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  #661  
Old Posted May 3, 2010, 4:42 PM
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Speaking of installed piles, Radiance phase 2 is another building that will add some variety in height and could get underway again soon.
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  #662  
Old Posted May 10, 2010, 4:50 AM
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just a few shots from this weekend's wanderings...

an update on the Commons between ex-Pfizer and future Radiance IIa. it's gonna be fun to watch this take shape over the summer and it will be quite satisfying to be able to walk between Third and the Bay along a pleasant landscaped green swath when it's done (by the end of the year?):



meanwhile, on the other side of Third in front of Diller Cancer building and the CVRB... here, of course, they have been working on some of the new sewer infrastructure. every month I keep thinking they are getting towards wrapping up what they are doing on that patch of the future Commons. more of the past excavation has been filled and covered, but you can see there is still plenty of heavy equipment on site, so I have no idea how close they are to finishing there. looking southwest from Third St:



and they have started working on the little plaza area in front of the CVRB itself. in at least one of the renderings, there are a few palm trees shown here, so we may see those go in in the next few weeks or so. looking east from Fourth St, with the future Commons out of the pic to the left across the street:



and, there doesn't seem to be any new activity in the northwest corner of MB by the creek yet. there had been a report that they would start working on the roads leading from the RR crossing at Seventh to the new roundabout this month, but for now we'll have to content ourselves with a 'before' picture, looking west toward the crossing in the distance:



this is what the area has looked like for some months now. the completed pumping station is on the left, the creek is out of the pic to the right, and the future roundabout would be behind and to the left of where this shot was taken from.

ah, and I almost forgot, there wasn't much difference in the pile-driving area behind ex-Pfizer. I am slightly hopeful that the new building, with its similar but better-looking components than the existing building, will dilute the effect of the latter somewhat and leave us with a better overall impression. we'll see. it will be nice to have another chunk of the Third St streetwall filled in too, though it does also mean that little square tucked behind it won't get as much late-afternoon sun after all. thought it might get a reprieve for a while. oh well.

Last edited by timbad; May 10, 2010 at 5:02 AM. Reason: added final paragraph
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  #663  
Old Posted May 10, 2010, 5:48 AM
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Thanks timbad. Appreciate the update.
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  #664  
Old Posted May 17, 2010, 2:26 AM
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on my walk down 4th St yesterday, I noticed a new concrete column on the southwest corner of Mission Bay Blvd (South):



I imagine this will become something like what marks the southern entrance to UCSF at 4th and 16th (looking east in this shot):



here is what the medical center site looks like currently, taken from the roof of the South St garage, looking south-southwest across the vexing parking lot and Third St. the foundation of the old warehouse has been churned up and pulverized, leaving the area ripe for prepping!



in the Commons lot in front of ex-Pfizer concrete has been poured at both the west end (looking east from Third)...



... and the east end (looking northwest toward Strata and the old firehouse in the distance), where it looks like they are putting in large square raised planters mirroring the ones that hold the fir(?) trees at the west end of the adjacent parcel:



and in the Commons parcel in front of the Diller building, I watched a flatbed truck carry off the largest backhoe from the site, and closer inspection seems to show no open holes or trenches left on the site. dare I say that it looks like they are about done with the underground sewer work there?



all in all, it was the busiest weekend day I have seen in probably a year. for some reason, crews were active at the neurosciences site, at ex-Pfizer (where a tall crane was lifting equipment onto the roof), at the CVRB (at least working on the sidewalk in the back of the building), and there was the truck in front of Diller.

oh, and there was also a building permit, issued 23 April and posted in the window of ex-Pfizer for ... a 10-story office building to be erected 150-or-so feet south of Mission Bay Blvd. on the east side of Third St.
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  #665  
Old Posted May 17, 2010, 2:54 AM
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Great shots as always...thanks, timbad! Lots of good stuff going on.

I understand that an official announcement about Bayer taking the remaining ex-Pfizer space is coming tomorrow. Maybe we'll get more info on plans for the site and number of workers.
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  #666  
Old Posted May 17, 2010, 9:23 PM
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good photo update.

heres some good news as well:

Quote:
Originally Posted by sfgate.com
Bayer, Nektar moving into Mission Bay

Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, May 17, 2010

In a boost for San Francisco, Bayer HealthCare is expected to announce today that it will open a U.S. Innovation Center near the UCSF Mission Bay campus, filling the void that rival drugmaker Pfizer created last year when it canceled plans to make the city its hub for biotech discovery....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BU541DEUM3.DTL
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  #667  
Old Posted May 18, 2010, 8:14 PM
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Hi, new to the forum. Like the construction updates!
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  #668  
Old Posted May 18, 2010, 8:30 PM
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Welcome! It was a lot more interesting when we had several highrise projects going. But at least there is some construction, like in Mission Bay.
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  #669  
Old Posted May 24, 2010, 5:02 AM
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on this weekend's wandering, I noticed they were working on the sidewalk on either side of the boat launch (opened 2008, and part of which can barely be seen behind the porta-potty) which is across Terry Francois Blvd from Radiance and the eastern end of the Commons. looking south:



