1052-1060 Folsom Street Site

Plans to raze four buildings on the northwest corner of Folsom and Russ, including the current homes of Deli Board, Fondue Cowboy and Alchemy/Catalyst at 1060 Folsom, have been granted priority processing and are working their way through Planning.

And as proposed, a new six-story building designed by Goldman Architects will rise upon the Western SoMa site across from Victoria Manolo Draves Park, with 46 apartments over 3,300 square feet of retail space and a garage for 21 cars.

From the Planning Departments preliminary review of the plans which was sent to the development team yesterday:

The Planning Department appreciates that the architectural expression evokes nearby industrial structures such as the Engskell building at Howard and Russ, with the sculpted piers and finials and the large expanses of glazing stretching between them. The industrial language becomes muddled, however, by utilizing bay windows, in the terms of the nearby Art Deco examples. Consider a less literal interpretation of the local precedent to reflect the different era and program of this project.

And as the aforementioned park is one of the few in Western SoMa, avoiding the casting of any new shadows on the park “should be a primary consideration in the development of the project massing.” We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

14 thoughts on “Plans to Raze a Few Restaurants and Clubs for Housing to Rise”
  1. Oh come on Planning, lighten up! Bay windows are perfectly acceptable in Art-Deco industrial architecture.

    As for the project itself, I’m ambivalent: for once I actually like the proposal – though I tend to agree that the vertical emphasis of the finials conflicts w/ the basically horizontal nature of the building – but I still hate to see these older, typical early 20th century structures go (yes, yes I know…there are plenty still left).

    But whatever happens, I hope “Fondue Cowboy” remains open…a name like that is too good to lose.

  2. This is a prime candidate for my pet idea of giving developers density bonuses if they assist displaced businesses with temporary relocation and give them space in the new building. Wouldn’t it be better all around to build a 12-story building plus guarantee those businesses can operate on the new first floor with limited rent increases?

    1. A fine idea, but maybe difficult for a restaurant, I would think…unless there’s an existing space they can move to temporarily, you would have TWO separate kitchen buildouts.

    2. Your suggestion is excellent, but it would likely be construed as too “pro-business” by the SF leftists. They would argue that the assistance should be aimed at homeless shelters and welfare housing projects.

      1. Maybe they’ve just been driven underground. 🙂

        Not being conversant on Gay Slang, I was a little apprehensive about what “Fondue Cowboy” might mean – and didn’t really want to think about it – but that having ended up being what it sounds like, it’s good to see one of the businesses upholds Folsom St standards.

  3. I live on Russ St. and that park is pretty much unusable. It’s filled with people shooting up, drinking, selling drugs and camping out. I’ve never seen police there despite the fact that there is a 90% chance your car’s window will get smashed if you park next to it.

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