Big Plans And Stunning Designs For A 300-Foot SoMa Tower
June 13, 2014
While currently only zoned for development up to 85 feet in height, STUDIOS Architecture has drafted two variants of a modern tower to rise up to 300-feet at 330 Townsend Street, across the street from the current Caltrain Station and a block away from a future Central Subway stop.
As proposed by the CIM Group which acquired the Central SoMa parcel last year, the existing two-story brick and timber building at 330 Townsend Street – which is currently home to Marlowe and a mix of 40-odd commercial tenants – would be razed in order to make way for one of two towers to rise.
As rendered above and drawn below, one proposal includes a 26-story tower with 204,000 square feet of residential space over 212,000 square feet of office space and a bit of retail on the first floor.
A variant of the modern design would forego the residential component and result in a 21-story commercial building rising 300 feet with nearly 400,000 square feet of office space and two retail spaces on the ground floor.
Both proposals include parking in an underground garage.
Once again, while both proposals are designed to rise 300-feet, the 330 Townsend Street parcel is currently only zoned for development up to 85-feet in height. The draft Central Corridor Area Plan does, however, include a possible up-zoning of the site to 300-feet, an increase which would have to be approved by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors and then survive any legal challenges or efforts to block it at the ballot box.
Comments from Plugged-In Readers
Comments are closed.
Build it!
It seems since this is next to a transit station, it would be zoned for high density. Instead, it’s only zoned for 85 ft. in height. In my opinion, the zoning for this area should be reviewed.
But will that actually happen in SF?
It might seem a dramatic for the area, BUT , truth be told we are probably looking no less then 2 dozen construction cranes being raised across the 10 blocks bordered by 2nd, 7th, Townsend, and Bryant , in over the next 5 years ,
Yes! Build it, build it!
Groovy! It is a little reminiscent of the “boot building” over the Lille Europe station
Slightly sensationally modern, but this area could definitely use a dose of looker energy.
Nice! I hope this gets built and I hope we see more stuff like this with the central SOMA plan.
build it! I love the modern taste it has, maybe make it a bit taller since they’re planning to build on the rail yard
Pretty short for right next to a train station and subway station, but not too bad otherwise. Tacking on another 200 feet or so would only make sense.
The zoning there needs adjusting anyway; I hope they build the larger of the two.
Only two retail spaces? Should be multiple smaller spaces to attract more various and interesting storefronts. Otherwise this proposal looks great.
I dunno, this area could kind of use some large spaces. A couple big box stores would be a welcome addition.
Really? Within a 10-15 minute walk from here there is already a Costco, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Office Max, Target, and others. Big box retail tends to suck all charm and appeal out of an area, which seems very short-sighted for a dense area like this.
Yes, that’s why Union Square and the surrounding area is so charmless and without appeal. lol
A 30 story building in that location? Never going to happen. This must be a joke.
There are a bunch of 15-20 story buildings just down the block from this already, it’ll fit in fine. I’m sure there were NIMBYs who flipped out when those were proposed too.
Love it. Build it.
STUDIOS is still stuck between POMO and International Style. they need to focus.
A knockoff Graves podium under a Koolhaas tower? We can do better.
Clearly we can’t do better.
We could also get another generic Mission Bay legoland structure. I’ll take this GravesKoolhaas chimera over more of the same.
What happens to the residents / owners of 330 Townsend?
330 Townsend is a commercial buildings, so they will receive notice.
any idea what the schedule on this is
UPDATE: New Plans for a 300-Foot Residential Tower Across from Caltrain