Recommended For You: “Tenderloin & Mid-Market Residential Development Update: Winter 2015”

Parking lots, vacant lots and aging buildings all around the Tenderloin and Mid-Market are slated for development, but with so many in the works, it’s difficult to keep them all of these pending projects straight. Hoodline reader Tommy asked for a comprehensive update on what’s happening where, and we were happy to oblige. Here’s everything in the works, listed by address.

135 Hyde St.

Photos of the street-facing facade (left) and rear yard (right) of the existing autobody garage at 135 Hyde. (Images: Brian Kaufman Design)

Plans surfaced last month to turn the historic 1920 auto body garage at 135 Hyde St. into 51 efficiency units. The Preliminary Project Assessment application, submitted by Brian Kaufman Design on behalf of the property owner, proposes turning the garage into 2,057 square feet of retail space and a lobby for residents, with 34,905 square feet of residential space on top.


With the additions, the building would go from one story and 21 feet high to seven stories, nearly 80 feet high. In a letter to the Planning Department, the architecture firm also notes that the development would include a public open space in the rear yard that can be accessed through the residential lobby.

101 Hyde St.

The post office at 101 Hyde. (Photo: Brittany Hopkins/Hoodline)

The demolition of the post office at 101 Hyde St. could begin as early as January, as the U.S. Postal Service’s lease ends on Dec. 31st of this year. Plans to replace the one-story structure with an eight-story residential complex with 85 units were approved in June, and a series of appeals was defeated shortly after.

Rendering of Golden Gate Avenue with the approved development on the corner of Hyde Street. (Image: Costa Brown Architecture)

Residents renting post boxes and receiving mail through general delivery at this location expressed concerns during the approval process about how they’ll receive their mail moving forward. Augustine Ruiz, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, tells us that post boxes in use at this location will be transferred to the USPS location at Fox Plaza (1390 Market St.) Mailing addresses will not change, and patrons will be notified as soon as the transfer is complete. 

As for general delivery, the U.S. Postal Service is in lease negotiations with two different locations in the Tenderloin near 101 Hyde. It will share the new location once a deal is signed, ideally before the 101 Hyde location shutters.

198 McAllister Ave.

Snodgrass Hall at 198 McAllister Ave. (Photo: Buddy Rogers/Panoramio)

Over the past few years, UC Hastings School of Law has been working with faculty, students and the community to develop a five-year plan for the university’s infrastructure in the Tenderloin.

The plans involve constructing a new academic building on the university’s property at 333 Golden Gate Ave. (currently housing Demonstration Gardens), and moving operations at the 1950s-era Snodgrass Hall (198 McAllister) to the new building. After the move, UC Hastings plans to demolish the emptied facility and construct a student housing complex with 400 units.

A map of UC Hastings’ property in the Tenderloin. (Image: UC Hastings)

UC Hastings announced in June that the budget bill Governor Jerry Brown signed for the 2016 fiscal year includes $36.8 million for the construction of the new academic building at 333 Golden Gate Ave., and authorization to accept private funding for the project. 

According to the university’s project timeline for 333 Golden Gate Ave., the environmental review could be completed and approvals secured by September 2016, and construction could be completed by the end of 2019. 

168-186 Eddy St.

With the 5M Project receiving approval from the Board of Supervisors last month, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s 100 percent affordable family apartment complex at Eddy and Taylor streets is now fully funded.

The development, which could be completed as early as 2019, will include 103 units: 15 studios, 10 one-bedrooms, 64 two-bedrooms, and 14 three-bedrooms.

Photo: David Baker Architects/Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation

Thirty of the units will be set aside for formerly homeless families. Developer Forest City, which agreed to contribute $18 million to the project through the 5M Project, is footing the bill for 19 of those 30 units, as well as 52 units for families earning 50 percent of the area median income (which is currently $101,900 for a family of four).

Expected amenities will include a “fresh and healthy food vendor,” bike parking, a courtyard for residents on the ground floor and two full-time social workers on staff. Given the development’s proximity to public transit, there will be no onsite vehicle parking. 

145 Leavenworth St. & 361 Turk St.

The parking lot at 361 Turk St. (Photo: Brittany Hopkins/Hoodline)

After a series of heated community meetings and Planning Commission hearings earlier this year, Forge Land Company secured approval in July to move forward with two eight-story group housing developments on surface parking lots at 145 Leavenworth and 361 Turk.

The project initially proposed converting five existing residential hotels with 238 rent-controlled units into tourist hotels, and building market-rate micro-units in group housing settings in the Tenderloin. 

