SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[cv94117]

Originally Posted by timbad

aha, great shot!

but it's not topped out yet in the picture.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by cwilly

TIMBAD - Do you know what is happening with the 4th street entrance to the UCSF hospital? On the hospital webcam it appears one of the old utility poles is sticking out of the street area of what will be the 4th st extension. In all your walking around down there have you noticed any signs of those poles being removed?

a few weeks (maybe months now) ago I noticed that new light poles had been installed on the south side of 16th, and I thought that meant the imminent removal of the old ugly utility poles, but the last time I remembered to notice, they were still there (you can see them in my June 22 post, for example). I'll try to pay attention this weekend and report back.

[Potrero]

I walked on 4th street yesterday after the concert and looked at the crane for MB360. This is too far to be for strata repair. Looks to be for MB360 rebuild/clean up to me.

[Potrero]

Originally Posted by timbad

a few weeks (maybe months now) ago I noticed that new light poles had been installed on the south side of 16th, and I thought that meant the imminent removal of the old ugly utility poles, but the last time I remembered to notice, they were still there (you can see them in my June 22 post, for example). I'll try to pay attention this weekend and report back.

AT&T was there last night pull some cables underground. Maybe they are not done relocating their cables and still need the poles in place until then.

[timbad]

I always forget what this one is called nowadays. from last week. pardon the slant, taken from moving train



the corner of Seventh and 16th:

[timbad]

and from around the horn...

Kaiser building rising, looking about as flattering as it ever will



its close-up:



digging at the west end of the future Commons, MB360 block 11 standing by:



looking north from the top of Rutter Center. 'Arden' definitely peeking out from behind block 11 now, soon to swamp it:



looking a bit more easterly, a first glimpse of block 5's crane and the work that has restarted there (more later)



the south side of 16th and the entrance to the medical center, complete with utility poles:



another view down the south side of 16th. definitely old and new poles, co-mingling. must be stopped



light poles now frame what will be Owens between 16th and Mariposa (btw, did Saitowitz rip off this parking garage for 8 Octavia?)



landscaping has even gone in on the Third St side of the hospital:



and the sidewalk on Third shall be returned to the people again soon:



south down Fourth, with block 5 MB360 rising from its ashes



and the view north up Fourth:



the look down Long Bridge St, with block 5 on the left and Mercy housing on the right

[peanut gallery]

Good to see MB360 coming back to life. I guess the inspections of the remaining structure went well.

[timbad]

socketsite reports that the last undeveloped parcel north of the Creek won't have that status past next month. given this rendering, I'd maybe just as soon leave it as is!



as the parcel appears now (from the opposite direction of the rendering. and bonus shot of 45 Lansing as seen from MB)

[peanut gallery]

Yeah, that's really terrible. Hopefully they go back to the drawing board.

[timbad]

I was out a little earlier than I usually am yesterday, so here are some shots from perspectives I don't get as often (looking west), or which aren't lit as well...

this is what the Creek looks like these days, from the Fourth St Bridge



here is Mercy Housing on Fourth



looking down Long Bridge St, with MB360 block 5 on left



showing a bit more of the north side of the street



China Basin St, from Fourth, with MB360 block 11 on left, MB360 block 5 on immediate right, Borg ship - I mean 'Arden' - in distance



slightly offset perspective



Mission Bay Blvd North, from Fourth, with MB360 block 11 on right, future Commons on left



still nothing doing on Mission Rock St between Terry Francois and Third, next to the public safety building. speculation: waiting for the dirt they've placed on it to compress/compact the ground a bit before they put in the finished road in its new alignment? I have seen evidence of (to my untrained eye) at least minor subsidence issues in the new construction around MB



still not clear if what they are doing over at parcel P23 has to do with the open space that is slated for that plot (sorry to have to include these buildings in the shot. man are they awful-looking)



looking north along Illinois, with 'the Gantry' in the foreground. it struck me looking at this picture that if someone had taken this photo from this spot in, say, 2007, almost none of the buildings you see (near or far) would have been in existence.



looking north up Third, showing the hospital taking its place



speaking of the hospital, here is the sidewalk on the south (Mariposa) side from the corner with Third



16th Street, with the new UCSF medical office building in context



and, not sure how significant this is... they were driving piles on the eastern portion of block 7. they had about a third of the lot fenced off, so it may be they are only testing in that part. but it would be nice if this were actually a portent of bigger things. WildCowboy, do you know anything more? this is looking north



here looking east

[1977]

Great pics as always, timbad.

