While forced to be redesigned in order to minimize its projected future shadow following a semi-successful challenge initiated by the owner of Zeitgeist across the street, the contentious plans for a five-story building with 28 condos over 6,300 square feet of new retail space and a 19-car garage to rise upon the Oil Changer site at 198 Valencia Street have been approved and newly rendered below.
While the permit to start demolishing the existing building on the site is on hold pending an approval of a building permit for the project, said permit is expected to be approved by the end of this year.
But rather than preparing to break ground, the 198 Valencia Street site and plans are now on the market with a $9.25 million price tag.
Another permitted project lands on the market. While many believe that this is a sign of developers losing confidence in rental market, I believe this is a reflection of increasing labor costs. The types of developments that land on the market are mostly in-fill condos with less than 200 units. Larger projects with solid economies of scale are still getting built. However, rather than this being a consequence of cooling rents, I believe this trend will continue to propel prices upwards.
It’s 100% cost of construction as to why the developer is selling the asset. They will most likely lose money on the deal or hold it for a while. This is happining all over the city right now. The only way we will see rents being lowered is a massive correction in the market.
That’s weird, because in mid-third quarter Rents in San Francisco [were actually] Lower Than at the Same Time Last Year.
They are certainly not spending anything on original architectural plans. This is a City version of a tract house at this point.
Are they trying to appeal to Warriors fans with the color scheme? The building is already dated.
Can we just get the new street trees and the corner bulb-out instead? Zeitgeist can run an interim beer garden on the site while it waits in limbo.
Well put, this aesthetic is cut and paste from so many other projects in SOMA and elsewhere…
Omg, it kinda looks like some other developments. Get over yourself. Does this same vapid critique have to be copied and pasted onto every article? These are no more cookie-cutter than the Victorians everyone loves now that they’re old and “historic.”
Kinda looks like other developments? Are you kidding? It looks exactly like ICON at Noe and Market and three other developments already under construction or open on Valencia. There’s literally nothing different about them in any way. Crtl-C, Crtl V and off to planning it goes!
Lazy copy-and-paste development from 100 years ago is revered, protected and fetches a premium from rich buyers. The city even made a special map of all the 100-year-old crap that looks exactly the same.
Observing over and over that our current era has a recognizable architectural style, just like the early 20th century did, is neither original nor insightful.
This is how developers save on architectural fees and construction costs. They get through planning’s “rigorous” design requirements by skirting by the minimum, slap granite countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, then label themselves “LUXURY CONDOS.”
Not every building needs to be a sensational work of art, but come on already!
Well, in a hundred years when all the new buildings are giant windowless cubes that enter through the sidewalk, these will look charming, too.
Bingo – this, per my informal count, brings the entitled units put in play to north of 900. – around 920 to be precise. Will that number reach 1000? And with SF housing production set to significantly fall in the next year or so, these up for sale entitlements could have a significant impact on the housing situation.
At 330K/unit, the 9.25 million price tag does not seem totally off the mark. Not sure what this type of unit would sell for in this area so I’ll guess the seller gets less than asking but does not take a shave on this.
Labor costs are an issue but all the West Coast is seeing an increase in those. It’s a combination of labor costs and anticipated appreciation and other factors that is leading to this surge in I”n play” projects. 524 Howard will be one to watch. Rather than build two years ago the developer leased the lot for those two years. The lease will be up soon and, if the developer delays building again, that project may not see the light of day as currently envisioned.
And don’t forget there will be a slight issue of hundreds of construction workers and significant construction materials migrating to Napa and Sonoma for the next gold rush there.
Not quite. The workers who build single family residential already live in Napa and Sonoma. They won’t be migrating up there. They will just chose not to migrate here every day …
The Gold Rush for contractors is still in multifamily / commercial construction in SF because it’s so expensive and difficult to do work here. They know most of the Bay Area construction work force would rather be somewhere else less congested and corrupt. Looking at SF-DBI…
DBI may have its issues, but Planning is the main culprit in delaying most projects while fastracking any project by former staff members.
Do we really need ANOTHER neo-New Brutalist pile of schlock? Surely, an architect with an ounce or two of design flair and originality can be found?
I’d prefer brutalism over this piece.
Yeah agreed. This not brutalism. Not even close. Just another cheap looking stucco box tarted up with a bit of bright paint. SF City design review is far too conservative nowdays to allow something interesting like Habitat 67 in Montreal to get built here.
Please pleas please please no more pop of yellow
UPDATE: Price Cut for Permitted Development Site on Valencia