared courtyard and community center.
∙ South of Market Health Center [smhcsf.org]
∙ Mercy Housing California [mercyhousing.org]
Nice! 1 less surface lot and single story building in the 2nd densest city in America.
terrible. might as well call this neighborhood ‘Mercy Hood’.
Yeah! More surface parking areas being put to better use in downtown San Francisco! Love it! Nice to have something to look forward to when I wander over to SOMA Cafe on Folsom for breakfast on the weekend every now and then.
So much for gentrification of this slice of SOMA. I am sure the Soma Grand / Trinity Plaza buyers will be happy to pay $700+/sf to live in this up-and-coming neighborhood.
San Fronzi, isn’t Trinity Plaza planned as rental anyway?
For the 360 replacement rentals, that’s what I understood. For the extra units, is there an indication on what they will be? Sales or rentals, the newcomers will potentially have deeper pockets than the existing renters, and different standards.
This new development helps make sure 7th street stays 7th street, just like the gentle taking over of residential hotels in the Tenderloin made sure the Tenderloin did not change. But Hey, at least there are less transients sleeping on the lawns across from City Hall!
Is Chris Daly gone yet? Please tell me he is finished tearing up Western Soma with non-profit projects! All new developments over the last 5 year has been low income, BMR’s, etc. Can someone please tell me why Soma needs any more of these projects???
As a former resident of the 7th and Howard area it’s nice to see some positive changes to this area. I always disliked walking this stretch of 7th because there was nothing there, but retail pharmacy (Walgreens?) would be good. Hopefully the unused hotel on that block will also be re-opened one day. Also nice to see a large produce shop open on Howard, just south of 6th Street. The area seems a bit more livable, a bit.
I still think the neighborhood’s biggest problem is drug use and related crimes (dealing, muggings, car break-ins, human waste, etc.). Not sure if that will change in my lifetime and I’m 32.
If Prop B passes not only will we see denser concentrations of low income housing – but we’ll see further efforts to squeeze out market-rate developments in favor of the BMR’s. Watch for further moratoria on market-rate projects in an attempt to buy the land at fire-sale prices for the non-profits.
does anyone think Prop B will be even close? I assumed that 80% of the city would vote against it.
I had assumed exactly the opposite. If not for the financial meltdown, it would easily have passed. Even now it has such a “Mom and apple pie” aura to it that it might still pass.
Yay! More design mediocrity for SF’s affordable housing. Isn’t that surprising…
Can someone please show these developers/architects/planners some innovative examples of this genre? There are many, many inspirational projects that are responsible, economical urban infill buildings, yet which don’t resort to such overly-simplistic and formulaic design moves. Please, at least open a book/magazine on some recent well-done housing design!
Nice to see all of the realtor’s comments above.