A 44-unit market-rate condo development, in a plum central location on the southeast corner of California and Powell streets, is expected to be approved at the regular meeting of the Planning Commission, which starts at noon today.
The site currently houses the two-story Nob Hill Garage (875 California St.) and a surface parking lot at 770 Powell St., on a busy and otherwise scenic corner next to the California cable car line. Grosvenor Americas wants to merge the lots and develop a 65-foot building (which is within the height limit) with a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
The number of stories would range from six to eight, due to the slope of the land. The building will also include 48 parking spaces and 88 bike parking spaces (revised from the earlier number of 72) for residents, but no public parking. It will be finished in granite, stucco, stone and bronze.
875 California St. (Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline)
Amelia Staveley of Grosvenor Americas told us the firm did three major rounds of community outreach, and "people are very favorable about the architect’s design, in terms of it being quite classic and contextual for the Nob Hill neighborhood." They're also happy to see the established firms of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and BDE Architecture involved.
Staveley added the project has support from the Nob Hill Association and the University Club of San Francisco, among others. "People are just pleased that housing is being delivered, and it’ll be high-quality," she said. Not to mention, "when you’re standing at that corner, you’ll still have a nice view of downtown," she added.
Rendering: Grosvenor Americas
If the Planning Commission approves the project today and no unexpected delays are encountered, construction should begin in 2017 and wrap up in 2019. In discussing the design, a letter to neighbors says that "a small garden space on the corner of California and Powell Streets and maisonette entrances along Powell will be positive additions to the pedestrian experience, by providing new street activation and adding green space where none currently exists."
"It’s not a wall as you walk along California," Staveley explained. "The landscape garden is still private to the building, but it’s nice to look upon for residents walking on the street. There’s a seated wall people can perch upon."
Rendering: Grosvenor Americas
Grosvenor Americas is the same developer planning to build market-rate condos on a surface parking lot adjacent to the Old Ship Saloon. That project has also earned widespread community support. As with that project, all units will be market-rate, and the developer will pay the in-lieu fee for affordable housing off-site.
Surface lot at 770 Powell St. (Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline)
The Chronicle's architecture critic, John King, wrote a detailed article about the California-Powell project on October 26th, 2015. In it, he wrote the project is "headed in the right direction—but only if the journey results in a building that is loving rather than leaden, deferential but not dull." SocketSite also reported recently on the history of the underused site; the surface lot once held a five-story building owned by Mayor Joseph Alioto, which was razed for a development that was supposed to go up in 1970, but didn't happen.
