The Heart's Still Beating

New Developments in San Francisco Breed Optimism

By Thomas York

Photo by Paul Napolitano

Despite the loss of 300,000 jobs the past three years-attributable mainly to the downdraft in the technology sector-Bay Area construction has remained remarkably resilient, especially within the city limits of San Francisco.

John McNulty, founding principal of MBH Architects in Alameda, said a spate of projects in San Francisco represents "no small amount of risk-taking" on the part of local developers.

"There is something unique about San Francisco," said McNulty, whose firm co-designed 200 Brannan Street, a $70 million residential-office development near what was once San Francisco's bustling commercial waterfront. "There is always plenty of optimism in this city."

One new retail project-Westfield San Francisco Centre-promises to add another retail jewel in the crown of the city's mid-Market Street shopping district.

Developers Forest City Enterprises and Westfield America joined to break ground in early November on the 1.5-million-sq.-ft., $410 million retail project at Fifth and Market streets, within the retail district often ranked as the nation's second busiest.

Bloomingdale's, the up-market department store operator, will anchor the finished project, which involves demolishing the now-outdated Emporium building.

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The rotunda and dome of the existing building will be retained and raised two floors, then incorporated into the new structure. This mid-rise building will contain 200 stores, nine movie screens and 235,000 sq. ft. of office space. Completion is set for fall 2006.

The retail complex will join the San Francisco Centre next door, with Nordstrom's department store on the top floors. Westfield Design and Construction of Santa Monica is the general contractor. New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox is the architect.

The developers said that once completed, the two retail complexes would be the largest urban shopping experience west of the Mississippi.

Retention of history has also played a role in the construction of 200 Brannan Street, which features renovation of a century-old poured concrete warehouse and construction of a new nine-story residential building atop a two-level garage.

The $70 million project will provide 240 units of new housing, plus 130,000 sq. ft. of retail space. Construction, which got under way in March 2002, is set for completion next month.

Eric Golangco, project manager at Miami, Fla.-based Lennar Homes, said crews stumbled on to two pieces of San Francisco's colorful past while excavating for the underground parking structure.

Workers uncovered an Irish pub, which required a "work-around" while archeologists surveyed the site. Digging deeper, workers then uncovered the remnants of a Chinese fishing village dating back to the Gold Rush era, a find that again brought archeologists to the site.

"We were able to work at other parts of the project while archeologists were working, so the discoveries did not stop us from staying on schedule," Golangco said.

MBH is the architect for the mid-rise structure while Kwan Henmi Architects of San Francisco is the architect for the warehouse's condo conversion.

History also plays an important role in the renovation of the Olympic City Club, the oldest private athletic club west of the Mississippi.

San Francisco-based

Plant Construction Co., which completed a $50 million renovation of the venerable Ferry Building last spring, began work in May 2002 on the $56 million project. Completion is set for October 2005.

The work involves replacing an existing parking structure, which features construction of a swimming pool 60 ft. below ground level plus the addition of a locker room on the floor above. Six levels of parking will be built above the pool and locker.

The remainder of the project involves gutting the interior of the club's main building, then adding seismic upgrades in the reconstruction.

San Francisco-based Hornberger & Worstell Inc. is the architect.

Plant also serves as the contractor for the Jessie Square Garage project on Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets.

That $28 million project, sponsored by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and Millennium Partners, involves the construction of a four-story, underground parking structure. When completed in September, the garage will serve as a podium for the future Jewish and Mexican museums.

Plant demolished a 96-year-old building that served as a PG&E substation but retained the terra-cotta south wall measuring 50 ft. by 210 ft.

The historic wall will be incorporated into the design of the Jewish Museum, said Don Libbey, Plant's project manager.

"It will be suspended in midair on a steel frame" until the garage and basement are completed and brought to ground level, he said.

New York-based Gary Edward Handel & Associates is the architect for the garage portion of the three-phase project.

Located near the Transway Terminal, 80 Natoma will be a 48-story residential tower with 431 units. The $183 million structure is scheduled for completion in October 2006. rendering courtesy of Heller-Manus Architects

Meanwhile, San Francisco is awash with multiunit residential projects that could add 22,000-plus units to the city's housing stock over the next decade.

San Francisco-based Myers Development Co. began construction in November on a $183 million, 431-unit residential high-rise called 80 Natoma.

The 48-story building is sited near the Transbay Terminal, which has long served as the western terminus for the East Bay public bus system.

San Mateo-based Webcor Builders is the general contractor. The design architect is Heller-Manus Architects of San Francisco, while the architect of record is Kwan Henmi.

Jack Myers, chairman and CEO of Myers Development, said his project exemplifies the type of multiunit, residential high-rise structures that will dot the cityscape in the 21st Century.

Myers said such high-rise projects will keep residents in the city and prevent flight to distant suburbs. "Given that land is such a scarce resource, San Francisco is becoming a vertical city," Myers added.

The project is scheduled for completion in October 2006.

In addition, Myers said his firm is planning to build a mix of office space and affordable housing on a 2.8-acre site at 10th and Market streets.

Supervisors have approved the term sheet for the $150 million project that would include 440,000 sq. ft. of office space for municipal employees now scattered in various office buildings surrounding City Hall, Myers said.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said that the strength of construction in the private sector has much to do with the civic projects completed during his administration that began in the mid-1990s.

"Thanks to the generosity of San Francisco voters who have invested in this city time and time again through bond issues, we have brought on line several projects that will keep San Franciscans working and help usher in our economic recovery," Brown said. He included among those projects the renovation of City Hall and the Ferry Building, as well as the extension of streetcar service along Third Street.

MBH's McNulty said the private construction pipeline will remain strong for years, in large part due to the entrepreneurial spirit among developers.

"There's always a sense of doing something in San Francisco even when the economy is in a slump," he added.