As we first reported last year, plans to raze the former Lee’s Meat and Popular Market building at 478-482 Haight Street, adjacent to the new Nickies, and develop a new four-story building across the Lower Haight Street site, with a ground floor retail space, a garage for nine cars, three office spaces and nine two-bedroom apartments, had been drawn and submitted to Planning for review.
While the project team is still pushing forward with plans to redevelop the site, they’re now planning to invoke the State Density Bonus Program to build five stories and up to 57 feet in height upon the parcel which is principally zoned for development up to 40 feet.
And if approved, the bonus-based 480 Height Street project would now yield two ground floor retail spaces, a nine car garage with space for 20 bikes, three office spaces and a total of twelve (12) residential units, one of which would be offered at a below market rate (BMR).
It speaks volumes when a state density bonus program is needed for a proposed development to reach the same height as its neighbor next door which was built close to a century ago.
Yes, but this new one doesn’t have bay windows, which are required if you want to match the surrounding architecture. Are you new here? /s
Except that there’s nothing wrong with bay windows, modern or traditional. It’s and integral part of San Francisco architecture.
Nothing wrong with them, but they get treated like a requirement.
However, they are NOT a requirement.
Thank you!
I know some here talk asa if anything that is not CUTTING EDGE! TWISTED! ULTRAMODERN! is suspect, but regional vernaculars are a good thing.
Always been my biggest disappointment with Seattle and Portland (sorry, Dave). Their basic fabric of architecture looks like anywhere USA. Heck, much of the older neighborhoods in Seattle could be my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana, with another $750,000 and better views tacked on!.
The observation is a good one generally for SF., but not actually right in this case. The renderings above have to be wrong. In the lower image it shows that somehow the new building fits 3 full floors where the older building only has 2. Not possible. Those ceiling heights in the new building would be below the state building code legal minimums,unless that ground floor retail space is half subterranean! The new building is being shown too short.
No. I believe you are not correct. The new building shows the NEW parapet aligning very close to the top of the parapet of the Edwardian building to the left, in the photo. The earlier (new) building clearly shows 3 floors not 2 , as you state.
There is no shortening of floor heights nor a any “subterranean” floors.
The taller building seems totally appropriate for the site, size-wise. Not the design though: looks like a cheap suburban apartment building.
I am not sure it matters considering the mishmash of styles on Haight St. plus all the ugly garage turned storefronts covering up the victorians. I just hope this new building doesn’t get to tear up the road AGAIN after the new one goes in.
It looks fine, not every building needs to win an architectural award. I’d like to see a lot less design feedback in SF permitting.
These are just my 2 cents, I hope planning has a more structured approach to giving design feedback.
Thinking about it more, the thing I really don’t like are the recessed balconies with the pillar in the middle. That is probably colored by the time I spent in a cheap suburban apartment complex with exactly the same type of balconies (but great “landscaping”!).
There is not a new suburban apartment complex in the state that would be built to the sidewalk line like that. Instead, you may get “landscaping” and parking spaces under tacky carports right against the main six lane “Stroad”.
12 units should really help out when the Salesforce tower opens and all those people need a place to live. Kind of tall for a fishing village like SF.
See Jeff below, who longs to preserve the glorious fishing village culture and tradition!
Its hard for San Francisco to have any tradition or culture when the city advertise new buildings and storefronts to outsiders and tourist. As long as this city chase money, its traditions and culture will be force to move out the Bay Area like the local families and businesses were forced out.
You are absolutely right! San Francisco has never in its history “chased money”. Only San Francisco does so, every other prosperous modern metropolis in the United States is a delicate flower that only seeks to preserve their culture and traditions.
And from the very beginning in 1849, San Francisco was never about chasing money.
UPDATE: Haight Street Infill Development Redesigned, Slated for Approval