Corner of Franklin and Fell
A year ago SFJAZZ announced plans to raze the auto body shop at 205 Franklin over in Hayes Valley and replace it with a 40-foot-tall center for jazz performances, classes and its administration headquarters.

Today we present Mark Cavagnero‘s designs (click image above to enlarge) for the proposed 35,000 square foot Center at the corner of Franklin and Fell featuring “a state-of-the-art auditorium with flexible seating for 350 to 700.”
SFJAZZ Center Auditorium
Also inside the envelope, an 80-seat multi-purpose Ensemble Room; three rehearsal spaces; a digital learning lab; and a sidewalk-level restaurant/café.
SFJAZZ Facade
SFJAZZ is shooting for LEED Gold certification for the Center.
SFJAZZ Center Rendering
And the plan is to break ground in the summer of 2011 and open as early as 2012.
SFJAZZ [sfjazz.org]
SFJAZZ Snubs San Francisco’s “Jazz District,” Targets Hayes Valley [SocketSite]
Mark Cavagnero Associates [cavagnero.com]

13 thoughts on “And All That SFJAZZ: Designs For New Center At 205 Franklin”
  1. Where do we see more pictures?
    [Editor’s Note: Scratch our previous note. Another exterior shot has been added above and try SFJAZZ Center for a cutaway.]

  2. Cavagnero is one of our most talented local architects. (and a really nice guy too). I hope this comes to fruition. I still don’t know where they’ve come up with all this money, but it’s always a great idea to have more performance venues, particularly of this size.
    My personal wishlist is that the Symphony would get going on the long abandoned plan to build a hall appropriate for chamber music in their parking lot.

  3. wow. i love the look of this place. there’ll be the usual complaints about parking and traffic, but this will be a great addition to the neighborhood. i used to live in hayes valley and still miss it…

  4. Wonder if this might have been a mixed-use development where a residential component supports this jazz center. NY’s Jazz @ Lincoln Center housed in Time Warner Center is possibly a model. Don’t know about the funding there — but I think mixed use for new developments (libraries, schools, arts, etc. )is a great direction for SF’s future.

  5. Love the auto repair shop that is located there. The owner is THE BEST guy…honest, smart and actually fixes things within budget.

  6. Given that developers building new condos near Civic Center aren’t profiting much (if at all) on them right now, it’s unlikely that condos built above would bring in enough money to subsidize the performing arts center.

  7. It was mentioned previously that they intend to host 200 concerts a year. That’s four times a week throughout the year. Is that even realistic ? Out of the 750 seats, how many do you have to fill at each performance to cover overheads such as staffing, clean up, security, insurance, electricity etc. ? And if you host that many concerts a year, the wear and tear on the place would be tremendous – hence large reserve for repair and replacement. Looks like another ill conceived plan doomed to failure. And don’t count on the City coming to their rescue…

  8. Good building. Good idea. Good location.
    From SFJazz site: “The SFJAZZ Center will be made possible by an anonymous lead gift of $20 million, the largest sum ever given to a jazz organization. But with a total goal of $60 million — our work is cut out for us.”
    In this economy, good luck.

  9. Yaaaaay! Please build this–the sooner, the better. I love Yoshi’s (both locations), but it’s always good to have more choices. If only they could plan three or four more performance venues (of various types) on Market Street. I was recently on Broadway in NYC and thought, “If only we could just capture even a small fraction of this excitement and drama for SF!”
    I wonder about whether mixing in housing for this project would have worked though. On Fillmore above Yoshi’s it makes sense because a high-rise tower fits into the block. Jazz at Lincoln Center is located in a complex with two huge towers (residences & hotel), so that works too. I think it would take a lot of convincing to show that Hayes Valley can integrate, let alone welcome, anything above 10 stories in their midst, unless it was directly on Van Ness.

  10. Frankly i dont see how these guys are going to make enough bread to sustain these fancy new digs. Seems to me jazz is kinda dead these days…the 1980’s/90’s revival has ran it’s course. The great players from the 50’s/60’s are dying off or getting up there in age. Joe Henderson- saw him a few times. Mccoy tyner and Charles Lloyd are still around and great but I just feel that this jazz revival, as sweet as it was, is done.

Leave a Reply

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