SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[timbad]

here is a diagram with renderings of the parcels in the northwest corner, which include the roundabout and the rest of Mission Creek Park fronting the houseboats (I wasn't aware that the park at this end would include parking spaces presumably for the houseboat residents, tho that makes sense):



... but it's still hard to see any of that in the current state of affairs. looking southeast from Channel, along what used to be Sixth Street:



and looking east from approx the RR crossing at Seventh, down what will be the outbound road from the roundabout. I assume they are wrapping up the sewer work since we have sprouted a new fire hydrant:

[timbad]

these are the two parcels in the far southeast corner of MB adjacent to the ugly Fibrogen building, along Terry François Blvd. the one on the left is the more northern of the two; the other is the one that currently contains the Bluepeter building.

[timbad]

OK, that's all for the Visitors Center... there is more there, mostly about the initial planning process and concepts for the area - interesting, but since that was not new I have not included it here.

other news and views from around the area...

here is a shot of the medical center site from the South St Garage (in the distance you can see that a crane has been set up at the large mixed-use development down Third St at about 20th St):



speaking of cranes, both have been set up at the Radiance IIa site!! (here in the distance. in the foreground you can see they are still working on the south side sidewalk on Channel)



here looking east from Fourth St, with Radiance I behind them:



both Nektar (seen here) and Bayer have their names on their respective halves of the ugly building south of the Commons (and employees entering and exiting), and the CVRB seems to be open for business:



here is a shot of the construction along what will be Long Bridge St, which parallels Channel to the south. here looking southwest:



in other random news:

- the Commons parcel in front of the Nektar/Bayer building is still fenced off
- the stretch of North Mission Bay Blvd between Third and Fourth is now open
- 16th Street is still half blocked off as underground work continues on both sides of Third St

[timbad]

agh, forgot one thing from the Visitors Center:

diagrams of the next two Commons parcels west of Third. the lower one is the one in front of the Diller Cancer building and the CVRB, the upper one is the adjacent one to the west:



I guess I should have said at the beginning I am not sure how current or final these diagrams are. for example, for the lower parcel, the pump house, completed, was not constructed in the location the diagram has for it (in real life it is on the right-hand end about between where the redwood boxes are), so at least some of this seems subject to change.

in any case, here is a shot looking west down what will be approximately the sidewalk along South Mission Bay Blvd adjacent to the upper parcel above:

[patriotizzy]

I'm digging these updates. Thanks a lot man! Are these open spaces due to the America's Cup? The boat racing event thing.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

I'm digging these updates. ... Are these open spaces due to the America's Cup? ...

I'm glad if they are helpful!

as for the open space parcels, some open space has been part of the overall Mission Bay plan in some form for decades, though their current planned sizes and locations did not become finalized until about ten years ago or so, and their design somewhat less than that (when I moved back into the area in 2007 I was handed a map that already had little versions of some of these designs on it - this one).

I don't think the America's Cup was ever going to impact any of Mission Bay proper - an early version of the arrangement with the City had them on Piers 48 and 50, some of which belong to the adjacent (to the northeast) seawall lot 337 that the SF Giants are trying to put a development plan together for. I think under the revised agreement there are no longer any Cup facilities planned for those piers?

[KVNBKLYN]

Originally Posted by timbad

first, there were a couple of aerial 'before' pictures which help to show just how far we've come in the development of the area. from the best I can remember about when things started changing, I think these must be from about 1996.

- the massive remnant of the stub of 280 which had been intended to continue on through the current ballpark site to connect with the Embarcadero Freeway. by the time these photos were taken, it had already been amputated and the new off-ramps onto King are in place.

I worked on Townsend from 1996 to 1998 and I distinctly remember the King Street widening and connection to 280 was still under construction in 1996. I think it opened in 1997. Until that time all cars exited onto Berry Street and the 280 "main lanes" continued as a stub all the way to Third Street. The section between Third and Fourth was the first to go, I believe. The rest was demolished mostly after I stopped working in the area, so I'm guessing it started in 1998 and finished up in 1999. I also remember the warehouses between King and Berry where the Ballpark is now had only been partially demolished in 1996 (I helped someone move out of their office in one of those buildings in 1996).

So this is a small quibble, but I think these photos are from 1997.

And it's great to see the old RV park on Townsend between Third and Fourth! That was always such a freaky sight on my way to work in the morning.

Despite what many say about the quality of architecture in Mission Bay, the redevelopment has certainly been an enormous improvement for the area.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by KVNBKLYN

So this is a small quibble, but I think these photos are from 1997.

thanks KVNBKLYN, I bet you're right.

