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A plan to raze the two-story warehouse and adjacent parking lot at 33 Norfolk Street and construct a five-story building with nine residential units over two ground-floor retail spaces and a garage for residents has been submitted to Planning for review.

From the Planning Department with respect to a proposed elevated rear yard on the second floor of the development:

The orientation and location of the rear yard is appropriate in relation to current existing uses that are likely to remain. The rear yard will not be likely augmented by adjoining rear yards in the foreseeable future, and will therefore need to be self-sufficient in the ability to provide light, air, and open space for the project.

Beatbox, Audio and Bergerac are the 11th Street clubs currently operating in the two taller buildings behind the 33 Norfolk parcel, while the shorter grocery store building behind the site sits on a parcel zoned for commercial development up to 55 feet in height.

16 thoughts on “Condos For Clubbers Or Conflicts To Come?”
  1. There are laws on the books regarding acceptable noise decibels emitting from any building (club, auto body shop, office, etc.). As long as the club complies everything is OK. Worst case they will have to invest in some soundproofing on the roof.

  2. Yea, not sure how live music is going to remain in this city with the way zoning is laid out. One of the things I loved about this city was that random music venues and bars were scattered throughout neighborhoods, and not on a single block like in, for instance, DC with U street, H street, 11th street, 14th street and etc… The owner of Bottom of the Hill has already made clear that they will probably be shut down once the building next to it moves in.
    It might be time to consider the approach of many blander cities like DC, Portland, Austin, and create streets of venues or entertainment districts.

  3. Nothing more aggravating than people moving in next door to a bar and suddenly discovering there’s a bar there. Can you place a deed restriction on filing such complaints?

  4. “Worst case they will have to invest in some soundproofing on the roof.”
    They may also need to soundproof their patrons who step out to the street for a smoke and a chat.

  5. These condos are for young people anyway. Bergerac isn’t loud at all and isn’t really even a club. I haven’t been to the gay club but I have never seen a long, loud lineup or heard music from it, like I do see at slims or whatever. In NYC just about every bar and club is directly underneath residential housing, it isn’t that big of a deal.

  6. Do people not see that this does not face the same street as the clubs? It is a completely separate lot facing norfolk not 11th. This entire argument about sound and traffic is moot.

  7. This is why groups like the Late Night Coalition have been trying to get parts of SoMa zoned as an entertainment district — to avoid exactly the sorts of inevitable noise complaints that occur when fools buy condos next to clubs.
    It is very good for the city to have places where folks can go have fun late into the night. Not everyone wants that, but many residents do, and that is why they want to live in the city. Especially if you work hard until 10pm or midnight on your startup, and then want to get some fun in — 4am is a perfectly reasonable time to be rocking out to some beats.
    Condos do not belong in this area. One block further away would be a much better idea.

  8. In every similar instance I have seen in every city the clubs get shut down.
    The neighbors always want zero noise.
    The don’t want to hear a single thump from the speakers or a single patron on the sidewalk.
    People will accept some noise from a local bar, but thumping club music, no matter how muffled, will whip the neighbors up into a frenzy.
    In Chicago neighbors of a new condo building that was built next to an existing late night club got an initiative on the ballot to try and make that specific block of the city a ‘dry’ block to shut the club down and this was in ‘Boystown’/Wrigleyville in Chicago on Halsted St (the equivalent of Castro St)

  9. If the bars and nightclubs want to control the use of the properties surrounding them, then they need to buy them. This is zoned for residential use, end of story. NIMBY’s are a big reason why we have a housing shortage in SF.

  10. The Late Night Coalition is now the California Music and Culture Association…Terrance Alan still running the show, still teaching his members the the bate and switch routine when it comes to his clubs promising neighborhoods they will be good neighbors abut then once they get their permits could give a sh!t.
    A club moving INTO an existing residential enclave on Mission, initially the owners said they were just a small bar. Then they expanded through the back of the building (without permit) right to the building wall along the residential area. No sound proofing, no permits from the city..they just did it. Needless to say 1 year and $300k later of sound proofing, and agreeing to post security on our block…did they get the neighborhoods agreement. We STILL have real problems with club patrons acting out in our area. You name it they do it. Oh and did i tell you that in the last 3 years we have had one related killing? You call that venue entertainment?

  11. If you look at what is currently built along Norfolk you will some housing so thats not really out of place , what is strange as part of the request is the retail space that makes ZERO sense to me ,
    The city should REJECT the plan as a mix of Retail and Housing , and it should be submitted with only the Housing component with a height of either 4 or 5 stories to match the rest of the alley ,

  12. This would be a great place to build tech offices, rather than condos. The workers would love the location, the landowner would still make a bundle, and no conflict with the noise/crowds at night.

  13. I live across the street from Beatbox. Last night the bass thumping, so loud you can literally feel the vibrations through the floor, went on past FIVE O CLOCK IN THE DAMN MORNING. Entitled? Hell yes I’m entitled to SLEEP, more than people are entitled to party all night to music so loud that you can feel it across the street. Good neighbors my ass. I plan to complain about it as much as I can to the SFPD and the Entertainment Commission.

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