I can't remember now what the sidewalk looked like before, not sure why it needed work... that kiosk you can see in the picture I find interesting to visit - lots of good info and maps of the past, present, and future of the area.

speaking of the east end of the Commons, here is a taste of what's to come in the new Commons parcel. this is looking west from the Commons' far east end, with the work on the next segment barely visible in the distance:



here is a shot looking north between the finished segment on the right, and the current work on the left. it seems there will likely be trees in boxes on the left side as well when they are done:



and they have been busy there as well - some of the side sidewalks have already been poured:



in case anyone was curious what's happening with the neurosciences building, there is still not much to see, but they have been hard at work these last two Saturdays (Rock Hall in the background):



also, I noticed some of what looked like the same stone used in the south entrance column had been brought to the site of the north entrance concrete column I had first seen last week, so it does indeed seem it will be something very similar.

new chain-link fencing had been put up around the pumping station in the northwest corner of Mission Bay, which may be an indication they are about ready to start the work on the connector roads from the RR crossing to the new roundabout. I am really excited to see those go in (I also welcome any opportunity I get to use the happy banana).

elsewhere...

- work continues on the ground surrounding the CVRB.

- I didn't notice much change in the Commons parcel in front of it.

- also not much change behind ex-Pfizer

Last edited by timbad; May 24, 2010 at 5:14 AM.
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  #670  
Old Posted May 24, 2010, 2:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timbad View Post
also not much change behind ex-Pfizer
nice update

btw, ex-pfizer in now bayer/nektar
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  #671  
Old Posted May 25, 2010, 4:25 AM
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Originally Posted by northbay View Post
btw, ex-pfizer in now bayer/nektar
thanks for the reminder, nb - I'll try to get that to stick in my head now!
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  #672  
Old Posted May 27, 2010, 7:12 PM
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Quote:
Mission Rock Plan Approved . . .
Wednesday, May 26, 2010, by Andy J. Wang



Much is up in the air for Mission Rock, the neighborhood just south of AT&T Park that's yet to be. The Port of San Francisco just unanimously approved the multiyear plan to turn a swath of parking lot into a fully functioning neighborhood, complete with a 5-acre park, 10 commercial and residential buildings, and an ambitious-looking pedestrian promenade linked to a future version of the F-Market/E-Embarcadero streetcar. But they're still looking at a moving target. The project's already been downsized from its 2008 version, which according to the Chron had a 5,000-seat music hall and entertainment district. There's also the question of that very speculative Warriors stadium, which could be built somewhere on all that empty space, pending an actual sale of the team and an agreement to build the thing. But the Giants, who just lost a couple investment partners a few months ago, are nonetheless all game and in it for the long haul — "we'd like to see development that is synergetic to the ballpark and that fits in with the neighborhood," whatever that means.
Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2010/0...eader_comments
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  #673  
Old Posted May 28, 2010, 3:22 PM
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Now if they can just get their financing back on track...
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  #674  
Old Posted May 29, 2010, 7:20 AM
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Bluepeter building

meanwhile, way down at one of the other extremes of Mission Bay, there is a little push going on that I don't think has been noted here yet, so I thought I'd mention it...

it involves what is known as the Bluepeter building, a wooden structure built in 1943:



it sits on the triangular parcel where Illinois St and Terry Francois Blvd come together. for those following along at home, it is parcel P24 in the far southeastern corner of MB, slated to become open space: part of the Mission Bay Waterfront Parks. here it is in a little more context, looking south along Illinois from approx in front of the Fibrogen building:



the issue is that under the Mission Bay Redevelopment Plan, the building was to be razed. but, neighbors got together because they want to see if it can be rehabilitated and included as an integral part when the lot is converted into public open space. much more good info and pics can be found at their website:

http://www.bluepetersf.org/

current status is that the neighborhood organization has until March next year to come up with $300,000 to stabilize the building and find a developer to redo it. estimated costs for the redo are a little more than $3 million.

my own personal note is that, before I knew anything about any of this and before I was even a resident, on one of my first wanderings through the area, I walked past the building and it really caught my eye. my first thought was that I hoped it would survive the makeover of the area somehow. so I am rooting for, though not currently actively participating in, the campaign to keep it.

Last edited by timbad; May 29, 2010 at 7:01 PM.
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  #675  
Old Posted May 29, 2010, 7:29 AM
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Why? I've read about this issue before but then and now the place looks kind of nondescript to me. I don't understand its hold on people. It reminds me of the sort of "temporary" structures left in the wake of World War II all over the world. I lived in one on Okinawa for a year and worked in another.
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  #676  
Old Posted May 29, 2010, 6:26 PM
timbad timbad is offline
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Why? I've read about this issue before but then and now the place looks kind of nondescript to me. I don't understand its hold on people. ...
I think for two or three reasons, the first of which - the building itself - is probably hard to explain adequately, since it is just a matter of personal aesthetics, which are subjective. it is certainly not flashy. but for me it gives a more solid, weighty impression than a temporary structure, and I like the fact that it is mostly wood. the second reason is tied into the first, and has to do with the fact that this is a different type of building than will end up blanketing the area, and I think it will be nice to have a little piece of variety. no new development will have its curved roofline or its personal scale, for example. and I guess for me - and this almost seems a little dippy as I write it - the combination of wood and small scale gives the structure an overall earthy, almost friendly, accessibility (nice for a little park!).

