The San Francisco Planning Department has recently published a notice of an application for new construction at 3275-3333 San Bruno Avenue in the city’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood. The application aims to fill a narrow parcel overlooking U.S. Highway 101 with 45 apartments and a private courtyard. Schaub Li Architects is responsible for the application and design, filing on behalf of the property owner.
3333 San Bruno Avenue aerial view, rendering by Schaub Li Architects
3333 San Bruno Avenue, illustration by Smith & Smith Landscape Architects
The notice describes the complex as having 45 apartments, a two-unit reduction from previous applications we covered. Unit sizes will vary with 26 one-bedrooms, 18 two-bedrooms, and one three-bedroom. Of the 45 units, five will be deed-restricted as below-market-rate housing. Parking will be included for 14 cars and 52 bicycles.
Schaub Li Architects has worked with Smith & Smith Landscape Architects on two private open-air courtyards accessible only to residents and guests. Illustrations show a familiar architectural style from the three buildings, with two-story boxy bay windows and linear rooflines.
3275 San Bruno Avenue now-demolished storybook-style commercial structure circa 2019, image via Google Street View
The proposal looks to merge six vacant parcels into a 0.58-acre parcel. The site features an easement for a large billboard overlooking US Highway 101. Construction is estimated to cost around $8.5 million, a figure not inclusive of all development costs. The timeline for work has not yet been shared.
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Kudos to a developer for adding so much housing in a thoughtful way to a skinny difficult site. Would I prefer it be larger and have more housing? Yes. Do I think it’s a good-looking project? Yes.
Imagine a Bay Area without a single billboard. The trash AI ones don’t even have a human making the designs anymore. Just computer slop polluting the skyline.
I actually agree with you again!
I would be fine with a ban on billboards. Sao Paulo did it with great success.
Well said.
I like billboards a lot. Even when I don’t like the advertisement itself, billboards generate economic activity, they radiate big-city energy, and they’re a great (and largely untapped) stable source of infrastructure maintenance revenue. I’m not saying to put up billboards in Yosemite or on the Golden Gate Bridge, but along existing commercial corridors and major highways that already have signage sneaking into the corner of every evening view, we could probably do with a lot more billboards.
I wonder if anyone will use the courtyard, it’ll be so noisy with the highway there.
DOA in my opinion. A wall of dense vegetation would be a better park space for the residents. But I am sure the billboard is restricting some of it.
Difficult site due easement issues and of course the freeway at the rear. Rents will very likely be on the low end of market rate. I guess that’s a good thing. ‘Affordable’ by design / location
That’s right along my daily commute route. Good spot for demsification in a neighborhood with lots of growth potential.
One suggestion, though: Why a measly three floors? Imagine these as a tight residential complex of twin 11-floor towers. Or even more — why not 30 floors? These could be a soaring, beautiful modern nameplate for the city at its most-used southern gateway. And a big population injection would be a very welcome thing for the beleaguered businesses on San Bruno Ave. (Just be sure to get the soundproofing right.)