San Francisco Development News

[Lordpenguinton]

The Target thing, I think is great, how many major cities have an all in one place to shop in the middle of their downtown? The PUC building is coming along very well, also the City College in Chinatown and various projects in Mission Bay, going good. There still is activity in San Francisco, maybe not marquee projects, but great infill, plus residential on 2nd and King and 3rd and Townsend.

[mexmatt]

I must really be turning into an old fogey. I think of the Metreon as a glitzy NEW building, and ALREADY it's being remodeled? Great news about the grocery store in the Tenderloin. It's about time!

[bayviews]

The Metreon was a bustling place a decade ago. It's alure faded when the huge remodeled Westfield Mall opened on the next block. Hard to compete with that! Hopefully, with the remodel, the Metreon will once again become competetive.

Originally Posted by desertpunk

A glimpse into the new Metreon remodel:

image hosted on flickr

New Metreon Fourth St. Main Entry by Curbed SF, on Flickr.flickr.com/people/23023265@N02/]Curbed SF[/url], on Flickr

[Lordpenguinton]

So out of curiousity how many major cities in the US have a Target or Walmart in their downtowns?

[JoshuaSantos]

Originally Posted by Lordpenguinton

So out of curiousity how many major cities in the US have a Target or Walmart in their downtowns?

Hmm, not many. I know Seattle has a Downtown Target and San Jose has one right at the edge of Downtown.

[612bv3]

Can't wait when the remodel is done. I remember how cool it was when it first opened and then it slowly died. In the last few years I've only gone inside to occasionally watch a movie or use the restroom when I'm at Yerba Buena Gardens.

@Lordpeguinton: There's a CityTarget at downtown Minneapolis.

[Animo]

The Mission District, also commonly called "The Mission", is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, USA, named after the sixth Alta California mission, Mission San Francisco de Asis, San Francisco's oldest building, which is located in the neighborhood.

Location

The principal thoroughfare of the Mission District of San Francisco is Mission Street. Its borders are U.S. Route 101 to the east which forms the boundary between the eastern portion of the district, known as "Inner Mission" and its eastern neighbor, Potrero Hill, while Sanchez Street separates the neighborhoods from Eureka Valley (also known as "The Castro") and Noe Valley to the west. The part of the neighborhood from Valencia Street to Sanchez Street, north of 20th, is known as Mission Dolores. Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) is the southern border which lies next to Bernal Heights, while to the north the neighborhood is separated from South of Market roughly by Duboce Avenue and the elevated highway of the Central Freeway which runs above 13th Street. Also along Mission Street, further south-central are the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission" (not to be confused with the actual Outer Mission neighborhood). The Mission District is part of San Francisco's supervisorial districts 5, 9 and 10.

[Animo]

The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California that serves as its main central business district. The nickname "FiDi" is occasionally employed, analogous to nearby SoMa.

Location

The area is marked by the cluster of high-rise towers that lies between Grant Avenue east of the Union Square shopping district, Sacramento Street and Columbus Street, south of Chinatown and North Beach, and the Embarcadero that rings the waterfront. The city's tallest buildings, including 555 California Street and the Transamerica Pyramid, and some other tall buildings, such as 101 California Street and 345 California Street, are located here.

[Animo]

South of Market (or SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States.

Location

Its borders are Market Street to the north-northwest, the San Francisco Bay to the east, Townsend Street to the south-southeast, and U.S. Route 101 (Central Freeway) to the west-southwest. It is the part of the city in which the street grid runs parallel and perpendicular to Market Street. The eastern edge along the Embarcadero and southeastern corner of this area (where Mission Creek meets the bay) is known as South Beach, a separate neighborhood, and below the Townsend Street border begins Mission Bay. The northeastern corner (where Market Street meets the bay) is often considered part of the Financial District, while the upper western corner of SOMA between Van Ness Avenue and 5th Street, and between Market and Mission Street is considered part of the "skid row" Tenderloin District. The neighborhood contains many smaller parks and sub-neighborhoods such as South Park and Yerba Buena.

While many San Franciscans refer to the neighborhood by its full name, South of Market, there is a trend to shorten the name to SOMA or SoMa, probably in reference to SoHo (South of Houston) in New York City, and, in turn, Soho in London.

Before being called South of Market this area was called "South of the Slot", a reference to the cable cars that ran up and down Market along a slot through which they attached to the cables. While the cable cars have long since disappeared from Market Street, some "old timers" still refer to this area as "South of the Slot".

[Animo]

by Sally Kuchar

The Recreation and Parks Department is gearing up to potentially build and maintain the lawn lined by palm trees in the Music Concourse of Justin Herman Plaza so it's all fine and dandy for (hopefully) two new bocce ball courts. The Recreation and Park Department has been asked to build it, and the Laborers Local 261 Community & Training Foundation has agreed to gift the Parks and Rec Department will the labor and materials to realize the project, which will include two bocce courts totaling approximately 2,400 square feet. The gift of bocce is backed by Supe David Chiu, and the above rough aerial sketch is where its proposed location will be.



Newsom breaks ground on bocce ball courts

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza is about to get a new look.

Mayor Gavin Newsom led the groundbreaking today for two new bocce courts.

The courts will be state of the art, perfect for tournament competition as well as recreational use.

They are expected to be open in a week and a half with private donors footing the $150,000 construction cost.

[Animo]

by Sally Kuchar









Yesterday's post on Metreon's makeover breaking ground produced quite a few negative comments about the current state of the exterior and interior of the building. We think it'd be a good idea if you could see the renderings that Westfield produced of what the finished product will look like (shown above). Additionally, here's what you need to know about Metreon and the remodel: it opened in 1999, was purchased in 2006 by Westfield and Forest City, and in 2010 Westfield acquired ownership from Forest City. Now Westfield is investing $30 million in its revitalization. "Westfield has always believed that the property could be re-imagined to be better integrated into the neighborhood. The enhancements will celebrate beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens, improve the visitor experience, and complement nearby cultural and entertainment activities," said Anthony Ritch, regional senior vice president of Westfield.

Ritch said the new Metreon is nearly 100 percent leased, with a few more tenants to be announced in the months ahead. Street level and Dining Terrace offerings announced include: La Boulange Bakery; Best of Burger; Massage Envy; So Green Yogurt; Chipotle; San Francisco Soup; Mixt Green’s; Brandy Ho’s; Sorabol Korean BBQ; Firewood Grill; Jillian’s (existing); Buckhorn Grill (existing); Sanraku (existing tenant). Additional retailers include: National University/San Francisco Campus; and, Chronicle Books (existing).

The second floor is where the 85,000 square foot CityTarget store will go. A two-story glass entrance on Mission Street will take visitors directly into the new CityTarget. The third floor AMC Theatres and IMAX will undergo a remodel, and they're stay open for business during that time. And the fourth floor will be an event space.

The project is on track to completion in late 2012.

[Animo]

From [Curbed Inbox]

image hosted on flickr


By shinji-ku Flickr

Kabam, a developer of online social games, is moving into 25,000 square feet of office space at the Orrick Building at 405 Howard Street in SoMa. “Kabam’s new San Francisco studio office space reinforces what we already know – that San Francisco is the ideal location for tech companies looking to hire the world’s best technical and creative talent,” said Mayor Lee. Kabam plans to add 150 jobs to this location.

[Animo]

by Sally Kuchar













Big news: 601 Dolores, the church across the street from Dolores Park, has found itself a buyer. But first, a history. The property, which needed massive seismic retrofitting before it was ready for occupancy, was placed on the market in 2007 with an asking price of $2,100,000. Curbed SF discovered that Siamak Akhavan, the owner of a seismic retrofit engineering company, then purchased the 17,000 square foot property and turned it into a 3-bed multimillion-dollar home. In early 2009 601 Dolores was placed back on the market with a very expensive price tag of $9,950,000. No bites, so it was delisted. In 2010 it showed up again, this time with a reduced asking price of $7,490,000. Now the property's in contract.

Marion Quinones, the Director of Development for Children's Day School confirms it: the buyer of 601 Dolores is Children's Day School. The property's now in contract with an accepted offer of $6,600,000.

The space will be used for the Children's Day School's middle school, plus a large gathering/performance space which it plans to make available to community groups, Quinones said. The school currently has a location at 330 Dolores. 601 Dolores will be the school's second location. Quinones also told us that the building will undergo interior renovations to build classrooms, complete additional seismic strengthening and make the building a legit school. Children's Day School will preserve the exterior and the historic integrity of the property. The school has "very happily worked" with Jensen Architects in the past for renovations to 333 Dolores, and hopes to continue that relationship with the renovations at 601 Dolores.

[Animo]

The Castro District, commonly referenced as The Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco, California. It is widely considered America's first gay neighborhood, and is currently the largest and best-known. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activism and events.

Location

San Francisco's gay village is mostly concentrated in the business district that is located on Castro Street from Market Street to 19th Street. It extends down Market Street toward Church Street and on both sides of the Castro neighborhood from Church Street to Eureka Street. Although the greater gay community was, and is, concentrated in the Castro, many gay people live in the surrounding residential areas bordered by Corona Heights, the Mission District, Noe Valley, Twin Peaks, and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods. Some consider it to include Duboce Triangle and Dolores Heights, which both have a strong GLBT presence.

Castro Street, which originates a few blocks north at the intersection of Divisadero and Waller Streets, runs south through Noe Valley, crossing the 24th Street business district and ending as a continuous street a few blocks farther south as it moves toward the Glen Park neighborhood. It reappears in several discontinuous sections before ultimately terminating at Chenery Street, in the heart of Glen Park.

[Animo]

by Sally Kuchar



San Francisco could soon have its own version of Hollywood's walk of fame. You see, a group of residents and merchants in the Castro have selected the first 20 names of the Rainbow Honor Walk, a proposed blocks-long collection of influential gays and lesbians whose names would appear on stars on the sidewalk. The group's proposed that the walk run along Market Street from Octavia Boulevard to Castro Street. Folks like Oscar Wilde, Frida Kahlo and Allen Ginsberg made the final cut. The group decided not to include Harvey Milk in the first round of name selection because they didn't want to "choose the person who already has two, three, four things named for him, let's honor people who haven't," said Isak Lindenauer, co-chair of the project. The plaques could be approved by the Civic Arts Commission in the coming months and could be installed by the end of the year.

[Animo]

Hollywood -- city that it is -- has a walk of fame filled with A-list celebrities: Julia Roberts, Paula Abdul and Herb Alpert, to name a few.

San Francisco -- city that it is -- wants to take that idea put its own spin on it.

A group of Castro District residents and merchants have, after much consternation, chosen the first 20 names of San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk, a proposed blocks-long collection of influential gays and lesbians whose names will be displayed in much the same way the stars of Hollywood are. However, one of the city's most famous residents failed to win a display this time around.

"Putting the names, in a public way, on the sidewalk, one after the other after the other, will show our culture is much more than that," said Isak Lindenauer, co-chair of the project.

The walk could run along Market Street from Octavia Boulevard to Castro Street and down Castro to 19th Street, and eventually feature hundreds of names, said David Perry, another chair.

After much debate, the committee narrowed the first 20 names to a pool of people who were openly gay but are now deceased. They include Allen Ginsberg, Frida Kahlo, Oscar Wilde and Sylvester James, a noted disco star.

But the list does not include Harvey Milk.

But Perry and Lindenauer say leaving Milk off the list was a conscious decision.

"If we can only do 20 to begin with, let's not choose the person who already has two, three, four things named for him, let's honor people who haven't," Lindenauer said, pointing to a list of things in San Francisco honoring Harvey Milk.

"This walk should focus on some of the unsung heroes," Perry said.

The plaques could be approved by the Civic Arts Commission in the coming months and could be installed by the end of the year, Perry said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...#ixzz1MlSVT4wK

[Animo]

San Francisco's Chinatown (Chinese: 唐人街; Mandarin Pinyin: tángrénjiē; Jyutping: tong4 jan4 gaai1) is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in the 1840s, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America. Chinatown is an active enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Popularly known as a "city-within-a-city", it has developed its own government, traditions, over 300 restaurants, and as many shops. There are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Visitors can easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades. In addition to it being a starting point and home for thousands of Chinese immigrants, it is also a major tourist attraction — drawing more visitors annually to the neighborhood than the Golden Gate Bridge.

[Animo]

by Philip Ferrato



Just a Reminder: The Central Subway Route

Opponents of the almost-legendary Central Subway are making new charges of cronyism plus some of the old quid pro quo at the Chinatown Community Development Center, which is getting an $8,000,000 grant to help subsidize new low-income housing. In addition to funds to relocate families whose homes lie in the path of construction, the new funding will help underwrite planned housing at Sansome & Broadway, and opponents of the subway claim the grant is payback for the CCDC's long-standing support of the project. Which makes perfect sense- don't you reward your allies? Sounds like a lesson plan for Civics 101. In case you've forgotten, 2019 is the target date for actual use by passengers. With a route from Caltrains/Fourth Street to Washington & Stockton, the subway's part a plan to connect Bayview (via the T-Third) to the Financial District and Chinatown, and maybe someday to Fisherman's Wharf.

[Animo]

by Andrew Wietstock



The Central Subway has been a politically juiced project from the start. Despite the fact that the new line will create only 4,600 additional trips over existing bus service, and will cost an additional $4 million per year in operating expenditures over existing bus lines, utility relocation began in January, with completion scheduled for 2018

As if to soften the blow of this $1.6 billion behemoth, the SF Arts Commission is now soliciting feedback on public art proposals for the new Chinatown Station. Unsurprisingly, the submissions mostly play on the Chinese heritage of the community, telling the story of Chinese immigration, and highlighting various segments of Chinese culture. Also unsurprisingly, given the contentiousness of this project from the get-go, we are not impressed by what we have seen so far. As the SF Appeal makes clear, this is not a vote. Rather, the SFArts Commission wants your constructive criticism. So at the end of the day, much like the Central Subway itself, whether San Franciscans like the art or not, we're stuck with it.

[Animo]

The Marina District is a neighborhood located in San Francisco, California. The neighborhood sits on the site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, staged after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to celebrate the reemergence of the city. Aside from the Palace of Fine Arts (POFA), all other buildings were demolished to make the current neighborhood.

Location

The area is bounded to the east by Van Ness Avenue and Fort Mason, on the west by Cow Hollow, Lyon Street and the Presidio National Park, on the south by Lombard St that bisects the southern edge of the Marina District. The northern half of the Marina is a shoreline to the San Francisco Bay, and features the Marina Green, a picturesque park adjacent to the municipal boat marina from which the neighborhood takes its name.

Much of the Marina is built on former landfill, and is susceptible to liquefaction during strong earthquakes. This caused extensive damage to the entire neighborhood during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.