While zoned for building up to 80 feet in height, the shuttered Lucky Penny parcel at 2670 Geary Boulevard is also only zoned for moderate density. And as such, plans for a seven-story building, with 21 apartments over three stories of office space, a new ground floor commercial space and a three-level subterranean garage for 57 cars were first drafted back in 2014 and formally proposed the next year.
Those plans, however, are being abandoned.
Instead, an eight-story building with 98 residential units over a ground floor retail/restaurant space and an underground garage for 36 cars is now expected to rise on the site. And there are two means by which the denser development could be achieved.
The newly adopted HOME-SF program could be invoked in order to allow for the additional density. Or, San Francisco’s Planning Commission could approve the draft language for a spot-zoned Geary-Masonic Special Use District. In either case, additional affordable housing concessions would be required from the development team.
Regardless, 82 percent of the proposed 98 units are likely remain market rate and the development could be approved next month.
Amazing. This whole area around Target City Center – including the city-owned MUNI bus storage land – can be developed into smart, dense housing. It’d be a great hub for a future ‘City Center Subway’ stop too.
[Editor’s Note: Or as we wrote five years ago, Is It Prime Time To Develop Muni’s 5.4-Acre Presidio Yard?]
Not to mention the whole UCSF Laurel Heights campus is supposed to become housing in the next decade. This is only a two block walk. There are going to be a lot more people living in this area ‘soon.’
and the housing that will replace the california pacific medical center on cal
Traffic, parking, density – the horror!
Right on. This is a natural stop for the BART along Geary before entering that second transbay tube.
Supervisor Fewer has been making noise about BART to the Richmond District again, which would be nice, but for it to really gain momentum I think we need at least two of Farrell, Breed, Peskin and Kim on board. I’d even be happy with a first phase that just came out to here: four-stop Geary BART line serving Market (D3/6), Van Ness (D2/3/5/6), Fillmore (D5), Masonic (D1/2). That would be plenty useful on its own, with expansions on both ends coming later.
add arguello and i would agree. clement is important retail corridor with many more things that masonic area
It’s about connections. Masonic is a major N-S artery on a popular bus route and within walking distance to many other bus lines and neighborhoods. Clement is one short block from Geary so it’s easily walkable and accessible to a BART line, if ever built. My issues with things being built in phases is that we usually have to wait another decade (or two) to see the results in their entirety. Just look at the Central Subway project. The T opened for service in late 2006, but Phase 2 won’t for another 13 years and even that part, to Chinatown, simply doesn’t go far enough.
I hope the TJs gets bulldozed and replaced with mixed residential/retail with curb appeal, instead of the parking lot that currently exists.
Oh I definitely want it all the way out to 43rd Ave, plus a Transbay connection to Alameda, Jack London Square and downtown Oakland. But that’s a lot to chew off. I would rather have a first phase, then wait 13 years for the second phase, than have nothing at all. I want people to start thinking in smaller more doable pieces.
And my other point is that whether we phase it or not, this subway line would dramatically improve transportation in Districts 6, 3, 5, 2 and 1. So why is only the District 1 Supervisor talking about it? The Geary neighborhoods aren’t just speed bumps on the way to the Richmond — they’re full of people who want better transit, too.
That’s the busiest TJ’s in the world, so I doubt it will be getting bulldozed anytime soon.
Forgot to add that TJs should be incorporated into any new development.
As soon as the MUNI tunnel to Chinatown and the bullet train are finished up, the BART to the Richmond can start up. That should be in about 25 years.
don’t need BART when you have BRT coming.
BRT? Wow, you really aim high. This kind of thinking keeps SF from living up to its “Transit First” status.
BRT is a joke and will do little to nothing to address transit problems on the west side, much less connect with any existing mass transit.
City Center’s parking terraces would be better used to support housing, too. And they’d have great views.
Yes, more housing & less office space. SoMa could follow this example…
Obvious location for lots of housing.
To be fair, ever since that Trader Joe’s went in there, that part of Masonic is always busy and crowded. It is after all only two lanes each way and that one lane is typically stalled for folks waiting to go into Trader Joe’s. Coming up from downtown on Pine Street that stretch is crucial for folks heading towards Cole Valley/Sunset so let’s keep that in mind.
Take the bus.
Yeah, tell all those people who are queuing up to go in to Trader Joe’s to “take the bus”….not so easy is it?
as an inner sunset resident, the great thing about living in a gridded city is that there are lots of ways for one to travel from cole valley/sunset to downtown — oak/fell, golden gate/turk, pine/bush, geary, 14th/folsom…
An even greater way would be on a real subway system.
Great improvement for this particular lot and the neighborhood in general.
Keep hoping for that subway, the tooth fairy might come through some day. After all there will be high speed rail between Modesto and Fresno. I though the Geary bus rapid transit scheme was going to scotch the grade separation there, but maybe it was just planning vapors.
Agreed. No subway down Geary or second BART tube in our lifetimes. The Bay Bridge project being $6 billion over budget has a lot to with the fact can’t afford new projects…. Thanks BATA/ MTC….
You should be thanking Willie and Jerry Brown for the $6B+ Bay Bridge project. The original skyway with appropriate decorative lighting would have cost $2B max, but noooooo – we had to have an iconic structure of unproven engineering design built with substandard asian steel.
yep, the fancy new Bay Bridge was a giant waste of money — and the result really isn’t that special. Of course it is tough to compete with the GGB, but maybe they should have thought of that.
I’m surprised the storage building hasn’t been converted into condos already.
agreed alai! the really sweet million dollar views are to the west and north. that old cancre of a building is going to block 7 floors of west view for this new development. i always that copper penny was a drug front anyway. i mean really. oxtail soup and open 24/7/365? glad to see it go.
What’s the Geary-Masonic Special Use District? Where did it come from?
Nice, from 7 stories to 8 stories, now we’re talking 🙂
fer chrissakes, won’t somebody think about the Seafood and Iron Platters?!?? just kidding
98 units and 36 parking spots? Where will all these people park?
trader joes?
exactly
Seriously?
They’re all going to ride bikes, take Lyft and Uber (which BTW had no effect on the thousands of additional cars driven haphazardly by non-residents and created no increased congestion and environmental harm), or jam themselves onto the 38, our Third Wave Banana Republic’s top shelf transit line! Pure fantasy, as we all know in the real world most will own at least one car and park it on the street if they don’t secure parking in the building.
Well, between 2000 and 2012, the city grew by 11,139 households and 88 percent of them were car-free. I don’t have more recent data, but I doubt it’s much different.
How many of those car free households were also home free?
Oh man. I’ve had visions of that intersection and surrounding blocks being a prime candidate for a dramatic upzoning anchored by a real transit hub — subway and all. The Target / Best Buy being demo’d with dense residential replacing it. A more sensitive Cathedral Hill if you will. One can dream.
Agreed, but either keep dreaming or move to a city that is more progressive.
Looks fantastic! Build it!
Who is the developer here, anyone know?