[WildCowboy]

Thanks for the updates, timbad! I'd been waiting with anticipation for some new photos, and you certainly delivered.

Particularly excited to see the Radiance cranes up.

[patriotizzy]

Originally Posted by timbad

I'm glad if they are helpful!

as for the open space parcels, some open space has been part of the overall Mission Bay plan in some form for decades, though their current planned sizes and locations did not become finalized until about ten years ago or so, and their design somewhat less than that (when I moved back into the area in 2007 I was handed a map that already had little versions of some of these designs on it - this one).

I don't think the America's Cup was ever going to impact any of Mission Bay proper - an early version of the arrangement with the City had them on Piers 48 and 50, some of which belong to the adjacent (to the northeast) seawall lot 337 that the SF Giants are trying to put a development plan together for. I think under the revised agreement there are no longer any Cup facilities planned for those piers?

Very cool. Crazy how long things can take to get going. Even when it's just a bunch of small parks that don't require as much attention as buildings, and their impact. Thanks again

[WildCowboy]

Still not sure if Pier 70 talk should be included here (possibly officially expanding the title of the thread to add it) or if it might better belong in a new thread, but since Pier 70 seems destined to almost become an annex of Mission Bay in some regards, I'll keep adding things here.

Six big developers vie for San Francisco's Pier 70

Six teams are in the running to redevelop Pier 70, a project that represents the next frontier of commercial development in San Francisco, according to the Port of San Francisco.
The groups responding to the port’s request for qualification were: Build Inc.; Forest City Development California; Mission Bay Development Group; San Francisco Waterfront Partners; TMG Partners, partnering with the Sobrato Organization; and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. All of the developers responding have built projects in San Francisco while the Veterans Affairs agency has been looking to build a new San Francisco medical center near Mission Bay.

A lot of interest and a nice group of teams involved, several of which have participated in either development of or proposals in Mission Bay and the Port's nearby Seawall Lot 337. I've mentioned the VA in this thread previously: They've outgrown Fort Miley and are looking to relocate in up to 2 million sf of space. They were looking at the land that Salesforce grabbed, so they'd really like to lock up Pier 70 I'm sure. Locating so close to UCSF's Mission Bay hospital would be a major, major plus for both them and UCSF.

[Gordo]

Thanks for the timbad and WildCowboy!

WildCowboy - is the VA looking to relocate all operations from Fort Miley and close that location down? I assume so, with your 2 million sf number, but I was still curious.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by Gordo

WildCowboy - is the VA looking to relocate all operations from Fort Miley and close that location down? I assume so, with your 2 million sf number, but I was still curious.

Yes, they are looking at a complete relocation away from Fort Miley. The current facility is 1.1 million sf, and they're looking for 2 million at a new campus, although they could do away with less if they get some synergies with UCSF to consolidate some services.

The Fort Miley facility can't really be expanded, and they're already short hundreds of parking spaces there, so relocation is their plan of action, as they likely don't want to go to a split-campus plan if they don't have to.

Not clear what would happen to Fort Miley, although suggestions have been turning it over to the Presidio Trust or doing a land swap with the city somehow.

[WildCowboy]

Grabbed this shot from the UCSF neurosciences building webcam...exterior starting to come together.

[1977]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Grabbed this shot from the UCSF neurosciences building webcam...exterior starting to come together.

Awesome. Thanks for the update.

[1977]

Here are some renderings and info about SFPD's new Mission Bay building.

SFPD's Mission Bay building could set design tone

Whatever its other virtues, San Francisco's young Mission Bay neighborhood has never won praise for architecture of dignified heft. Now that might change, courtesy of an unlikely source: the city's Police Department.

The folks in blue are the future tenants of a $164 million, 285,000-square-foot public safety building whose conceptual designs were released without fanfare this month. The question now is whether the earnest but elegant potential of the design will be realized - or if what gets built instead is another missed opportunity in the 300-acre redevelopment district.

The proposed half-block complex at Third and China Basin streets would include a neighborhood fire station and police station as well as the city's new police headquarters. Plans also include restoring a 6,600-square-foot brick firehouse on the southwest corner of the site for community use.

Where the fire station is snug and almost domestic, with a pitched roof and diminutive stone arches, the public safety building would be a large collage of right-angled forms.

One 90-foot-high wing would line Third Street north of the fire station, five stories of glass-skinned office space perched on a concrete base. Its companion would extend the length of the site's west edge, with one less floor of offices and taller concrete walls that hide a garage for police vehicles.

Described in these bare terms, the block could be the latest leaden addition to Mission Bay's blocky landscape. And with security concerns ruling out ground-floor retail, the sidewalk environment could be as bleak as many of the laboratory buildings at the neighborhood's UCSF campus.

