http://www.socketsite.com/706%20Mission%202012%20Rendering.jpg

http://www.socketsite.com/706%20Mission%20Base%202012%20Rendering.jpg

http://www.socketsite.com/706%20Mission%202012%20Rendering%20With%20Aronson.jpg
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2012/07/16/lets_argue_about_parking_706_missions_deir_coming_up_at_historic_preservation_and_planning_commissions.php#more

http://www.socketsite.com/706%20Mission%202012%20Rendering%20With%20Aronson%20close.jpg
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2013/03/proposed_550foot_tower_at_706_mission_prepares_for_a_cr.html#more

It's an epic account of a building so big it doesn't always fit into its own renderings, and we expect Historic Preservation to deal mostly with the 1903 Aronson Building's preservation and the setting next to Willis Polk's power station, now ignominiously folded– literally– into David Liebeskind's Jewish Contemporary, the moribund plaza that is Jessie Square and the old St. Patrick's church, all on Mission Street. The big issues– parking, traffic and height plus shadows as far north as Union Square– will come up when the Planning Commission meets in August to look over the DEIR before sending it on to the Board of Supervisors. The project needs BoS approval for height, transfer of the Jessie Street garage, and a zoning change before anything can happen.
It's an old Redevelopment commission project dating back to the early '90s, and has had more than one starchitect attached to it, however briefly, and the current firm is Handel Architects– with plenty of disclaimers about potential future design changes. Although there are seven variations in the DEIR, the big one is a 47-story, 550-foot-tall residential tower that would back up a preserved Aronson Building and include the Mexican Museum on the Jessie Square side. For comparison's sake, the Paramount Tower on the northeast corner of Third and Mission is 43 stories.

As for arguing about traffic and parking, the DEIR has no less than seven different proposals on how to handle the current (and problematic) access to the Jessie Street garage and additional residential parking for the tower. Since none of us are actually on either commission, we don't have to actually read the entire 8-volume, 5-appendix tome and get to just skip around to the good parts.
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2012/07/16/lets_argue_about_parking_706_missions_deir_coming_up_at_historic_preservation_and_planning_commissions.php#more

March 8, 2013
Proposed 550-Foot Tower At 706 Mission Prepares For A Critical Vote

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to allow the proposed 550-foot tower and Mexican Museum to rise at 706 Mission Street is slated to be reviewed and potentially certified by San Francisco’s Planning Commission in two weeks.

The tower would contain up to 43 floors of condos and four floors for the museum. The Aronson Building would contain retail/restaurant space on the ground floor, museum space on the second and third floors, and either offices or condos on floors four through ten:

. . . the parcel is currently zoned for 400-feet and the project will require a zoning map amendment to see its full potential versus being cut short.

And in addition to the issue of new shadows on downtown public open spaces, opponents of the tower as proposed, most of whom reside and park at the adjacent Four Seasons Residences, cite increased traffic and congestion concerns.


http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2013/03/proposed_550foot_tower_at_706_mission_prepares_for_a_cr.html#more

The Mexican Museum/Residential Tower Project Looking for Its Final OK
Wednesday, March 20, 2013, by Alex Bevk

We've been following the Mexican Museum project with its associated residential tower for the past few years, and tomorrow it's up for its final environmental certification. The road has been a bumpy one, with neighbors from the Ritz Carlton condos complaining that the project will bring too many people and too much traffic. The proposed project includes the construction of a new 550-foot-tall, 47-story tower to be adjacent and connected to the existing 10-story Aronson Building, which would be restored and rehabilitated. The project would include up to 215 residential units, space for The Mexican Museum, possible office use, and ground-floor retail/restaurant use, as well as conveyance of the existing Jessie Square Garage with 442 parking spaces. The Planing Commission won't take anymore public comment, but if the FEIR is certified, the project will be clear to get the rest of its approvals.
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2013/03/20/the_mexican_museumresidential_tower_project_looking_for_its_final_ok.php#reader_comments

so so

No surprises:

Mar 22, 2013, 11:15am PDT
Mission Street tower, Mexican Museum win key approval

J.K. Dineen
Reporter-
San Francisco Business Times

The Planning Commission has certified the environmental impact report of Millennium Partners 706 Mission St., a mixed-use project that will include 215 condos as well as office space and the Mexican Museum.

The vote was 4-2.

In a statement, Millennium Partners said that the company is “excited to move forward with the proposal.”

The "Commission’s approval of the Environmental Impact Report marks a significant milestone in securing a permanent home for The Mexican Museum. A primary educational resource for the Bay Area, The Mexican Museum will inhabit four floors of the building (triple the museum’s current exhibition space) and infuse a celebration of Latino arts and heritage into the vibrant Yerba Buena Cultural Arts District,” stated Millennium Partners.

The project's environmental report still needs to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/03/mission-street-tower-mexican-museum.html

So now the question is, I think, will the upset folks at the Four Seasons appeal and will the BOS have any sympathy for them? In the face of the political correctness of the Mexican Museum, not enough sympathy I'm guessing.

Mar 25, 2013, 1:01pm PDT
Millennium Partners' 706 Mission: still 18 months from construction
J.K. Dineen
Reporter-
San Francisco Business Times

Millennium Partners still has a long way to go at 706 Mission St.

Last week the developer reached an important milestone when the Planning Commission certified the environmental impact report for the project, which will include between 160 and 185 luxury condos and a home for the Mexican Museum on the bottom four floors.

But it’s only the first in a series of needed approvals. Next up the project will go to the Historic Preservation Commission, which will weigh in on plans to restore the 1903 Aronson Building. The historic building, home of Rochester Big & Tall, will be connected to a new adjacent 47-story tower. The project will then go back to the Planning Commission and the San Francisco

Recreation and Park Commission for zoning approvals, as Millennium is proposing to exceed current zoning by 150 feet. Then it goes to the Board of Supervisors and the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the City and County of San Francisco.

Millennium Partners’ Sean Jeffries estimates that the additional bureaucratic hurdles will take another three to five months. He hopes to be under construction in August or September of 2014 — more than eight years after Millennium Partners tied the property up . . . .
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/03/millennium-partners-706-mission.html

Swanky Ritz Carlton Neighbors Appeal Mexican Museum Condo Project Up Before Supervisors (http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2013/05/07/swanky_ritz_carlton_neighbors_appeal_mexican_museum_condo_project_up_before_supes.php)

http://sf.curbed.com/uploads/mexican%20museum%20706%20mission%20050713.png


The neighbor drama-rama over the Mexican Museum condo project at 705 Mission continues, as an appeal of the environmental review certification has made its way before the Board of Supervisors today. The project includes a new 550-foot tall, 47-story tower to be adjacent and connected to the existing 10-story Aronson Building, including up to 215 residential units, space for The Mexican Museum, office and ground-floor retail/restaurant uses, and 442 parking spaces. Swanky neighbors from the Ritz Carlton condos complained that the project will bring too many people and too much traffic, but the Planning Commission went ahead with the environmental certification anyway. Now an appeal has been filed by various neighbor groups, like 765 Market Street Residential Owners Association, Friends of Yerba Buena, Tenants and Owners Development Corporation, and Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium. They've bumped up the complaints a couple notches - too much traffic, too many pedestrians will cause crime (nevermind those active streetscapes), the tower will cast shadows on Union Square and Jessie Square, and the project will mess up the historic Aronson Building (even though the HPC already cleared it)....

:blahblah:






c*nts!