Transbay%20Block%205%20Site%20Beale.jpg

The City’s official Request For Proposals to develop a 550-foot tower with ground-floor retail and 15,000 square feet of open space on San Francisco’s Transbay Block 5 has just been issued with an explicit note attached: “Proposals that include any amount of residential and/or hotel space will not be accepted.”

While the Transbay Block bounded by Beale, Howard and Main was originally slated for a residential tower and townhomes, San Francisco’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure has determined that “economic conditions create a strong preference for commercial development over residential and hotel development on Block 5.”

In addition, “unforeseen circumstances” have required an unexpected configuration for the site and tower.

5 thoughts on “The City Opts For New Office Tower Over More Housing”
  1. So if the city explicitly says no residential and/or hotel space is allowed but was zoned as a residential block, could a developer/group sue the city for disregarding their own plan? Well, maybe not sue, but argue that rejecting a proposal that includes residential would be against the law?
    [Editor’s Note: The Development Controls for the Transbay Redevelopment Project specifically allow for the option of a commercial tower on Block 5, “if the Agency determines that economic conditions create a strong preference for commercial development over residential development.”]

  2. you can sue for anything, but there zero chance of prevailing on this.
    there is a pretty strong argument for expanding office and keeping “jobs / housing” balance.
    theyre both experiencing tight-supply-induced bubbles. even though resi gets all the chatter time on socketsite.
    rents are moving up around $60 psf now.

  3. I support this, even if the city needs housing, it needs its office space concentrated even more so that transportation can be efficient!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *