The San Francisco Planning Commission has approved plans for the 72-story residential skyscraper to rise at 524-530 Howard Street in SoMa, San Francisco. The application was streamlined with Assembly Bill 2011, entitling the developer to construct the tallest potential residential skyscraper in the city. Bayhill Ventures, led by former Hines managing director Paul Paradis, is responsible for the project.
530 Howard Street seen from Salesforce Park, rendering by Pickard Chilton
AB 2011, signed into law last year, provides a by-right approval for affordable housing or projects with 15% affordable housing on land zoned for commercial or retail use. The bill gives a streamlined ministerial approval pathway like Senate Bill 35 by making certain projects CEQA-exempt and providing a limited 180-day timeframe for approval.
Now, the project is scheduled for review by the San Francisco Planning Commission. The commission will consider approval for an amendment to the planning code that waives the Transit Center District Open Space Impact Fee for the pedestrian bridge. The bridge will connect the skyscraper with the Transbay Transit Center’s rooftop park. In a comment shared with YIMBY, Paradis said “this ordinance enables the pedestrian bridge to Salesforce Park, which is a key part of the project.” The in-person meeting is scheduled to start this afternoon, October 24th, at noon. For more information, visit the meeting agenda here.
530 Howard Street public terrace, rendering by Pickard Chilton
530 Howard Street pedestrian view along Natoma Street, rendering by Pickard Chilton
The 843-foot tall structure will yield around 882,250 square feet, with 730,975 square feet for housing and 48,000 square feet for parking. Once complete, the tower will contain 672 apartments, with sizes ranging from 424 one-bedrooms, 180 two-bedrooms, and 68 three-bedrooms. Parking will be included for 149 cars and 456 bicycles. The plan will include 68 affordable units for households earning at most 50% of the area’s median income.
House & Robertson Architects is the executive architect, and Pickard Chilton is the design architect. Edmonds + Lee Architects is responsible for the interior design. The dark tower facade will frame the floor-to-ceiling windows with steel-beam panels. Above the four-story garage deck, the pedestrian bridge will connect to the fifth-floor concierge, office lobby, and amenity lounge. A spiral staircase will connect the lounge to the sixth-floor indoor pool and fitness center.
530 Howard Street residential entry, rendering by Pickard Chilton
530 Howard Street view from across the bay, rendering by Pickard Chilton
530 Howard Street, image by Google Street View
The 0.4-acre lot is located between 1st and 2nd Street on the south side of Transbay Park. Future residents would be less than ten minutes away from the Montgomery Street BART Station and Market Street by foot.
City records show the property last sold in 2003 for $4.1 million. New building permits for the skyscraper were filed in November of last year but have yet to be issued. This August, unrelated permits have been approved to allow the offices to be used for a parcel delivery service related to cannabis products.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Yay! I love to see the city and its skyline grow!
0.4 acres is enough land for 672 homes. Remember that.
BS!
Is there any news on 45-53rd 3rd St? This project was approved relatively fast. I’d like to see those parking structures in downtown made into housing ASAP!
668 bedrooms in this one. Does anyone know the typical number of people per bedroom? In some cases there are couples, but in other cases there might be a spare bedroom with no one sleeping in it.
I would imagine 668 bedrooms would be around 1,000 people, given couples?
The building has 988 bedrooms.
Pointy top pretty please!
I like this. Hope it’s seismically stable!
Glad you reminded the engineer to consider this!
So much for the anti-Manhattanization movement.
lol
Manhattan is an amazing, vibrant place. Bring it on! Please! (and please include the transit system)
Nothing wrong with Manhattan. It’s a big city! We’re just minor league here.
Manhattan is what I wish SF could be. Walkable, transit rich, dense and full of fun! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of!
Queens the best borough, go along the 7 line and you’ll see a bit of the world at every stop.
What you meant is ‘anti-human’.
NIMBYs are anti-human prosperity.
That movement is the reason San Francisco has become one of the most expensive and unaffordable cities on the planet. No surprise that it’s losing momentum
NIMBY: “This is ugly. No building less than a century old is not ugly.”
Me : “There is nothing uglier than a NIMBY’s soul.”
I would like to see the other low-slung old buildings to the right of the property (from streetview) also be demolished, so that this skyscraper can be 3 times as wide, and thus a lot more homes.
Yes, to the demolition of the low-rise buildings but invite another design instead! Let’s move SF into the 21st century yaya
I worked at 400 Howard for almost 20 years and walked by there almost every day. Great to see this development finally moving – I seem to recall they had a “coming soon” billboard for residential on the parking lot about 7-8 years ago (rolling my eyes)! While I agree the rest of that long block of Howard from 1st to 2nd should be developed, and I think there’s a couple of sites in the process, I think a couple of these tall, skinny towers are a nice visual break from thick office-style towers. Small sites make interesting design challenges!
672 apartments … but parking for only 149 cars. But space for 456 bikes. LOL
I’m sure it isn’t your personal preference, but one of the appeals of living in eastern SF is being able to walk to work and live car free or car lite.
Even if you don’t want to live here, many would. Nobodies forcing you to live here.
For the vast majority of people who would live in this building, their main transit option would be the Montgomery Street BART station only a few blocks away.