Renderings of the proposed buildings at 145 Leavenworth and 361 Turk. (Renderings: Forge Land Company)

Upon abandoning the conversion plan, the developers focused on using prefabrication technology to develop 231 market-rate, “affordable by design” micro-units, the majority of which will measure 250 square feet, across both narrow lots. The approved plan includes 12 percent affordable housing and 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Forge Land Company agreed to hold community meetings throughout the construction phase, but has yet to announce any dates on the project website.

19-25 Mason St.

One of the parking lots slated for development, photographed in February. (Photo: Google Maps)

Approved in April, a project by American Pacific International Capital, with architecture by Arquitectonica, will also turn surface parking lots into market-rate housing.

The future development will demolish three surface parking lots surrounding the Metropolis Hotel, and construct a 12-story mixed-use building with 155 residences, 68 off-street parking spaces and 2,825 square feet of ground-floor retail space. 

View from Mason & Turk. (Rendering: Arquitectonica)

The Metropolis Hotel next door, with Farmerbrown on the ground floor, will remain untouched.

While APIC originally aimed to secure city approvals by the first quarter of this year and complete construction by late 2016, construction has yet to begin and an updated timeline has not been published on the project website.

519 Ellis St. & 430 Eddy St.

The existing parking lot at 519 Ellis St. (Photo: Google Maps)

As we noted in the spring, eight-story mixed-use condo buildings are being planned for 519 Ellis and 430 Eddy streets. The proposals seek to build 28 and 27 condos respectively, in 80-foot-tall complexes. Both are still under review with the Planning Department.

651-655 Geary St.


There’s not much movement here either. Plans are still in review to develop the empty plot into a 13-story, 130-foot-high mixed-use building with 51 residences and 770 square feet of retail space. 

The development would also include 28 off-street parking spaces and 50 bicycle spaces located onthe ground-floor level. 

The proposed mix of units is 10 studios, 20 one-bedrooms, 19 two-bedrooms, one four-bedroom, and one five-bedroom unit, with 16,700 square feet of below-grade parking. 


Now, let’s turn our attention to Market Street.

950-974 Market St. 

Photo: Brittany Hopkins/Hoodline

In October, Group i released new renderings of the residential and hotel development in the works for the 900 block of Market Street.

The latest proposal seeks to demolish the five existing buildings, constructing a 120-foot-tall building featuring a 230-room hotel and a 250-unit residential complex (12 percent affordable). In lieu of the community arts center that was previously proposed, Group i has offered a 2,000-square-foot nonprofit space, as well as public open space.


The project will likely go before the Planning Commission in the coming months. If approved, Group i expects construction to begin in 2016.

1028 Market St.

1028 Market St. in July of this year. (Photo: Google Maps)

Developers Tidewater Capital and War Horse are continuing to push forward plans to raze the former LA Gals and Hollywood Billiards space at 1028 Market St., which currently houses The Hall. In its place will rise 186 rental units (including one, two and three-bedroom units) over 10,000 square feet of retail space. 

The latest design for the proposed 1028 Market St. housing development. (Rendering: Tidewater Capital)

During a community information session last month, Craig Young, founder and managing principal of Tidewater Capital, shared a few additional details on the plans, which continue to evolve. Some new ideas on how best to use the ground-floor retail space fronting Golden Gate have been floated, including offering the space to one or more nonprofits, or creating a community room that’s operated by the developers, similar to the way they’re working with nonprofits at The Hall.

The developers are also deciding whether the ground-floor retail space fronting Market Street could house a Hall-like concept, or be broken into multiple storefronts. Regardless of the direction the space takes, Young asserted that any businesses brought in will be local, grassroots businesses with a community focus.

The next community information session is 9-10am Dec. 9 at The Hall, and attendees interested in learning more about the public art component are asked to RSVP on Eventbrite.


1075 Market St.

1075 Market St. in July 2015. (Photo: Google Maps)

Though it has a colorful 103-year history, Market Street Cinema at 1075 Market St. is slated for demolition as well. Plans to construct an eight-story mixed-use building in its place were approved in October.


The residential building, designed by architecture firm Levy Design Partners, will include 90 units (11 affordable), two outdoor common spaces and a few private balconies. There will also be 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail, as well as 24 vehicle parking spaces and 92 bike parking spaces below ground. Once ground is broken, it should take 20 months to complete, the developer estimates.

That’s your roundup! Feel free to let us know in the comments if we’ve missed anything.

http://hoodline.com/2015/12/tenderloin-mid-market-residential-development-update-winter-

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