Recently renovated along with the adjoining three-story warehouse building which is currently home to Weebly, Sierra Maestra Properties has quietly drafted plans to add five new floors of office space atop the single-story portion of the building at 462 Bryant Street.
As proposed, the existing 3,500 square-foot mezzanine within the building would be eliminated to make way for the 50,000 square foot addition, an addition which would be topped with a tenant-accessible green roof. The plans would also eliminate two of the existing 13 parking spaces in the building’s basement.
The former Fleischmann Co. Wholesale Liquor Building was constructed in 1907 and has been home to a whole host of industrial and creative uses since Prohibition ended Fleischmann’s run, including as a venue for raves during the dot-com run.
Weebly signed an eight-year lease for the 460 Bryant portion of the Central SoMa warehouse in 2013.
What will happen to Weebly’s current outdoor space that occupies the rooftop of the warehouse portion?
it will be eaten by a giant seaweed monster
Weebly will loose the outdoor space in exchange for massive discounts in rent.
Something tells me that there is a 65 foot height limit for that lot along Bryant. If that’s the case I guess those additional 5 floors are going to micro floors. Given the building falls into the “historic” category I don’t see the frontage along Bryant street changing much.So pray tell how will the developer accomplish this feat of adding an additional 5 stories of office?
My guess, the single story portion of the building along Bryant is 30 feet now due to the old loading bays along the frontage. How in the world can you add 5 floors and stay within the 65 foot limit. Plus this is a mid block site so no height bonus is added for a corner lot. No affordable housing units allowed so no height bonus……
I see a variance hearing in the future…….good luck with that.
Building anything in SF, even it is a development that perfectly complies with existing zoning runs the risk of major opposition, including a very high certainty of at least one lawsuit. Developers are well-aware of the risks of proposing anything in SF, including proposing a development that may require a variance. Obviously, they aren’t interested in wasting time and money if they do not have some good-faith belief there is at least a reasonable possibility the project could be approved. So, either the project would not require a variance, or they have looked into the matter and they think they can make a good argument, and probably offer up various concessions, to have a good shot at winning one.
This parcel is zoned 45-foot height limit. The Central SoMa Plan would make the entire block 85 feet. Socketsite has published the relevant maps.
The plan would also convert two traffic lanes into wider sidewalks and add a traffic light mid-block facing Jack London. If all of that happens, then this block will finally be safely reintegrated with South Park. That should raise the property value of both.
Taming the traffic to improve pedestrian safety is a bigger priority around this area than opposing development. Almost the entire neighborhood has been redeveloped over the past 30 years with hardly any opposition compared to the SF norm, except for projects along the Embarcadero. The stock “building anything in SF, even it is a development that perfectly complies with existing zoning runs the risk of major opposition, including a very high certainty of at least one lawsuit” doesn’t applied in my neighborhood. While not quite No-NIMBY-IMBY, we do have a low-NIMBY quotient hereabouts.
@Jake, I missed the light install at Jack London and Bryant. Do you know if the same is planned for Jack London and Brannan? I’m assuming yes…
Yes, the plan shows all 4 entrances to South Park with a light and crosswalk. Only the one at 2nd is funded or scheduled. The plan shows almost every one of these midblocks in the entire area will have the same. The plan also shows Brannan becoming a one traffic lane each way with some kind of cycle lane/tracks like Second or Townsend, so who knows when they will get the money for all of this.
The increased building heights get most of the attention, but I think the proposed streetscape changes would have more impact on quality of life and traffic.