San Francisco’s planning approval process is notoriously difficult, often taking months — and sometimes a decade or more — to approve a project. The City’s lengthy process can add significantly to a developer’s costs. These costs are impacting the pace of development and the type of projects that get built in The City. Read More
The Doelger Building, the former headquarters of one of the most prolific builders of San Francisco's Sunset district, received initial landmark status Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. Read More
A new, 220-room hotel could spring up in South of Market right in the middle of San Francisco’s convention hub.
There currently sits an approximately 30-foot-tall building on Fourth Street between Howard and Folsom streets that houses Olivet Theological University. But under a proposal that is scheduled for approval Thursday at the Planning Commission, that low-slung building would be razed to make room for an 11-story, 220-room hotel, according to documents. Read More
The cranes currently dotting San Francisco’s skyline are just the beginning of the building boom, and The City is working to clear hundreds of projects that are backlogged in the planning process.
There are 462 projects in varying stages of the planning and approval process, according to Joanna Linsangan, a spokeswoman for the Planning Department. About three-quarters of them are in the early stages and the rest have received approval.
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The architectural details on the houses immediately north of Duboce Park reveal some of their historic nature, but the entire neighborhood could soon become a landmark. Read More
Buildings planned in the area around the future Transbay Transit Center in South of Market will be able to cast shadows that will sweep across several open spaces.
If a development would cast a shadow over parks or open space in The City, it has to receive approval from the Planning and Recreation and Park commissions under a voter-approved proposition from the 1980s and subsequent planning codes. Read More
Twitter co-founder Evan Williams hopes to tear down his $3 million home in San Francisco to build an entirely new one for his young family — and his Planning Department application has already exceeded 140 characters. Read More
The battle over Academy of Art University’s unpermitted student housing sprawl has been on City Hall’s radar since 2006, and now the issue could be coming to a head.A supervisor is seeking to define The City’s laws with regard to student housing in response to the school’s past conversion of rent-controlled apartments into student housing. Read More
An appeal of the America’s Cup environmental impact report was officially filed Monday, according to the Board of Supervisors Clerk’s Office.Four groups actually brought the appeal Friday, the day after the Planning Commission certified the report, but the Clerk’s Office was unable to enter the appeal to the record because the Planning Department had not submitted official documentation of the commission’s decision. Read More
Already known for surrendering curbside parking spaces to bike racks, Valencia Street in the Mission district may be on the verge of an even more radical role reversal. Pedestrians and motorists trade places in the corridor’s six new “parklets,” where temporary patios, benches and social spaces are perched directly in the parking lane — taking one, two or three parking spots at a time. Read More