I think the Block 7 east pile driver is the Family House project:

You should all have received your Save the Date card for our groundbreaking on Wednesday, September 17th at 10:00 am on our new site (540 Mission Bay Boulevard North). We promise the groundbreaking will be a fun and memorable event with many exciting surprises!! If you wish to RSVP now, please click HERE.

http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.shtml



The western portion will eventually be the the housing project at Block 7 West by David Baker:

[timbad]

thanks, '77. I remember hearing about Family House now, but hadn't realized that the project was so imminent. the wait for block 7 West has been frustrating; just seems to never happen, even after D Baker himself predicted it would over a year ago.

[FamilyHouse]

Thanks timbad for the great pic! Yes, these are the “indicator piles” - the groundbreaking ceremony will be on Wednesday, September 17th at 10am. We hope all of our neighbors will come out and celebrate with us!

http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.shtml

[WildCowboy]

Great to see Family House getting ready to break ground. Another terrific piece of the puzzle.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by timbad

it struck me looking at this picture that if someone had taken this photo from this spot in, say, 2007, almost none of the buildings you see (near or far) would have been in existence.

Yes!

Several (ex)forumers and I started riding our bicycles around the city in 2007. We would often look for a flat route for our longer evening rides--less wind, less climb--and the waterfront became our regular haunt.

Almost nothing in that Mission Bay photo existed in 2007. Buildings, blocks, trains, re-routed streets--it has been an amazing transformaton to watch over these years, on our afternoon bike rides. The scale of transformation is breathtaking and unprecedented. And it is still ongoing!

[a very long weekend]

breathtaking but still a huge wasted opportunity. i was walking down there on saturday and i just couldn't believe that in terra nullius like we had there, they didn't push these residential buildings up to 10 stories across the board. in a decade or so it'll be more obvious at how badly it has been bungled, but in the meantime, i guess people are just so pleased that there's anything going in at all.

[FamilyHouse]

Thanks WildCowboy! Hope to see you at the groundbreaking!

Joey at Family House

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Great to see Family House getting ready to break ground. Another terrific piece of the puzzle.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by FamilyHouse

Thanks WildCowboy! Hope to see you at the groundbreaking!

Joey at Family House

Heh...I'm a former UCSF Mission Bay grad student now living 2800 miles away, so unfortunately I won't be making it to the groundbreaking. Wish I could though!

[timbad]

Originally Posted by a very long weekend

breathtaking but still a huge wasted opportunity. i was walking down there on saturday and i just couldn't believe that in terra nullius like we had there, they didn't push these residential buildings up to 10 stories across the board. in a decade or so it'll be more obvious at how badly it has been bungled, but in the meantime, i guess people are just so pleased that there's anything going in at all.

I think there are plenty of forumers who are not pleased, for similar and other reasons, about MB.

one has to remember that, according to multiple earlier posts, MB couldnt be built higher I think because of opposition from Potrero Hill, mostly. the opposition was effective enough that $$ was threatened to be withheld unless heights were chopped. if someone who is more familiar with the details cares to repeat the story...

[timbad]

I'll throw this one in here, altho slightly outside MB proper... curbed sf reports on a proposal right across 16th St from EQR Potrero (that's the new name for Daggett Place that I always forget!), and as it mentions, there is a growing number of proposals for that stretch of 16th/Lower Potrero. looks like we will see it transform over the next few years, though I imagine it will not be quick, since the folks up the Hill will likely have a loud voice about what gets put there.

...designed by Workshop1, the selfsame team behind 901 Tennessee. The seven-story building is slated to bring 234 new residences, 38 of which will be classified as below market rate. According to the project's website, city regulations also demand that 40 percent of the new units be "family style"—that is, offering two or more bedrooms.
... there will be two bicycle stations with space for 264 bikes. The plans also call for ground-floor retail to line 16th Street, livening up the quiet corridor. Should all go according to plan, the project will obtain approvals next winter, and break ground shortly thereafter.