SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[timbad]

looks like the public safety building will be getting its own sidewalk lighting, not using the standard MB-style streetlight fixtures (unless maybe they will yet be topping the poles with the standard horizontal section). new ones on the left side of the street, 'traditional' ones sort of visible on the right along the Madrone sidewalk:

[minesweeper]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Yes, the houseboats will stay, with an expanded park frontage after Channel St. is pulled back from the water's edge to align with the already redone section.

More specifically, the lease for the houseboats runs through 2055.

[timbad]

crane going up at EQR Potrero... looking northwest from the SE corner:



and looking back east from SW corner (bonus of Kaiser building in background):



the view from Rutter Center. Arden getting tall...



lousy picture, but looks like the sidewalks on the south side of 16th may finally get poured. this is looking east from the hospital's northern drop-off loop:

[timbad]

something I didnt notice last week was that the lampposts along the curved western end of what will be the Commons are being installed. here seen looking east from the roundabout, block 11 (MB360) on the left:



as seen from Rutter Center:



the Kaiser building will be visible at the western end of Gene Friend Way:



sidewalk taking shape on the north side of the public safety fortress:



with more buildings finishing up, it's becoming possible to show complete street scenes from some angles, to get a feel for what MB will be like walking around. this is looking west down the alley between blocks 2 and 3, at Mercy Housing in the distance:

[simms3_redux]

Some photos from past weekend.

MB is looking pretty good, actually. It's very quiet, yet on a Saturday evening there were people walking/biking around, lots of students walking around, and classrooms/labs with stuff going on in them. The area gives off the vibe that important research occurs there; too much noise/commotion would be a distraction, etc etc.

There is also still A LOT of land to be built on and most of the area is closed/walled off by chain link fences awaiting new construction. Definitely an area that literally popped up overnight.

San Francisco Early October 2014 061 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 062 by simms3sf, on Flickr

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BLA crap:

San Francisco Early October 2014 070 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 071 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 072 by simms3sf, on Flickr

MB 360 being rebuilt:

San Francisco Early October 2014 073 by simms3sf, on Flickr

This seemed new?:

San Francisco Early October 2014 074 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 079 by simms3sf, on Flickr

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San Francisco Early October 2014 104 by simms3sf, on Flickr

Thought this building was interesting:

San Francisco Early October 2014 108 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 110 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 111 by simms3sf, on Flickr

San Francisco Early October 2014 113 by simms3sf, on Flickr

[timbad]

Originally Posted by simms3_redux

This seemed new?:

San Francisco Early October 2014 074 by simms3sf, on Flickr


San Francisco Early October 2014 088 by simms3sf, on Flickr

Thought this building was interesting:

San Francisco Early October 2014 108 by simms3sf, on Flickr

the new-looking buildings are UCSF student housing that went up 2004ish.

in the angle of that second shot MB doesn't look flat at all!

the interesting one is Mercy housing (block 13E)

[Potrero]

On my run this morning I noticed that the work on the roadway on the north side of the hospital has started. Excited to get this work done. Will bring a nice finishing touch to the project. I hope that Mariposa Park gets built out fairly soon as well.

No signs of the telephone cables and poles coming down on 16th. Can't wait for that portion of the work and the reconfiguration of the 280 entry/exit ramp to start. Anyone knows when the later is scheduled to start? I would think they need it to coincide with Owens Street opening.

[WildCowboy]

UCSF getting another big steel sculpture for Mission Bay. Haven't seen where it will be installed though.

http://blog.sfgate.com/artsandnot/20...-home-at-ucsf/

[peanut gallery]

New renderings for the hotel on Block 1 have been released:




Source: SocketSite.

It's like they're not even trying. Even assuming they add some color somewhere, the massing seems to go out of its way to make you want to look the other way. The placeholder that was published previously was so much better than this.

[simms3_redux]

^^^It's an insult/slap in the face. I'm no NIMBY, but I'd block this in a heartbeat and wait as patiently as required for something better (much better), which is really not hard to do at all.

So blah

[1977]

Originally Posted by simms3_redux

^^^It's an insult/slap in the face. I'm no NIMBY, but I'd block this in a heartbeat and wait as patiently as required for something better (much better), which is really not hard to do at all.

So blah

Agreed. You'd think there'd be at least one creative element, but I'm still trying to find it. Looks like a proposal from the 90's.

[tech12]

It was mentioned in the comments on socketsite that that's the old design...so hopefully they've come up with something better and we just haven't seen it yet.

Though with that being said, I honestly don't mind that design. It sure doesn't look very good, but it doesn't hurt my eyes either. Pretty inoffensive and generic looking, in my opinion, but not an affront to humanity.

But that UCSF highrise under construction on the other side of Mission bay, by 280? Now that thing is ugly as hell.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by tech12

But that UCSF highrise under construction on the other side of Mission bay, by 280? Now that thing is ugly as hell.

That's not UCSF...it's Kaiser. And the design dates back to Alexandria's plans for biotech space. Kaiser didn't modify it because they wanted to move forward quickly and use the already approved design.