the other reason for me is that I do think it is a good idea to have little reminders of what was there before. it's not like this building goes back 100 years, but it does have its little story of sail-makers and other occupants over the years. I like when I can look at a building and use it to imagine its surroundings over time.

sorry BT, this is probably not much help - I think what I get from the building is pretty intangible. it may easily be that if I had spent a lot of time around this type of building at some point in my life, this one would seem less special - I can imagine that. but as it is, it is 'remote' enough for me to seem exotic and worth having around to catch my eye.

having said all this, I am in agreement that it is the community's responsibility to come up with at least part of the resources for keeping it if they/we want it. I can understand the Port and/or developers deciding it doesn't have enough merits on its own to warrant their expenditure. and there is a limit to how much I would say it's worth to keep too. also, there is another similar building just up the road that *is* slated for preservation. I think it's the one on the left in this shot:



...so I won't be broken up if the Bluepeter building goes away, but I do think that without too much disruption or high expense, it can be made to fit in nicely with, and complement, the open space planned for around it.
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  #677  
Old Posted Jun 3, 2010, 8:27 PM
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I think the Bluepeter Building needs to go. I don't see it being financially feasible to save it, don't see historic value to it, and think it opens up a lot more possibilities for the open space there if it goes. It already had a chunk taken out of it for Terry Francois Blvd to be built...it's time for the rest of it to go.

And even more than the building, I object to the master political manipulators behind the effort to save it, but that's another story.

On another Mission Bay note, with construction on neurosciences building underway, UCSF is turning its attention to the official "second phase" of its campus. There's a community meeting on the 17th to begin laying the groundwork for a master plan encompassing the remaining five-and-a-half blocks of the main site.

They'll be looking at the block along the northern/northwestern part of the campus, as well as the portion in the southeastern corner that is currently covered by parking lot and trailers. That southeastern portion has been thought to be a good location for doctors' offices since it's right across 16th from the hospital site, but as we've talked about before, they may be looking to acquire additional land nearby for that project if it looks like they need to keep the current space devoted to research functions.
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  #678  
Old Posted Jun 3, 2010, 9:10 PM
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I think for two or three reasons, the first of which - the building itself - is probably hard to explain adequately, since it is just a matter of personal aesthetics, which are subjective. it is certainly not flashy. but for me it gives a more solid, weighty impression than a temporary structure, and I like the fact that it is mostly wood. the second reason is tied into the first, and has to do with the fact that this is a different type of building than will end up blanketing the area, and I think it will be nice to have a little piece of variety. no new development will have its curved roofline or its personal scale, for example. and I guess for me - and this almost seems a little dippy as I write it - the combination of wood and small scale gives the structure an overall earthy, almost friendly, accessibility (nice for a little park!).
ry BT, this is probably not much help - I think what I get from the building is pretty intangible. it may e

the other reason for me is that I do think it is a good idea to have little reminders of what was there before.
I'm with you on most of these sentiments. It's one reason, for example, I like having that building containing the Salt House restaurant on Mission St. But I suppose the fact that in my years in the military I lived and/or worked in so many of those WW II era structures, many of which had curved roofs because that was a fairly easy form to prefab apparently, gives me an adverse reaction to that particular era. As for wood, did you ever see, for example, Oakland Naval Hospital before they tore it down? Not the 1960s vintage midrise building, but the labyrinth of single story wooden structures that were the hospital during the actual war--all wood? And virtually identical to Orlando Naval Hospital and just about every other military hospital built during the war.

Bluepeter just looks to me like a WW II warehouse or light industrial building. They exist in nearly every port area where they haven't been torn down years ago.
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  #679  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2010, 12:55 PM
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we have trees!

... in the Commons in front of Bayer/Nektar! on both ends - on the east, in raised boxes that mirror the ones on the adjacent parcel:



and on the Third St end, where the sidewalk is also in progress. looking north:



looking south with better lighting:



and looking back east with Radiance I in the background - how welcome it is going to be to have that bit of green on Third!!



AND, speaking of Radiance, there is a little activity on the Radiance II lot!



let's hope this is finally the start of something bigger?

in other news,

- site prep is underway at the medical center site, lots of earth-moving and grading going on...

- the neurosciences building is just starting to come out of the ground

- they are indeed building an artsy stone column to mark the northern entrance gateway to UCSF on the west side of Fourth. there may be something similar on the east side in front of the CVRB, but it is not clear yet.

- nothing going on with the connector roads to the roundabout in the northwest corner

- they have started demolishing at least one of the dilapidated shacks along the bayshore next to Terry Francois Blvd, and wrapped the similar-to-Bluepeter building (see earlier pic) in plastic, so it does seem that is the one they are going to preserve
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  #680  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2010, 5:02 PM
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Please let Radiance II start up again soon! It will add much needed variety to the profile (ie: height) of MB. Great to see the Commons coming along so nicely. I should really make the trek down there one of these days. A lot has changed in the past year.
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