Delicate rigor

Fortunately, project architects and the planners at the Redevelopment Agency recognize that a bureaucratic bunker is the last thing Mission Bay needs.

The design team is headed by the San Francisco office of HOK, the world's third-largest architecture firm. But the stylistic approach owes much to the local firm on the team, Mark Cavagnero Associates: There's the same delicate rigor found at Cavagnero's Sava Pool in the Parkside district, or his ODC Theatre in the Mission.

The concrete base that provides a shield would be syncopated with deep vertical slits, for instance, while the glass facade above would be enlivened by varied patterns of clear and translucent glass. Most imaginative of all, each wing of office space would come wrapped in a detached metal scrim that doubles as an eye-catching frame, projecting 15 feet beyond the west-facing walls.

The scrim would also serve as a sunshade, testimony to HOK's emphasis on sustainable design. There are other green touches as well, including 12,000 square feet of rain-absorbing rooftop plants.

No matter how humane, modernism at this scale would be out of place in many neighborhoods. Here, though, it could provide a needed gravitas to Mission Bay - where too many residential buildings are three-dimensional planning diagrams, and too many lab buildings look like they should sit near a highway exit.

This doesn't mean success is assured.

Striking a balance

Scale is a challenge; the complex is modest by neighborhood standards, but it's imposing alongside the cozy fire station that is the only historic structure for blocks around. That disparity, combined with the mostly solid ground-floor walls, make the fine-grain architectural details all the more important.

Another danger is that what gets built could be too monochromatic. The metal scrim shouldn't be Giants' orange or police squad blue, to be sure. But if all the materials are variations on concrete gray - with subtle distinctions only an architect can appreciate - casual passers-by will see just another government slab.

This is a pivotal year for Mission Bay. Housing developers again are pitching proposals. Software firm Salesforce has purchased 14 acres of land across from the UCSF hospital now under construction.

The public safety building already has bond funding, and it could break ground by the end of the year. What happens between now and then is crucial. The city has the chance to set a tone of civic substance, and the final round of design decisions will determine if it succeeds or fails.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAM61HFN28.DTL

[peanut gallery]

There's definitely some potential here and I'd like to see the Mission Rock elevation. That screening ("detached metal scrim") could turn out really cool, or look really dirty and cheap. I like the glass, but we've seen a similar approach on 1500 Owens and CVRB. You can have too much of a good thing, so after this let's call a moratorium on the varying-sizes-and-tints-of-blue-glass look in Mission Bay.

For anyone who doesn't already know, the historic firehouse is far more interesting than those renders depict. I wish it could remain a working fire station, but I imagine that's not very realistic operationally.

[peanut gallery]

timbad - thanks a lot for the updates from the visitor's center! Great look at the future northwest corner of MB. It looks to me like the west end of parcel 12 will be retail and the eastern half will be residential over retail or just residential (if the units around the perimeter are townhouses maybe?). And I like the look of those small parks along Terry Francois so far. Can't wait to see P21 and P22.

[timbad]

I'm with pg that reflective blue-gray glass etc will get old quick if applied too many times in a small area. and overall I'm not sold on that building either - that screen/scrim is not enough to make it interesting to me, but we'll have to see in real life.

a few gray shots from over the weekend...

thanks to WC for pointing out the progress on the neurosciences building. I don't usually post with updates on that one since the webcam does a good job of that already, but here is a shot of the exterior along the west façade which the camera doesn't show:



and from a little farther away, on Owens:



both cranes at Radiance IIa were busy on Saturday:



... and a forest of concrete trunks and rebar foliage is growing from the south side of the site. this is looking at the southwest corner from Third (and maybe I should point out that you can see the brick firehouse in the distance on the left - the new police building will be across the street to the north of the Radiance II site, in case that wasn't clear from the article):



back over at the northwest corner of MB, they have done some grading and compacting, so maybe they are ready to start making some of the surface changes soon. there was this path newly poured, but I don't know if that's just a temporary one or will be part of the final product. this is looking southeast, and I think the future roundabout must be about where the pile of gravel is behind the backhoe:



this is looking back west-southwest at what used to be the corner of Channel and Sixth. you can see that what looks like the masts of streetlights have been delivered and are lying on the ground on the right side - another sign that we might finally start to see the first signs of what the area will look like, soon. the previous pic was taken thru the fence beyond those posts. the area in the foreground of this shot is probably about where the westernmost parking spaces for the houseboat folks will be.

[1977]

Thanks Timbad! It's great to see Radiance II coming out of the ground. It looks like they'll be building at least one of the 'towers' in the first phase.