The draft environmental study has been published for the eye-catching 41-story office/hotel tower and a replacement for Fire Station No. 13 at 447 Battery Street and 530 Sansome Street in San Francisco’s Financial District. The proposal shows optimism from the developer that the demand for high-end office space will return. Related California and the City are jointly responsible for the project in a public-private partnership.
The proposal includes a 41-story office tower at 530 Sansome Street and a replacement fire station at 447 Battery Street. The 574-foot tall skyscraper will yield around 649,500 square feet in total, with roughly 350,000 square feet of office space, 194,750 square feet for the 200-key hotel, and 7,400 square feet of retail. Parking will be included for 74 cars and 104 bicycles.
Fire Station No. 13 at 447 Battery Street, design by SOM
530 Sansome Street tower-top detail, rendering by SOM
The new San Francisco Fire Department Station will be roughly 57 feet tall across four floors, with 18 parking spaces in a basement garage and a capacity for three fire engines. The structure will include a kitchen, dormitory beds, officer suites, a library, and a fitness center.
Related has been working on plans to redevelop the fire station since 2019, first pursuing two variants that would reach over 200 feet tall. The plans would have been a 19-story commercial infill with limited office space and a 200-key hotel or a 21-story apartment tower with 256 units. Each iteration has included a replacement for Fire Station No. 13.
Plans for the 41-story iteration were first shared in August last year. In a contemporary press release, Related California’s Residential Principal Matt Witte asserts that the plan “demonstrates our confidence in San Francisco’s long-term recovery.” The development will rise across from the Transamerica Pyramid, which SHVO recently reopened with a refurbished interior by Foster & Partners. The iconic tower’s recent success has become an example in San Francisco that high-end and modern office space can succeed in attracting new tenants.
530 Sansome Street seen between Embarcadero Center and the Transamerica Pyramid, rendering by SOM
530 Sansome Street office entrance, rendering by SOM
New renderings provided by the project team give a few new views of the skyscraper designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill. The glass tower will feature a gentle tapering along the wider walls, with seven setbacks across the 41 floors. Pastel-green metal panels will complement the curtain wall glass. The tower’s three-story podium will feature thicker fluted metal panels. The thicker panels will visually express a strong foundation and contrast with the thin vertical green lines extending up the tower.
The approval agreement includes around $4.5 million for the affordable housing project in Chinatown at 774 Pacific Street. According to reporting by J.K. Dineen for the San Francisco Chronicle, Related California will pay half of that sum once the application for 530 Sansome Street receives final approval.
530 Sansome Street South and West facade elevations, illustration by SOM
530 Sansome Street, image via Google Street View
The 0.57-acre property will cover almost the entire block bound by Sansome Street, Battery Street, Washington Street, and Merchant Street. Construction is expected to start as early as 2027, with work lasting around three years and three months from groundbreaking to completion. The cost is expected to be around $750 million.
With a Draft Environmental Impact Report now published, the plans will be up for review in public hearings scheduled for April 2nd with the Historic Preservation Commission, and April 10th with the Planning Commission. Public feedback on the document will be used to inform the future Final EIR, which is required for final approval.
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
YES! Its gorgeous!I love the mixed use and height! It fits in and stands out! Beautiful design! Lets see if it gets built. I feel this lot has been talked about A lot!
Truly a stunning design, I really hope this project moves forward! The streetscape along Washington will be vastly improved if this building is built.
As soon as it get built this will shrink to half some communities in SF dont Like big buildings I dont get how they live in SF if thats what downtown meant to be.
As Grace Jones said, “I’ve seen that base before.” Okay skin (a neutral neighbor for Transam) but the bottom 3 floors look dark (Washington and Merchant would benefit from more reflected light) and uninviting (monumental scale and lack of transparency on narrow sidewalks).
Very curious if there are related plans to turn Merchant St into a fully pedestrianized space. I see lots of people and some trees placed there in the rendering – hoping it’s more than wishful thinking!
I thought that environmental review was killing projects left and right, yet this project seems to have gone through the CEQA process and emerged on the other side, ready to build.
Project like this should not have through the CEQA process specially in dense urban areas. CEQA is now mainly used to kill environmental sound projects, which defeats its primary purpose.