935 Folsom: Rendering (Image Source: amaa.com)
According to J.K. Dineen, an application has been filed by condo developer Spring Capital Group to raze the existing two-story warehouse 935 Folsom Street (purchased in 2005 for $4.1M) and replace it with an eight-story, 75-unit condominium project.

The proposed building, designed by Portland-based Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, is glassy and modern with a green roof. It reaches 85 feet along Folsom Street, but steps down to lower townhouses opening onto the Shipley and Falmouth alleys. It will feature retail along Folsom Street, keeping with the city’s efforts to transform Folsom into a pedestrian-friendly shopping boulevard connecting Rincon Hill with west SoMa. The project includes 57 parking spaces, plus, at the request of the neighborhood, motorcycle parking on the street.

935 Folsom: Rendering (Image Source: amaa.com)
In the news “five years ago when the U.S. Department of Justice raided the property as part of a multi-agency investigation into illegal sweatshop operations,” 935 Folsom served as “a squat for about 30 punk rock anarchists” in the early 1980’s. Ah, the good old days.
Notorious Folsom Street warehouse may go condo [Business Times]
Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects: 935 Folsom [amaa.com]

40 thoughts on “From Warehouse, To Squat, To Sweatshop, To Condos: 935 Folsom”
  1. They should market it as the perfect location to pop in the Gulch for some nice glory hole action. (That being said I hope the Gulch stays, love the juxtaposition of a huge condo glass tower next to a gay sex shop!)

  2. Now this looks like some quality infill. Looks nice, love the step down and decks overlooking the alleys, has the right amount of parking, I’m assuming parking entrance will be from an alley, and I like the motorcycle parking on-street.
    Gets an A+ in my book.

  3. It looks great – it could be a good addition for SOMA as long as the new residents understand that there is a huge street fair every September full of gay leather guys (plus a smaller one in August, and stuff going on all year). If the developers were smart they would direct their marketing to this community. Maybe the ground floor retail could be a new home to Folsom Gulch.

  4. Not sure why they would seem to angle the entrance sightline towards the corner sex shop (and a straight line to the one across the street); doubt those are going anywhere soon. Notwitstanding an excellent location especially if SF reinvents Folsom as something beyond what it currently is — a barelling SUV corridor with a token (& at-your-own-risk) bike lane. The lot across street might be part of the huge Chronicle property megadevelopment that will change this area quite radically.

  5. JC- welcome to San Francisco. I’m not sure anybody who is squeamish around ‘teh gay’ or assless leather chaps would even feel comfortable living in the city at large. That’s what San Mateo is fir 🙂

  6. invented- ‘a barelling SUV corridor’ LOL that is so true. Gotta speed home to Danville to feed the triplets !

  7. I’m so happy to read my neighborhood referred to as Rincon Hill instead of “South Beach” in the major business weekly, I could cry.

  8. “Barrelling SUV corridor”, “glory hole” and “assless chaps” don’t belong in the same thread. “Bike lane” is a little iffy, too.

  9. SF – I think JC is more on the money than you might realize. SOMA has been dealing with the conflicting agendas of new wealthy residents unaware of the neighborhood’s dense bar scene and street fair scene. The Hairrison Street Fair has moved twice and may not survive because of condo owners who object to a street fair one weekend a year.
    It’s not just SOMA. The Castro is dealing with a double punch. You have young wealthy homeowners buying out the aging gay guys wanting a “quiet” neighborhood *and* the aging gay guys remaining are now in the “Get off my lawn” category and also want a quiet neighorhood. Both goups do not like the street fairs in the Castro and have been chipping away at the hours they are allowed to be open and the music allowed to be played.
    I’d heard through the grapevine that some of the developments in SOMA come with legal agreements whereby the new owners must acknowledge they were buying in a light industrial neighborhood – anyone know more about that?

  10. @Jamie: Yeoman’s work, friend. South Beach belongs in Miami.
    Re this place, agree with Brutus…like the decks and step-downs. More like this, please!

  11. Eric’s comment about the Harrison Street Fair struck a nerve with me. We have the Union Street Fair to deal with, and while you may think it trivial to complain about a once-a-year event, trust me we dread the bridge and tunnel gangs crawling through the neighborhood, tossing beer bottles, screaming and yelling for most of the Saturday night. Yup I’m a ticked-off condo owner who knows the only people who benefit financially from these fairs are the organizers. Our local stores don’t.

