The San Francisco Planning Department has approved plans for a 67-story mixed-use skyscraper at 10 South Van Ness Avenue. The proposal seeks to replace a two-story commercial building with 1,019 apartments, ground-floor retail, and basement parking in what would become the third-tallest building in the city. This approval comes soon after reports that the developer, Crescent Heights, hopes to start construction as early as 2027.
Crescent Heights has been working for over a decade to develop the site, with the first planning application submitted to the city in mid-2015. Initial plans for a 55-story tower were eventually granted approval in 2023. Additionally, the project is partially responsible for enabling 1979 Mission Street to become a fully affordable housing development, which is set to start demolition work next month.
Crescent Heights purchased the Mission Street lot from Maximus in 2021 for $40 million, then transferred ownership of the 1.3-acre parcel to the city to satisfy off-site affordable housing requirements. The agreement allowed Crescent Heights to develop a fully market-rate skyscraper at 10 South Van Ness Avenue. However, with the latest plans, 10 South Van Ness Avenue is expected to include 89 below-market-rate units.
Reporting by Douglas Sams for the San Francisco Business Times estimates that construction on the tower could start in 2027. Sams noted that the developer’s decision to push forward plans at 10 South Van Ness Avenue is yet another indication that developers are seeing housing demand increase in the city.
10 South Van Ness massing elevation, illustration via Arcadis
10 South Van Ness floor plans, illustration via Arcadis
Project details have been updated since our previous coverage, including a reduction in dwelling units and an increase in height. The tower is now expected to reach 820 feet tall, including the rooftop mechanical structures. The skyscraper will yield over 1.6 million square feet, including 1.56 million square feet of housing, 59,010 square feet for parking, and 11,820 square feet of ground-floor retail. Unit sizes will vary, with 143 junior one-bedrooms, 465 one-bedrooms, 305 two-bedrooms, and 106 three-bedrooms. The two-level basement garage will have capacity for 255 cars, with ground-floor space dedicated for 388 bicycles.
If built today, 10 South Van Ness Avenue would become the third-tallest building in the city, ten feet taller than 181 Fremont Street but shorter than the 853-foot-tall Transamerica Pyramid. Only three other projects in the city’s pipeline could exceed these plans, including the 843-foot-tall residential tower at 524 Howard Street, the troubled and recently sold Oceanwide Center, where existing plans aim to reach 910 feet, and the 1,225-foot-tall supertall office tower proposed for 77 Beale Street.
10 South Van Ness ground-level floor plan, illustration via Arcadis
Los Angeles-based architecture firm Arcadis is listed as responsible for the design. The architect has not included much information about the overall design, with just one rendering showing a curtain-walled glass-wrapped tower rising from a single-story triangular base and an 11-story podium. The tower element will feature a series of narrow setbacks to create outdoor amenity space across the tower.
The modified iteration was first submitted in early March this year. The application has used Senate Bill 423 and the State Density Bonus law to achieve such a high residential capacity and streamline the approval process.
10 South Van Ness area context, illustration via Arcadis
Aside from the expected groundbreaking date, the estimated cost and timeline for construction have not yet been shared.
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The Hub has been leading us on with proposed developments for years! I would say I’ll believe it when I see a crane, but that already happened and the crane was dismantled, leaving us gaslit, again.
That crane was to repair the foundation that had already been started, and to make some other needed touch-ups to the fencing/paths around.
Basically, reinforcing the hole they have, but instead of building up, maintaining the hole’s integrity. (They posted an article a while back)
So with all the new proposals for housing, what are the prospects for that hole to get filled with the development that was begun there? Seems like it would be easier to finish what was started than to start fresh across the street (Market and Van Ness). I know, different developer but are they blind to the opportunity that others are beginning to see?
I say the project is a mess in its own, and it doesn’t know what it wants to be.
Changing developers is a big undertaking; shifting the entire program AFTER the foundation has been started is not as simple as picking up right where we left off. Look at the Chicago Spire and how long it took to fill that hole. It’s usually faster for a team to start new on a project, not tied up in paperwork.
Some were saying the Foster tower downtown should push for higher. Many don’t realize foundations can’t just be hijacked and reworked. You need to reengineer the entire process, and many times it’s maybe not worth the effort.
Ignoring the mess of what is financing and litigation, there’s a reason LA has had a shell of a tower complex overshadowing the conference center. The smart thing would be for the city to step it up and take over the project, but this is LA we are talking about, not a shining star on doing what’s smart.
Looks pretty cool. There sure are a lot of new developments entering the pipeline, but not a lot of cranes out there yet.
How about… we start construction as soon as the demo is done?
This thing needs to plug that gap. And I would hate for a hole in the ground to become an indefinite one like its neighbor across the street. Commit to foundation work in 2026!
exciting! really cool to picture how much more vibrant this stretch of town would be with 1,019 apartments here, 319 apartments at One Oak, 333 condos at Hayes Point and 101 apartments at 1687 Market.
Almost 1,800 units total, and probably 4k people.
Looks great!! Let’s go!!
I miss the Fillmore West.
From ChatGPT: 10 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco was the historic site of the Fillmore West concert venue — one of the most legendary rock music halls of the late 1960s.
Wikipedia
🎸 Fillmore West (1968–1971)
The building at 10 S Van Ness Ave originally housed a dance hall that became known as The Carousel Ballroom and then was taken over by famed concert promoter Bill Graham in 1968.
Everything Explained Today
Graham renamed it Fillmore West and it quickly became a major venue on the rock circuit, hosting huge acts like the Grateful Dead, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, and many others during its run.
SVN West –
+1
Fillmore West operated from July 5, 1968 until July 4, 1971 and was a central part of San Francisco’s counter-culture music scene.