12-Story Sculpture To Scale Proposed Mid-Market Apartment Complex

12-Story Sculpture To Scale Proposed Mid-Market Apartment ComplexA rendering of the public art piece chosen for the proposed development. (Rendering: Sanaz Mazinani)
Carrie Sisto
Published on January 12, 2017

A public art piece will climb 110 feet above the sidewalk at 1028 Market St., should the development proposed for the site receive city approval later this month.

Developers War Horse and Tidewater Capital bought the site, on Market between Taylor and Jones, over three years ago and have since been working to gain approval for a 13-story, 186-unit apartment complex. In the meantime, they've operated The Hall, a food emporium that features up-and-coming eateries as well as local artisans, and provides a venue for local nonprofits to host community events and fundraisers.

The Hall in its current form at 1028 Market. | Photo: Carrie Sisto/Hoodline

"Infinite Reflections," the art piece revealed during a community breakfast at The Hall yesterday, would fulfill a city ordinance that requires new developments in the downtown area to spend one percent of construction costs on the creation of publicly accessible artwork on the redeveloped site.

Developed by San Francisco and Toronto-based artist Sanaz Mazinani and local firm LMNOP Design, Infinite Reflections would be built of polished stainless steel and dichroic glass, and provide different reflections of the city and ambient light depending on the time of day and aspect of the viewer.

LED lights would illuminate the piece at night. | Rendering: SANAZ MAZINANI

The design “reflects the history of the area and the mosaic qualities of the Tenderloin and Market Street,” noted LMNOP representative Dustin Tisdale. While developing the final proposal, Mazinani and LMNOP worked with The Hall to collect community members' feedback on different aspects of the work.

The artwork will extend to the building's 12th story on Market Street, providing a sheltered area on the sidewalk that could serve as a space for public programing, Tisdale said. Mazinani and LMNOP are currently seeking the community's input on how to best utilize that protected sidewalk space.

Community input has played a large role in The Hall's operations and the design of the proposed residential development, said Craig Young, founder and managing principal of Tidewater Capital. While The Hall was always intended to be temporary and may not continue in its current form once the new building is complete, he assured that its “ethos of small business support” will be maintained in the retail spaces the new development will bring. The team is still seeking input from the community on what they'd like to see in the proposed 9,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

View of proposed 1028 Market looking west across Golden Gate Ave. | rendering via SF Planning

While only 25 of the apartments in the building will be permanently affordable (reserved for residents earning 55 percent of the area median income), the remainder have been developed to be “affordable by design,” Young said.

The proposed design is not a luxury apartment building, he noted, adding that the units are smaller than other large residential developments and the proposed building doesn’t include many of the amenities that make some newer developments in the city more expensive.

“The rents will still be high, but we are trying to do our part to cater to the middle-income population,” Young said.

While the project's draft environmental review doesn't state the average unit size, it does note that there would be 70 studios, 26 junior one-bedrooms, 21 one-bedroom units, 57 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units. Proposed amenities for residents include a 7,457-square-foot roof deck, a nearly 2,000-square-foot fitness center with an outdoor terrace overlooking Market Street on the second floor, and private terraces and balconies for 14 of the units throughout the building.

The final Planning Commission hearing for the proposed project is scheduled for January 26th.