SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[timbad]

a while back I think I posted a link to an article that mentioned a bayfront restaurant/bar Mission Rock Resort was going to be renovated, and that looks like it is happening. this is over on Terry Francois, near the Ramp (love the Ramp). not sure what's happening inside, but I'm liking the new colors on the facelift.



happy to have what looks like a bit of character in the neighborhood.

[timbad]

over at Madrone, here is how the stoops and planters and balconies and windows all come together around sidewalk level on the south side of the building:



the north side is similar:



the red around the mid-block entrance on that side is quite there:



here is a shot taken from south to north showing the length of the inside of the ground-floor-retail that fronts Third:

[timbad]

hopping randomly around, here is block 13 East, looking west to east (block 2 in the distance):



... and looking south:



they've scraped off a couple feet of the dirt that was under the asphalt and dumped it into a tall pile off to one side.

block 5 looks about the same as the last pic posted of it, with a bunch of test piles sticking up out of it. they seem to be in pause there.

Long Bridge Street, waiting quietly for the whirlwind of construction to engulf it:



and, for what might be the most interesting new development, not sure how well you can make it out, but concrete test piles were being driven over on what must be block 11 (tho it's kind of hard to tell because I couldn't get too close and that is over in what is still just indistinguishable no-man's land) to the southeast of the warehouse building that recently had its back-end lopped off. this is looking south from Channel, and that's the warehouse on the right:

[timbad]

a few others from here and there...

looking north along Fourth, with blocks 2 and 3 on the right:



it looked like they were coming to the end of pile-driving in the big hole that is the public safety building:



the plantings have really grown fast in the courtyard behind the CVRB, looks almost natural. have still never seen anyone sitting out there, tho:



and the roundabout just sits there, forbidden fruit (tho I noticed that some signage had gone up at some point, no parking signs etc):

[1977]

Thanks a lot timbad! Glad your ankle is better.

and, for what might be the most interesting new development, not sure how well you can make it out, but concrete test piles were being driven over on what must be block 11 (tho it's kind of hard to tell because I couldn't get too close and that is over in what is still just indistinguishable no-man's land) to the southeast of the warehouse building that recently had its back-end lopped off. this is looking south from Channel, and that's the warehouse on the right:

I was wondering about those piles as well. I assume it's part of the BRE Properties development, or like you said, "block 11".

Blocks 5 and 11 down in Mission Bay have just changed hands for a combined $41.4 million according to the San Francisco Business Times. Entitled for 198 and 170 units respectively, the acquiring BRE Properties plans to start construction of rental units on the two blocks by the end of the year.

Source: http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2...ruction_c.html

[1977]

and they seem to have jumped right in on replacing the small building they tore down on the south side of that same block. I don't think it was part of Potrero Launch:

I found this:

http://www.sanfrancisco.com/realestate/mls365547

And there is some more info/renderings at http://www.saitowitz.com/ (Portfolio->616 20th Street Restaurant and Residences)

[peanut gallery]

^Yep, that's definitely Saitowitz. Can't miss his style.

Originally Posted by 1977

Thanks a lot timbad! Glad your ankle is better.

Seconded!!

I like the Mission Rock Resort exterior. Looks very nice. And I see what you mean about the CVRB courtyard. It looks almost like those plants have been growing naturally there for years.

[timbad]

Originally Posted by 1977

I found this:

http://www.sanfrancisco.com/realestate/mls365547

And there is some more info/renderings at http://www.saitowitz.com/ (Portfolio->616 20th Street Restaurant and Residences)

hey, nice find, thanks! (and thanks - pg too - for the well wishes on the ankle)

now if someone would just replace that ugly box on the corner of 20th and Illinois, that thing has gotta go :-)

[timbad]

the planter boxes are getting filled at Madrone. here on the north side:



work continues to clear the cement plant site. no surface structures anymore:



everything is slowly being chewed up:



and, don't know whether this will end up being significant, but I noticed that the mountain of dirt that has sat on the east side of new Terry Francois Blvd south of the parking lot (and across from the Gap office building) for the last couple-three years has been removed. the lighting might make it hard to see, but this is looking south. old Terry Francois used to run on the left, now on the right. this of course is slated to be the bayfront park:



here looking south down Fourth, showing that the medical center is blending in to help form the sense of a streetwall in the distance, even tho gaps remain to be filled in between it and the buildings in the foreground:



and here a different perspective of the block 11 concrete piles, from the west looking east-northeast:

[1977]

Nibbi Bros. posted Blocks 5 & 11 on their site. It says the project will be completed in December 2014. Also, it looks like there has been a minor tweak to one of the corner buildings:


Source: www.nibbi.com

Unfortunately, there isn't a webcam link.