[timbad]

after being away for a while, and then dealing with some disc storage capacity issues, I've gotten back on track and thought I'd post... I'll start with pics from yesterday then go back in time a bit. this is all yesterday...

don't think either of the new projects along Channel (Azure and Arden, blocks 13 and 12) is going to get much taller, so here a look at what their massing will feel like in relation to the Creek and houseboats:





a significant new development is that they have begun laying (large) piping along what will be the new path of Channel (pulled back from the Creek), in the section as it leads into the roundabout. hopefully this is the beginning of a continuous process to get Channel done, which would then (again, hopefully) lead to work on the adjacent creekfront park there. this is looking east from the roundabout (at Arden, which you can see is starting to show some skin. and we never get tired of saying it - home of your world champ Giants in the far distance)



here an angle I don't usually take, looking from the south, diagonally across future Commons, through the Fifth St axis, more or less:



a view that hasn't changed too much in the last few weeks, except that more of the scaffolding is down on block 11 (MB 360) on the left, this is looking east from the roundabout down what will be the Commons:



and pivoting just to the left to show Long Bridge angling in from that side, and a peek at Arden far left too:



random shot looking at intersection of Long Bridge and Fourth St, from Long Bridge. left to right: Mercy Housing (almost complete, I think some people have moved in), Channel MB, Venue, and MB360 rebuild, which very soon will be back at the point it was when it burnt down last March, I think it was



and looking west down China Basin St, again with MB360 rebuild on right, Arden in distance straight ahead, and MB360 (block 11) distant left:

[SLO]

Its looking really good and busy down there. I know I could probably find it, but what is or is there a height limit in Mission Bay?

ps - I want a houseboat in MB

[viewguysf]

It's great to have you back timbad!

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

That's not UCSF...it's Kaiser. And the design dates back to Alexandria's plans for biotech space. Kaiser didn't modify it because they wanted to move forward quickly and use the already approved design.

speaking of that ugly design, well, it's not ugly *yet* (I think we have to wait for the purple and red elements to fill in before we get the full yuck factor). this was it as of Nov 10:

in context:



from the roof of Rutter Center:

[timbad]

continuing with Nov 10 shots, and beginning with the views from Rutter Center roof (since I didn't get up there yesterday):





they've been gradually working on the parcels to the west of the hospital, having cleared the triangular one west of Owens (here on the right) and making progress on the Owens extension itself (next to the parking structure), slowly but surely. looking from the 16th side:



Mariposa widening on the south side of the hospital has begun. here looking west from the corner with Third:



and back the other way from approximately what will be the intersection of Owens and Mariposa:



random side note: a little infill project (but on prominent corner. well, prominently visible) on the edge of Potrero Hill just on the other side of the freeway from MB, up the hill from 16th (bonus shot of Kaiser peeking out above freeway, if you can call that a bonus):



the gift that keeps on giving, that Kaiser peeks out from all sorts of angles, lucky us. here seen from the north side of the construction site for ...shoot, the one that used to be called Daggett Place (it must have the most forgettable name in the world now). anyway, so looking east, with glimpse of Arden cranes in distance



from 16th St, again across the [Daggett Place] site:



a shot of the sidewalk view along Fourth now they've made a little more progress on Mercy Housing block 13E:



the little plaza with All is Well Bell next to the public safety building is coming along, with landscaping having gone in:



as it has along the little wall shielding the building from potential menace on Third St:

[timbad]

jumping back to Nov 1 now...

the UCSF medical office building I think turned out pleasant and clean looking. since the lighting was not stark and the air seemed especially clear that day, here's a view toward the west, in which you can see that the parcel next door, on the corner of Third and 16th (which eventually will have a 'tower'), has been converted into a parking lot for now:



here looking straight west down 16th. they havent done anything with the sidewalk between Fourth and Third on the north side of 16th yet, and since this pic was taken they've torn open that part of 16th in one of the westbound lanes to do I don't know what



here is more of a context shot for the Mariposa widening, since the lighting was better for this on that day



the Family House site, still just piles so far



just saw this about one of the other affordable parcels, along Fourth St. besides talking about Dave Eggers' youth writing program coming to MB, it gives a quick overview of some unit counts:

Mission Bay South ... is supposed to be a mixed-income neighborhood, with 32 percent affordable housing. But at the moment, it’s hard to see that. Out of 1,663 units completed so far — 804 rental units, 428 condos and 431 UCSF student housing units —150 are for low-income renters. An additional 900 units are under construction, all but 80 of which are market rate.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by timbad

here looking straight west down 16th. they havent done anything with the sidewalk between Fourth and Third on the north side of 16th yet, and since this pic was taken they've torn open that part of 16th in one of the westbound lanes to do I don't know what

By today the street was put back together and they *were* working on the sidewalk that you can see in that shot.

Also, no pics, but today I noticed they had finally taken down the poles and power lines on the south side of 16th.

And the roadbed on the north side of the public safety building (Mission Rock St) had been partially poured in its new alignment, and sidewalk lighting installed along Third in front of the building. Looks like they are in the home stretch there