As we outlined back in June:

The revised plans for a 35-story tower to rise up to 369 feet in height on the 90-space parking lot parcel at 395 3rd Street, on the northeast corner of Harrison and Third, have just been approved for a streamlined environmental review and entitlement.

As designed by Henning Larsen, in conjunction with Multistudio, formerly Gould Evans, for the Strada Investment Group, the proposed infill tower would now yield around 524 apartments, configured as 96 studios, 299 one-bedrooms and 129 twos, with 4,500-square-feet of ground floor retail space; two rooftop gardens; a 1,920 square foot POPOS (Privately Owned Public Open Space); and below grade parking for 125 cars, levering California’s Density Bonus law to build above the existing 200 foot height limit for the Central SoMa site.

The project as proposed would take around three years to complete. And yes, an application to secure a permit for the development, in order to parallel process its approval and actually break ground, has been submitted to Planning. That being said, the permit application was submitted back in the fourth quarter of 2021 and has effectively been on hold over the past year.

Subsequently approved by Planning, the 30-day window within which said approval could have been appealed has now closed sans a filing; an exemption from having to complete a costly environmental review has just been inked; and the processing of the project’s building permit is back on the move but has a ways to go.

All that being said, rents are dropping, despite San Francisco being a desirable place to live and “the center of the AI boom,” while the cost of capital and hurdle rates are ticking up. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

One thought on “Revised Plans for New 524-Unit Tower Officially Approved, But…”
  1. Uh huh. If you navigate over to Strada Investment Group’s website, you can read this cv information about a Founding Partner:

    Jesse, a Founding Partner of Strada…helps lead Strada’s deal sourcing efforts throughout the Western United States. Jesse is actively involved in Strada’s most complex redevelopment and entitlement projects, having led Strada’s efforts on the Golden State Warriors arena project, and currently focused on redevelopment of the Lake Merritt BART station, among others. As part of these efforts, Jesse is heavily involved in all stages of the development process, from initial community outreach through design and permitting. Prior to founding Strada, Jesse was Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s Urban Investment Group (UIG), a balance-sheet investment vehicle focused on urban infill development. At Goldman, he was responsible for all of UIG’s activity on the West Coast…before joining Goldman, Jesse served as Deputy Chief of Staff to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, acting as the Mayor’s chief advisor on all land use, development and economic policy matters, and overseeing the eight City departments responsible for land use regulation and development activities. He played a major role in establishing Mission Bay as one of the country’s leading biotechnology clusters and served as the City’s lead negotiator on a number of major development projects totaling more than $5 billion in value. Jesse has a M.A. in city planning from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. from Pomona College.

    Doesn’t that sound like a knowledgeable operator in the S.F. real estate “game”? During the fourth quarter of 2021, when they submitted the permit application, the Fed Funds rate was still between zero and twenty-five basis points. Now, the same benchmark is between 5.25 – 5.50 percent.

    If Strada Investment Group was serious about this project, you’d think they’d have some mention of it on their website for residential projects. I assume they will flip this project once they have a permit, or sit on it until the market improves to their liking.

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