New 840-foot building could be coming to downtown SF, city says more could follow it

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A new 840-foot skyscraper could be built in the next few years in San Francisco. The building will be off Howard Street where a parking lot is currently in its place. The planning commission says it won't be the only skyscraper.

"There are two applications right now that could rival being the second tallest building in the city," said Dan Sider, the chief of staff for the planning commission. "The indicators are clear. They are unambiguous even. 'Capital D' downtown is on its way back."

Bayhill Ventures is developing the Howard Street building. The site is right next to Salesforce Transit Center and around the corner from Salesforce Tower. It wont need approval from the board of supervisors or the planning commission, because it is being built under AB 2011, which allows certain affordable housing projects to be streamlined. The site is currently a parking lot. It will house 672 one-to-three-bedroom units.

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"I mean it is going to be that next to Salesforce," said Madelyn Keyser, a city resident who talked about the changes to the skyline. "Those will be the two kinds of eye poppers."

Others hope this leads to good paying jobs.

"Hoping that is goes not only for the housing, but for work as well," said Oscar Mazariegos, a union carpenter. "The union members and everybody else. The work means we get our benefits, our pensions, money for our family."

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The planning commission says developers have applications in for new buildings all over Folsom Street, and in other parts of the Financial District. They say these applications are for tall buildings.

"You're going to see a lot of height," Sider said. "Activity and housing and density to our downtown core -- which is on top of the regions transit nexus -- is what is in the cards. it is what our city is about."

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