Having served as a fleet parking lot and storage facility for AT&T/Pacific Bell service vehicles since the 1970’s, the corner parcel at 610 Brannan Street was sold to Kilroy Realty earlier this year and has been wrapped into the proposed redevelopment of the San Francisco Flower Mart site, a project which could yield over two million square feet of office space; 89,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space; a new 125,000 square foot Flower Mart on the ground floor of the development; and an underground garage for nearly 600 cars.
Pending approvals from the City, Kilroy is now expecting to break ground for the massive project in mid-2018. And until then, Kilroy is seeking approval to convert 610 Brannan’s fenced parking lot into a public parking facility for 98 cars. There are no interim plans for 610 Brannan’s building.
And here I thought that 610 Brannan would be converted into a Pot growing farm. Geeezzz what a waste of the good fortified bunker…
On a another note…2,000,000 square feet of office @6th and Brannan! 600 car parking! Well that should solve the rush hour traffic issues in the SoMa from the 280 jump off commuters. Once commuters figure out trying to access the Bay Bridge by bypassing 101 at the 280 split is fruitless because 280 is now a parking lot from 3pm until 7pm traffic should calm in the SoMa. I can’t wait for this project to be completed.
Why not do both? A pot farm and free parking for dispensary customers!
Guess no one will give a fig until SOMA comes to a permanent grinding standstill.
Using 1 worker/200 square feet, this project adds another 10K workers (most who probably can’t afford to live in SF and will commute). The Uber/Warriors/Giants/UCSF projects (lots 33 and 34) will add about 11K workers. If I’m not mistaken there are 3 more million plus square foot projects in the works. Two right on top of the freeway. 725 (is it?) Harrison and the other, as I recall, is in the area and actually has an intriguing design – one project split into what looks like 3 totally different projects – actually meshing in a good way. Then there is Pier 70 – up to 10K jobs there.
All told at least 41K new jobs in a relatively small area poorly served by public transportation – especially given that most of these workers are likely to live in the East Bay. BART and the BB are at capacity now so indeed it will be interesting to see what unfolds when this and the above mentioned projects are built.
Probably the same thing that’s happened over the past few decades – not much. People have a remarkable way of adapting to their environments and surroundings. Traffic patterns will be fine-tuned, the nature of work is changing (telecommuting, home office, etc.), transit will evolve to accommodate demand. Take a deep breath – breathe, breathe.
One does wonder, with the shift to telecommuting and home office, why the need for so much additional office space.
telecommuting has been DECREASING for past 5 years
Telecommuting is not a replacement for working in an office; it takes a certain type of person—and a certain team dynamic—for it to work on a permanent basis. I used to telecommute once a week, which was perfectly fine, but I’ve since switched to a full-time telecommuter and definitely miss the office environment.
2 blocks from Caltrain and 1 block from the central subway which will open before this project is completed. Yes, it will generate some incremental vehicle traffic, but it’s not correct to call this location in 2019 poorly served by public transportation.
BART capacity will increase significantly with new cars and the passing of RR. I read that the added capacity will be equal to the total ridership of the Muni Metro. By the time this opens for business, the Central Subway will make this relatively painless to get to from the East Bay via transfer at Powell St, and it’s an easy short walk from Caltrain, which is also undergoing modernization that will add capacity by 2021.
But I agree it’s problematic that we are not planning to add much more housing in Central SoMa. The best outcome is if many workers can commute on foot and avoid transit/highway bottlenecks entirely.
The biggest fault in your analysis is the assertion that “something is at capacity”. Every time people say something like that, you can check back next year and see the number increase by a few percent year over year, proving the “at capacity” assertion is wrong over and over again.
I think a lot of the worry is a bit much since this development is far off and there is plenty of time for the city to plan and build out additional public transportation and road improvements.
First, this project still has to win city approvals, and we all know how slow and painful process it is getting approvals for anything in SF. Second, with the Prop. M office cap pretty much tapped out, there is no way they are getting approvals for all 2 million square feet of office, especially when other projects are further down the planning pipeline. Third, they only plan to break ground on the project in mid-2018 (and they probably will not even have the approvals until then), not have it built out by that date. Construction will take a a couple of years, or longer, if the project is built in phases (as it would most likely need to be with the Prop. M office cap).
My bet is that this project doesn’t even get approved (and probably for only part of the office space) until 2018, and then it gets built in phases. It will probably be 2024 or later until this project gets fully built out, if it ever gets built at all. That is nearly 10 years for the city to plan and implement plans for transit and roads.
you think there will be transit improvement in 10 yrs? I doubt it. there is no place to widen freeways, and no subways that will be in place by that time. more bus service wont cut it
no worries, SFMTA has a plan for Brannan St to add a bike lane, widen the sidewalks, and reduce the traffic lanes and parking. SFMTA moves slowly but 10 years should be enough to achieve these improvements.
Also, this is more of a long shot but I’d love to see Potrero Center, Best Buy and their surroundings in the far northeastern Mission redeveloped as tall dense housing. That would enable many more human-powered commutes to Flower Mart (about 20 minutes walking, 8 on bike).
It will happen, slowly. The Potrero Center itself is probably a long shot. It’s an anachronism in its layout and design, but with new residential buildings going up in the Showplace Square district to the east and Inner Mission to the south, a shopping center with lots of parking is probably not the first thing to be tagged for demolition.
[Editor’s Note: From Seals Stadium, to Strip Mall, to 1,800 Rental Units on 16th?]
Re editor’s note: That’s what I’m talking about! But also, reconnect 15th Street and allow a 200′ tower in the middle, bounded by Alameda, 15th, York and Hampshire Streets. 85′ is perfect for the rest of the site. And make the 16th/Bryant corner a stop on a new Van Ness-Potrero-Oakdale subway line. I did say this was a long shot…
So what’s the current status? Is it still for sale? That article is over 5 years old, as in, from a time when a “double dip recession” was the talk of the town.
UPDATE: Deals for Massive Flower Mart Redevelopment Inked