Agreeing to limit class hours (from 7am to 10pm), minimize foot traffic between buildings, employ street security after 9pm and limit late-night parking, it appears as though the Board of Trustees of the City College of San Francisco has reached a settlement with opponents of CCSF’s Chinatown campus.
Assuming no new challenges, expect construction to begin within the next six months with completion by 2011. And perhaps those “scale and design” objections were simply subterfuge for something else.
∙ CCSF settles Chinatown campus clash [San Francisco Examiner]
∙ CCSF’s Chinatown High-Rise Rendering: One Step Closer To Reality [SocketSite]
When isnt objection to building in SF subterfuge for something else?
These people want NOTHING changed. ever.
The more you negotiate with them the more they feel emboldened to oppose.
I thought this broke ground already. No?
its not about opposition to change…its about fairness… poorer neighborhoods should not be a dumping ground for buildings unacceptable in other areas of san francisco
why build high rises in chinatown which is already the most densest area in the city with the least amount of public space….
if city college wants a high rise campus …. they should build it in Noe Valley or Pacific Heights… or maybe in Joe’s neighborhood
This is a campus for Chinatown, so it’s in Chinatown. Why build it in another part of the city? Most of Chinatown wants the campus. The real opposition came from the Hilton next store. And it is a high rise because this is one of the densest areas of the city. I’m very glad to see this finally getting under way.
spitpalm – ceremonially, yes. In actuality, no. It has been fenced off though and they have begun cleaning out the smaller lot.
It’s ridiculous for City College to have to pay $75,000 to the Hilton’s lawyers, but I guess they would have spent more than that in ongoing legal fees if they didn’t settle.
Turin – Thanks. I have been out of town for awhile.
I’m very happy to see this project moving forward and can’t wait to see it finished in a couple of years. It will revitalize the area’s neighborhood and give scores of middle to lower income Chinese a chance to better themselves through higher education. Echoing the earlier post, almost everyone in Chinatown as well as all Chinese in SF is in support of building this campus.
People who want to take away quality, affordable education to one of the poorest and densest neighborhoods are nothing but racists concealed as “sympathizers.”
The rendering on the latest CCSF program that was mailed out last month has a much better ‘rendering’ of the high rise.
The building actually looks like an interesting modern high rise. I’m happy that it’s finally getting built.
CCSF provides an amazing education opportunity to many people in SF. This will just further embolden it’s mission by now providing a campus in the Chinatown.
The building rendering seems to be optical illusion. Future CCSF in the grey tower on the left is actually about the same height to the Internation Hotel in the white tower on the right. Yet it appears much bigger in this rendering. Try to count the windows. CCSF has 7 floors visible beyond the low rise. Internation Hotel has 10 floors visible. But in this perspective CCSF appears much taller.
Hey, we should keep Chinatown beautiful…NO NEW BUILDINGS!
“Hey, we should keep Chinatown beautiful…NO NEW BUILDINGS!”
Chinatown? Beautiful? Which section of Chinatown are you referring to? I have absolutely nothing against Chinese people or their culture but I just do not see anything about that neighborhood that could be described as “beautiful”.
Adam: Keep this world beautiful — you should not procreate.
Stop breeding and we won’t need new buildings. NIMBYs with kids are the problem.
I am not a hater of density, modernism, or towers, but does anyone really think this is a good design solution? There are other ways to create modern in-fill buildings in this city without them having to be ugly or boring.
It’s also too expensive to design other than boring, as creativity breeds lawsuits.
^^^Agreed. This building would be what we called in Los Angeles “drive by architecture”. It is not noticed or admired, it is just something you drive by. A real opportunity has been lost here.
i worked on this project for a year and realized how many obstacles are placed before completely qualified intelligent talented architects, both by political opponents and clueless commitees who feel they must be “involved” in the design. its not the designer, its the process that is to blame.
i think of how many obstacles were placed before completely qualified intelligent talented architects, both by political opponents and clueless commitees who feel they must be “involved” in the design. its not the designer, its the process that is to blame.