Formal permits have been filed for plans to replace the vacant Empire Theater with housing at 85 West Portal Avenue in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood. The nine-story proposal would add several dozen apartments above ground-floor retail in the heart of the low-slung neighborhood. DM Development is overseeing the application on behalf of the property owner, Empire West Portal LLC.
The roughly 112-foot-tall structure is expected to yield around 113,670 square feet, including approximately 94,400 square feet of housing, 13,300 square feet for parking, and 4,100 square feet for ground-level retail. Unit sizes will vary with 16 one-bedrooms, 36 two-bedrooms, and 12 three-bedrooms. The ground-floor and basement garage will provide capacity for 27 cars and 64 bicycles.
85 West Portal Avenue, rendering by Handel Architects
85 West Portal Avenue facade elevation, illustration by Handel Architects
The complex will include 64 apartments, of which 10 will be deed-restricted below-market-rate. Five of the affordable units will be deed-restricted for households earning 50% of the area’s median income, and five for households earning 120% of the area’s median income. This allows the applicant to invoke Assembly Bill 1287 and the State Density Bonus law to achieve a 100% density bonus. The application is also buoyed by AB 2011 and Senate Bill 330 to streamline the approval process.
Handel Architects is responsible for the design. Updated renderings show an articulated complex with distinct color palettes, terracotta and off-white concrete panels, to appear like two structures overlooking West Portal Avenue and Vicente Street. Illustrations show the strange inclusion of the ornamental cornice above the future retail space, with the rest of the century-old theater to be demolished.
The structure will cover most of the irregularly shaped 0.4-acre property, aside from a small portion directly behind 69 West Portal Avenue. The L-shaped floor plan will have the retail and residential lobby facing West Portal Avenue, and the garage ramp on Vicente Street.
85 West Portal Avenue site plan, illustration by Handel Architects
85 West Portal Avenue, image via Google Street View
The former cinema operated in the West Portal neighborhood from 1925 through 2021, opening first as the Portal Theater and rebranding as the Empire Theater in 1936.
The project timeline has not yet been shared, though DM Development estimated completion could occur as early as 2028. Construction is estimated to cost around $45 million, a figure not inclusive of all development costs.
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