New plans have surfaced for the potential skyline-defining development at 10 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood. If built today, the 65-story project would become the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the city, with nearly a thousand apartments in the narrow flatiron parcel. Florida-based Crescent Heights is the project developer.
The revised application was submitted to the city yesterday. Plans for the 1.17-acre parcel will rise 775 feet tall, yielding around 1.5 million square feet of floor area, including 18,800 square feet of commercial retail space. Parking will be provided for six cars and 372 bicycles. The project will add 952 units to the city, including 73 units of affordable housing. Apartment types will vary, with 515 one-bedrooms, 408 two-bedrooms, and 29 three-bedrooms. The new application seeks a streamlined housing approval process through Senate Bill 423, with more housing available through the State Density Bonus program.
10 South Van Ness Avenue elevations, illustration by Arcadis
The 775-foot scale is a significant height increase from initial plans for a 55-story tower and 590 feet tall. However, the residential capacity has decreased from 1,012 units to 952 units. The application shared that the project will offer both rental and ownership options for prospective tenants, though details about how many will be available for sale or rent are not specified.
In a comment shared with YIMBY, Managing Director at Crescent Heights Adam Tartakovsky said that the company is “proposing changes to the 10 South Van Ness project that we hope will help make it a reality. The updated unit mix and alternative building design in our application will better position the project for financing and help bring more than 950 units of new housing in San Francisco.”
In 2022, Crescent Heights made a deal with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to push affordable housing requirements from 10 South Van Ness Avenue off-site to 1979 Mission Street. Crescent purchased the Mission Street site from Maximus Real Estate Partners for $42 million before donating the land to the city. Before this sale, Maximus had pursued an embattled plan for housing since 2013, labeled by local opponents as the proposed “Monster in the Mission.”
10 South Van Ness Avenue floor plans, illustration by Arcadis
Arcadis is responsible for the design of the potential skyline-defining proposal. Illustrations shared by the developers with YIMBY show a flatiron tower with a curtain-wall glass skin. The overall massing is carved out with a 139-foot podium deck and four setbacks cascading back from the corner of 12th Street and South Van Ness Avenue. Additional articulation will be accomplished with columns of private decks. Residential amenities will be spread across the structure with indoor rooms connected to outdoor decks, including on the 2nd floor, levels three through four, the podium-top deck on level 14, and a floor-wide lounge on level 50.
The triangular property is located along South Van Ness Avenue, Market Street, and 12th Street. The project is at the epicenter of the city’s Hub rezoning area plan. The project would become the tallest addition to the cross-section neighborhood.
10 South Van Ness would become the tallest and latest addition to the neighborhood, which is currently anchored by the 382-foot tall 1550 Mission Street by Related California and SOM. Across the street at 30 Otis Street, Align Development opened the 250-foot tall residential tower named Chorus two years ago.
More recently, the Hub district has made news for the uncertain future of Hayes Point at 30 Van Ness Avenue. Lendlease started construction on the 47-story tower in September 2022, but construction would halt in summer 2023 and remains on hold. Throughout 2024, two major stories have kept the paused project in the headlines. First, the Australian developer planned to start closing its overseas construction operations and listed the site for sale. However, city leaders announced a deal with Lendlease last month to remove fees and affordable housing to push the project toward financial feasibility.
10 South Van Ness Avenue, image via Google Satellite
If built today, the project would be the fifth tallest building in San Francisco, just shy of the 779-foot tall landmark office block, formerly known as the Bank of America Center, at 555 California Street. Of course, the proposal is not the tallest in the city pipeline today, though few of those appear likely to start construction soon for varied reasons. The potential tallest project is the supertall residential skyscraper at 50 Main Street, followed by the embattled 910-foot Oceanwide Center project and the recently filed residential tower which might rise 844 feet tall at 530 Howard Street.
Crescent Heights received project approval for 10 South Van Ness Avenue from City Hall in September 2020 and filed extensions in 2021 and 2023. The latest extension gave Crescent Heights a March 2026 deadline to start construction.
The property last sold in 2014 for $58.2 million. The estimated cost and timeline for construction have yet to be shared.
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Build build build!
Build build!
Good write-up.
If nothing else, we are certainly an aspirational city.
Dreaming on, hopefully.
The Hub is going to happen eventually, and it’s going to be awesome. One Oak, 10 SVN (Honda dealership), and the LendLease building (30 Van Ness) seem like the Big Three. Then there’s the French American School Project on Franklin. This area desperately needs more 24/7 foot traffic. A couple thousand units will certainly help.
I love the idea of the city moving towards multiple clusters of towers. I count at least five currently in the works.
– Financial district north of Market (TransAmerica)
– Tech District South of Market (Salesforce Tower)
– The Hub / Van Ness
– 4th and King / Caltrain / Northern Mission Bay
– Geary and Masonic (esp once new BART line goes there)
@Panhandle Pro new BART line to Geary and Masonic?
Yep. Google “Geary/19th Ave Subway.” They are continuing to move forward. Going to take decades, sadly, but my bet is that it happens.
Looks like they removed the provision for the Muni entrance relocation? That’s a shame, it would be nice to have a brand new, indoor entrance to Muni.
Nice-
Happy to hear it’s still (slowly) moving forward, but not super excited to see more ‘all glass’ towers. I assume this design/rendering is fairly unrefined.
Code is pretty restricitve towards window to wall ratios like these, would not be surprised if the facade changes, unless they are ready to shell out capital to compensate.
BUILD BUILD BUILD
Build it!
A little off-topic, but wouldn’t it be good to remodel the Westin Tower on Un Sq? That blank wall facing the tenderloin is hideous…
Great news!! This project should move forward and should not be cancelled by the city. The project should not be cancelled by NIMBY opponents who want their idea of their desired neighborhood architecture and building character. In case financing changes for the developers, the city needs to approve the delays so the property is built without any reduction in the number of units!
But what of All Star Donuts!?*****!
1.17 acres can fit a thousand homes.
Remember that.
This is a great improvement as it is getting rid of the studios and increasing the number of two bedrooms by a large amount, and three bedrooms by a small amount. Larger units are in demand right now.