SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[WildCowboy]

^^^That actually isn't right across the street from EQR...it's a bit further west between Wisconsin and Carolina. Kitty-corner from Wolfe's.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

^^^That actually isn't right across the street from EQR...it's a bit further west between Wisconsin and Carolina. Kitty-corner from Wolfe's.

yeah, I noticed that when I went by there today. I had been going off a quick look at Curbed's map.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

^^^That actually isn't right across the street from EQR...it's a bit further west between Wisconsin and Carolina. Kitty-corner from Wolfe's.

so here is the view from there (the project site on the right), looking east down 16th - which as we can see is a fairly bleak streetscape currently



turning 90 degrees to the right from that pic, looking up at Potrero Hill, we see that some streets in the area don't have sidewalks. it will definitely be a transition if this is to become significantly more resdidential



the development you can see in the previous shot is right next to Onyx

[timbad]

back to MB proper...

they've enclosed most of the ground floor of Mercy Housing block 13E, so we have a better idea what the sidewalk feel of that side of Fourth will be now. this is looking north:



... and south



and they've started to install the vertical sunscreens on the exterior of the Fourth St side (on the right side of photo)



the view from Rutter Center...







a close-up, looking north across what will be the Commons, with MB360 block 11 on the left:



the trees across Third from the hospital, at the former cement site that UCSF recently purchased, had 'removal' signs posted on them, so here is a last look



speaking of hospital and trees, the foliage had been lined up for planting along the south (Mariposa) side sidewalk (and there was a line of heavy machinery parked along the street there too, so demolition of the old sidewalk may be imminent)



and they'd recently dug up the old temporary path leading into MB from the west (near where Berry meets Seventh, under the freeway, emptying onto Channel in front of the houseboats). the immediate effect will be displacement of the folks who slept there at night, but it sure would be nice if this means the park that will go in that space starts to happen soon.

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by timbad

turning 90 degrees to the right from that pic, looking up at Potrero Hill, we see that some streets in the area don't have sidewalks. it will definitely be a transition if this is to become significantly more resdidential

I'm a fan of the show from the 70's, The Streets of San Francisco. It's fascinating to see scenes shot in this same area from back then. It was a totally different landscape. Heck, that street above would have been one of the more people friendly ones in the area. It was totally industrial and/or shipping related with tracks running all over the place. Hard to believe it's the same neighborhood.

[peanut gallery]

I almost forgot this bit of news. According to Bisnow, Alexandria Real Estate is under contract to buy Blocks 26 and 27. Those are the remaining Salesforce parcels just north of the Warriors location. Are they the last remaining unclaimed parcels in MB?

[WildCowboy]

Heh, if you remember, Alexandria used to own those properties (and the Warriors arena land) before selling to Salesforce. Don't know if they're going to go back to the original plans, but 1455 was 10 stories, 200k SF while 1515 was 6 stories, 220k SF.

- 1455 Third
- 1515 Third

[a very long weekend]

Originally Posted by timbad

speaking of hospital and trees, the foliage had been lined up for planting along the south (Mariposa) side sidewalk (and there was a line of heavy machinery parked along the street there too, so demolition of the old sidewalk may be imminent)

wow, wonder why they thought that the roadway had to be so incredibly wide. are they putting in some sort of planted medians? even a bikeway wouldn't need this much space.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by a very long weekend

wow, wonder why they thought that the roadway had to be so incredibly wide. are they putting in some sort of planted medians? even a bikeway wouldn't need this much space.

Mariposa is being widened by 14 feet to add another lane. Will allow for two dedicated lanes in each direction with a turn lane in the middle as appropriate in each direction.

[cv94117]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Mariposa is being widened by 14 feet to add another lane. Will allow for two dedicated lanes in each direction with a turn lane in the middle as appropriate in each direction.

Probably because it's the exit from 280 which I'm guessing is a mess on game days - combined with the need to have relatively unimpeded access to the hospital for emergencies.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by cv94117

Probably because it's the exit from 280 which I'm guessing is a mess on game days - combined with the need to have relatively unimpeded access to the hospital for emergencies.

Yes, looking toward full build-out of Mission Bay with AT&T Park and eventually the Warriors arena (though that was obviously not envisioned when the widening was planned) and this being the major connection to 280, it needs to be widened.

It has long been basically one lane in each direction with parallel parking along the curbs. On Giants game days, parking was prohibited to allow two lanes of traffic each way. I assume parking is going away permanently along here, so it'll be two lanes at all times, with plenty of room for left turn pockets at intersections. Given that Mariposa/Fourth will be a major entrance for the hospital, a turn lane is definitely needed.

[timbad]

edit

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Heh, if you remember, Alexandria used to own those properties (and the Warriors arena land) before selling to Salesforce. Don't know if they're going to go back to the original plans, but 1455 was 10 stories, 200k SF while 1515 was 6 stories, 220k SF.

- 1455 Third
- 1515 Third

ha, and now Uber to get in on those Alexandria parcels just to the north of the Arena site

[WildCowboy]

Very interesting that Uber is a 49% investor in the project.

Edit: Good piece about biotech giving way to tech in the neighborhood. Obviously that was already an issue when Salesforce was looking to build, but available space for biotechs is disappearing quickly.

[WildCowboy]

Looks like a nice restaurant coming to 499 Illinois.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Looks like a nice restaurant coming to 499 Illinois.

aha, wonder if that explains at least some of the work going on over there on/around parcel P23... here is a shot from a few days ago looking south



edit: P23 mostly intersects with the northern of the two buildings in the complex, which is 409 Illinois, not 499, so this might not be connected

[timbad]

yesterday there was a mini-festival (well, big enough to draw Kristi Yamaguchi) at UCSF celebrating some milestone of the hospital's construction, and I think there was a tour of the building afterwards as part of it. just another sign that things are moving along for the Feb 2015 opening...

while all the fencing is still up at the hospital, most has come down around Mission Hall, the new UCSF office building. these shots are mostly from a week ago, but here is the corner with Fourth, which serves as one flank of the southern entrance to the campus:



from almost the same spot, 90 degrees to the right, looking east. the landscaping so far is much sparser than I remembered from the renderings; so far am a little disappointed:



a couple shots looking at the entrance on the 16th side, day and evening:





the view north yesterday from Rutter Center on a murky-air day:



a bit to the right, and you can see in the foreground that UCSF has been clearing some of the surface earth mounds (covered in black) that I think are used for soil consolidation - (?)not sure in this case, since I didn't notice any associated moisture wicks.



the fencing has come down around Mercy Housing block 13E, so here a few more shots of the pedestrian view, going clockwise around the site, starting in the SE corner...

on Long Bridge, looking northeast toward Fourth:



from further back along Long Bridge, facing same direction:



the passageway between blocks 13E and 13W ('Azure', ex-'Sol'), looking north:



from the other end, looking back south (MB360 burned block 5 rising again in the distance)



from the corner with the passageway, looking east/NE along Channel:



moving forward from the previous shot, still looking east/NE towards the corner with Fourth

[Potrero]

Originally Posted by timbad

aha, wonder if that explains at least some of the work going on over there on/around parcel P23... here is a shot from a few days ago looking south



edit: P23 mostly intersects with the northern of the two buildings in the complex, which is 409 Illinois, not 499, so this might not be connected

If I remember right, they are building a pump station building at this location.

[mt_climber13]

What is going to happen to all of the houseboats in the channel when this is all built? I hope they can stay.

[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.