Deal Reached For Massive Flower Mart Re-Development
June 24, 2015
Facing a ballot measure fight for which the signatures have already been collected and could have blocked any redevelopment of the San Francisco Flower Mart site in Central SoMa, Kilroy Realty has agreed to “long-term leases at affordable rates and a relocation plan during construction” for existing vendors at the Mart, according to the Chronicle.
In addition to a replacement Mart, Kilroy’s plans for the Central SoMa site include 1.5 million square feet of office space and 46,000 square feet for retail and restaurants, with three towers rising over 200 feet on the site which is currently only zoned for industrial use and no more than 55-feet in height.
In exchange for the aforementioned agreement, which was championed by former Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, the proposed ballot measure, which would have disallowed any change in zoning for the Flower Mart site, will be withdrawn and the vendors will support Kilroy’s development.
Keep in mind that while the City’s pending Central SoMa Plan recommends the parcel be rezoned for commercial development and up-zoned for additional height, it only recommends an increase to 85-feet.
And there’s no official word on whether Kilroy plans to move forward with their proposed underground replacement Mart as rendered above or will pursue their alternative above-ground design with a main tower rising up to 280-feet and a central multi-level plaza, as we first reported earlier this year.
Comments from Plugged-In Readers
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Why is a FORMER beuracrat affecting public policy in San Francisco? Can’t he find something more meaningful in his life- reading to underprivileged schoolchildren, working in soup kitchens, sewing together munchkin shoes?
Though hardly a favorite of mine, kudos to Peskin for helping broker this deal. Let’s hope it comes to a happy fruition.
Does the City need another 1.5 million feet of office space? Its not like companies are moving workers here. How about housing instead.
I hope they go with the above ground Flower Mart and make this complex interesting and dramatic. Not just another suburban office park.
lol, what? Do you not know that SF now has the highest office rental prices in the country? That means that companies are moving workers here – it’s just mostly in the form of new companies.
The FORMER bureaucrat probably has more power than some elected officials. He is basically the defacto planning commission for any project that is on Telegraph hill or in view of Telegraph hill. He is personally calling the shots on an affordable housing project that is planned on broadway.
Exactly why he is hardly a favorite of mine,
So remind me how Prop. M got thrown out with the bathwater?
It hasn’t been. Still lots of uncertainty here and years of further work to be done.
It hasn’t and given the priority Mission Bay gets and all the projects in planning ahead of this its probably a decade away at least before there is office space allocation under M for this. By then anything can happen. I don’t see this getting done as planned right now.
As someone who passes by this spot at the crack of dawn on occasion, I can’t imagine how all the truck traffic and flower delivery vans are going to load there. For those who don’t know, Brannan Street curbside is double stacked with deliveries at that time of the morning. I am sure it was discussed, but I suspect that this location will move from a wholesale with some retail to a complete retail flower market and the wholesalers will move operations elsewhere (permanently).
I suspect in designing a new facility from scratch they will address the issue, but nice of you to bring it to their attention if they weren’t already aware.
One might’ve suspected sensible traffic routing on the block of Oak between Laguna and Octavia from the outset, yet it took 2 years of empirical rush hour disaster to lead to a remedy as simple as new lines of paint.
I suspect Grubber2 isn’t the only SF denizen successfully trained not to assume sensible traffic management to be a norm.
I didn’t realize that the backup onto Oak of traffic queuing for entrance to the Central Freeway had been remedied, but here, we’re dealing with the design of a building complex.
And there, we were dealing with the demolition of a freeway.
it definitely hasnt been remedied. oak access to central freeway is a nightmare
It’s still not great (or even good), but the last time I was by there, I was surprised to see that now you can actually make (legal) turns onto Octavia from multiple lanes of Oak.
I’m still not clear on why tenants (who don’t seem to own the building / property) have more rights than building / property owners. Apparently renting a space entitles you to ownership indefinitely?
welcome to SF
The tenants have a tenant assoc. that was able to negotiate with the Developer. They were also behind the ballot measure that would have block the developers acquisition of the properties. The Power of the people.
Tisk, tisk, tisk…
I just got hit up coming out of our local market by a signature monger for a petition in support of the Mission housing moratorium. I demurred. I still haven’t decided how I will decide if forced to by its appearing on the ballot.
I fervently hope all parties come to their senses and reach a mutually agreeable increase in the BMR requirement much as has been worked out with respect to the Flower Mart and the Giants’ Mission Rock proposal.
UPDATE: Flower Mart Tenants And Developer Agree, But The Fight Isn’t Over