Btw, thanks again for the pictures timbad! Keep 'em coming.

**Nibbi removed the project shortly after I posted this. ???

[timbad]

got a notification email yesterday:

Community Design Presentation of the
UCSF Mission Bay (Block 25A) Academic Office Building:

o Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012
o 7:00 p.m.
o UCSF Mission Bay Campus
Genentech Hall Auditorium
600 – 16th Street (near 4th St.)

UCSF Mission Bay Block 25A – the UCSF Mission Bay Academic (Faculty) Office Building will be located on a key site in the context of UCSF’s Mission Bay campus at the intersection of 4th and 16th Streets. The program includes a major urban courtyard and an architecturally appealing sustainable structure designed to promote connectivity and collegiality for UCSF and the community.

I won't be able to make it, but it sounds like we should soon have a better idea what it's gonna look like. as a reminder, block 25A is across 16th from the hospital, on the corner of 16th and 4th.

[timbad]

just a couple shots looking up and down Third St. I was just imagining that for a person in 2002, say, this scene would be hardly recognizable. looking south from approx Channel:



and looking north from the Muni T stop at 20th. again, every major structure one sees in this shot (including the T line), besides the closest buildings on either side, didn't exist in 2002 (and of course most still not as late as 2007)

[timbad]

earlier this week was a rare occasion when I had a little time to wander around in the morning, so here are a couple shots looking west - angles that I don't usually get.

here are blocks 2 (on the right) and 3, from Third:



and the Channel side of block 2, from Third:

[timbad]

from yesterday, another view from the south across block 3 toward block 2:



jumping over to the public safety building, they have started working on the surface-level portion of the site toward the Third St side, as they slowly work through the remaining piles in the excavated section:



a shot of the now-former cement facility from the roof of the South St garage:



and closer-up. I hadn't noticed the rails running through the site before (maybe because they were buried):



I noticed from the roof of the garage that the parcel labelled P23 over behind the Fibrogen building looked like it had been recently cleared and graded. I then completely forgot to wander over for a closer look, but I'll keep an eye out - would be nice to see another green space take shape!

here is what the east side of the hospital looks like from the T-Third stop:

[timbad]

the other evening for the first time I noticed a couple lights on in one of the Madrone towers, so people have started moving in even as the finishing touches are still being applied to the buildings. a few more shots...

landscaping has gone in on the east side in the little alleyway between Madrone and Radiance:



another view of that east side, complete with moving truck:



also saw what looked like prospective buyers being shown units as I wandered around, and a bicycle on a balcony. here the south side, with filled planters:

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by timbad

and looking north from the Muni T stop at 20th. again, every major structure one sees in this shot (including the T line), besides the closest buildings on either side, didn't exist in 2002 (and of course most still not as late as 2007)

Not to mention ORH in the background! Pretty amazing transformation.

As always, thanks for the comprehensive update. I don't get down to MB too often and it's changing so fast that I would hardly recognize the place without your photos.

[timbad]

in the dim light of my evening walk home it looked like piles had been driven on block 13 East. I should have pics this weekend

[timbad]

Originally Posted by timbad

... it looked like piles had been driven on block 13 East. I should have pics this weekend

OK, I couldn't wait, had to walk over this morning. looking south down Fourth, with block 2 on the left, block 13 - in action - on the right



and here a shot over the fence looking west:

[peanut gallery]

It's amazing to think that 4th St will be totally built out above China Basin St before too long. And Blocks 6 and 7 will be the last holes on it. It all seems to have happened much faster than I expected.

[timbad]

a few shots from the weekend...

this is looking north from block 5, across Long Bridge St to block 13 and its new piles in the background:



and I guess now that Madrone has people moving in, we can declare that one done - so a couple of parting shots of it as it recedes from interest... the west side is not its most flattering angle:



but from the east... behold!



a couple pics of the hospital... south side along Mariposa:



and the west side as seen from Mariposa (man, I hope getting rid of the telephone poles is part of the plan):



the public safety building as seen from the south... looks like they have wrapped up with the piles, which I'm sure the new Madronauts are pleased about, whether they know it or not.



the Saitowitz project on 20th has a carpet of rebar at about street level now:



I mentioned in a recent post that parcel P23 (on the bayfront side of the Fibrogen building) looked like it had been cleared (maybe 'tidied' is a better word, since it was already pretty clear)... don't know if that is prep for something, or just maintenance, but this is what it looks like at the moment (hey, more ugly telephone poles!):



and what the heck, it had been a while since I went over there, so I wandered up to the fenced end of Owens to look into the Forbidden Land of the Roundabout. signs had perched, roosted, and otherwise taken up residence since my last visit:



I'm curious how much the feel of Mission Creek will change once the wall of development is in place across the park...