  12. I like the design and project and the neighborhood could certainly use some new blood. also great Thai restaurant next door

  13. I have to say the community at large benefits from street fairs. Union street probably attracts the bridge and tunnel people, as the Marina area does attract that type of crowd, but other fairs like the Jazz fest, Castro, Haight, etc. promote a great social gathering and a feeling of community and neighborhood. It is a great way to get everybody together to great music and food. It is a sad reality that these neighborhood street faires will eventually die off (the downside of money moving in) and all we will have left are the corporate conglomerate faires like Pride and Love Parade in Civic Center.

  14. “Jazz fest, Castro, Haight, etc. promote a great social gathering and a feeling of community and neighborhood. It is a great way to get everybody together to great music and food.”
    I would venture to say that most of the peole at these events are also bridge and tunnel crowd. For sure, haight st faire.
    i have nothing against these fairs per say, I jsut wish they were more well maanged by the organizers and the police. Open containers should not be allowed and people publicly drunk and misbehaving should be arrested. If these fairs were better managed, i personally think they would be much more enjoyable to local residents and lcoal businesses.

  15. I agree with Oceangoer about Eric’s statements. the backlash against Howeird (howard, not harrison) st fair is part of a large city-wide backlash against st fairs. everything from north beach fest to the haight st fair have been moved, downsized, and/or altered in the past couple of years. it’s not just the “new condo” dwellers in soma. also, while soma has been a “backyard” for gay/biker clubs and festivals, the vast majority of residents in soma, and the census’ going back to the 20’s support this, are families. soma as the 3rd largest population of families, behind bayview & the sunset.
    i happy about this development. there are too many empty warehouses in soma and they need to be developed.

  16. forgot to say, i agreed with oceangoer about eric’s statement. i am not against st fairs and hate that they have been attacked in recent years. i spoke for the how-weird fest and wanted it to stay. i think people who are against st fairs should rethink why they live in SF.

  17. I think some of the commenters are a bit off on the geography. This location is east of 6th St.
    The Folsom St Fair starts at 8th St. I know that sounds close, but it’s actually 1/2 mile away. As are all the other SOMA leather shops, etc.
    Basil Thai is also near 8th St. It’s walking distance, but hardly next door. Development is great, but it will be squashed between Folsom Gulch and that big parking lot for tour/sightseeing buses.

  18. I’m with you, Natoma. The street fairs are one of the great things about this city. They’re a showcase for all of the wonderfully weird people we have living here and always a great time. As far as more police presence-no thank you. This is part of San Francisco, guys-a big part. Why did you move here if you’re not comfortable with counterculture or “the gays”? And why did you move into a neighborhood that has a street fair in it just to complain about it? If you weren’t aware of it, that’s just bad research on your part. Don’t penalize the rest of us for your biases/mistakes.

  19. I live in the neighborhood and this rocks. I also heart the folsom street fair. It’s part of the joy of living in a tolerant city.
    I don’t know how I’d feel if it were right outside my door; but then again since that stuff can bug me, i sure wouldn’t buy it if were aproblem for me.
    So, disclose away to buyers, and it’s not like they can’t read the signs of the sex shops.
    Sure better than an abandoned building! More foot traffic is better for everyone in the neighborhood, and like others I think the design is great.
    SF needs to get over its height restrictions are we will never have enough housing! Especially with all these “below market rate” requirements Chris Daly keeps shoving in.

  20. Cool building. Previous threads have mentioned the idea that there are not enough good ideas comming from local architects. And here we are with a Portland based crew and everyone seems to genuinely like the design. Seems to give support for that argument.
    Spencer: Couple weeks ago you were advocating calling the cops on bums at Esprit Park now your advocating arresting people drunk in public at street fairs. But you did specify only the ones that are “misbehaving”. What worries me is how you define misbehaving. You will all be assimilated!

  21. Nice artist rendition. Will it really look like this when built?
    I am willing to bet that the trees will not appear. I rarely see grand plantings work on the top of buildings.
    I’ve seen Folsom Street change over the last 38 years. Change is part of the fabric of any city. Some win and some lose in the process.

  22. “breaking the law. pretty simple”
    That’s what I was afraid of.
    [Editor’s Note: And now back to 935 Folsom. Or at least the neighborhood…]

  23. Wonder how long 1015 Folsom and the End Up will survive. I was in my prime clubbing years in the mid-90s, when condos were built right next door to 1015, resulting in the club spending years on soundproofing, but it seems to have some real problems. Shootings. And the End Up is a notorious eyesore. It’s amazing that people will buy a place right next to something like a nightclub, then act shocked that there’s a nightclub there… but residential developments and noise/nuisance complaints win out pretty quickly.
    Street fairs are horrible if you live in a neighborhood, but they’re usually one or two days a year, and they’re pretty easy to avoid with a day/weekend at the beach. And the city does a great job cleaning up after them. I would hope the Folsom/Howard/Castro street parties survive. They’re full of debauchery, but rarely violence, and they’ve been going on for decades. What a boring place SF will be when it’s been sanitized of all but upscale culture.

  24. That Filipino nursing home is why Chris Daly is on the board of supervisors. he promises them the moon and drives them to the polls.

  25. “I am willing to bet that the trees will not appear. I rarely see grand plantings work on the top of buildings”
    Ahh… my pet peeve. I just hope they put the STREET level trees in.
    Ahhh SF, why can’t you plant trees so it’s not so concretey and ugly.
    Just got back from Paris/London. Many areas had trees everywhere. I measured: it takes approximately 4 square feet to grow a tree. The block I was on in london had 42 trees, all old and living, with an opening of 2 feet x 2 feet.
    as for the building, I agree with others, I like this artist rendering. I’ll wait for full judgement until I see the true building.

  26. Ex SF-er,
    Actually, the Planning and Building Departments (and DPW) are really quite strict about street trees. They are generally required as a condition of Planning Dept approval, and then Building Dept follows up by keeping trees on the checklist for items that the builder has to provide before they issue a certificate of occupancy (required before people can move in).

  27. To augment JC’s comment, the number of trees planted in this city in the last 10 years has been astounding – they just have to grow up!:
    http://www.fuf.net/about_us/index.html
    Areas of note: Much of SoMa, Folsom south of 14th (continuing the large canopy trees from 21st up to Bernal Hts), and many more.
    Having lived here for 23 years, I can tell you that the city is far greener than it used to be.

  28. There is still no where near enough trees. Why is there something like one or two trees on most blocks in The Sunset? I know they take a long time to grow in the fog, but c’mon, we can do better than this! Forest Hill is covered with trees.

  29. The building design and the setbacks, terrace, and roof are great. The corner notch is oriented toward the light. Trees have been aggressively put in all around there and even along Folsom next to the parking lot, so a new development would be hard pressed to be the one spot without. It would also be strange for the developer to go to the quite significant trouble of making places for trees on the terraces and the roof while omitting them from where they are most needed.

  30. From Warehouse, To Squat, To Sweatshop, To
    Condos–and condos, of course, are just a Warehouse for yuppies.

  31. Folsom Street Fair goes from 7th to 12th Street. Folsom Street in front of these condos remains open to traffic.

  32. “and condos, of course, are just a Warehouse for yuppies.”
    Or old folks. Or kids. Or social workers. What is it that you do?
    This site really brings out the best in people, doesn’t it?

  33. The more I look at this design the more I really like it – very Portland/Pearl. I do wonder if having an out of town developer and architect that aren’t designing with preconceived notions of what the planning commission deems to be “good” design helps.

  34. Yes, I sure do think of it as a warehouse for Yuppies. In my humble opinion, this kind of proposed vertical trailer park would appeal only certain business-school grads and beancounters who can make an unattractive property “pencil out” on paper for tax purposes, while ignoring the fact that it’s just a little box.
    Besides, it’s just San Francisco–a slow, dumb little backwater, far from the real financial centers, with nice views and 7.1+ quakes. What are these people thinking?

  35. Miffed at the counter culture and the gays…don’t think so. I’m 2 blocks from the Haight. Looks like an excuse for suburban kids to bring mom’s suv into the city and smoke a green one while looking at the tee shirt vendors. I don’t see how this is the culture of the city. Let’s move the street fairs to Marin and San Mateo so the kids don’t have to waste gas driving around looking for parking.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *