San Fran DOOM LOOP Grows: Two SF tower projects face troubles amid weak downtown economy

Thanks to being in San Fran, a project to build 850 housing units has been cancelled.  The SF DOOM LOOP is growing.

“A Hines-led joint venture has let die an option to develop one publicly owned property in the South of Market area, for which it had proposed a 47-story residential tower, a townhome building and a mid-rise building which together would have a range of ultra-luxury to below-market-rate residences.

The company also did not pay a $5 million penalty for missing a completion deadline for an 800-foot-tall office, condominium and hotel tower that has yet to break ground — a reflection of challenging market conditions that include reduced corporate office footprints, notably that of Salesforce.

It is a marked turn in the fortunes of one of San Francisco’s major developers, an international company that has been active in The City for more than 50 years.”

Add to the default on a $300 million loan for a mall, and you can see why you should wait a couple of years, then pick up the pieces of what is left of San Fran of pennies on the dollar.

Two SF tower projects face troubles amid weak downtown economy

By Patrick Hoge, SF Examiner,   6/14/24    https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/two-sf-tower-projects-face-troubles-amid-weak-downtown-economy/article_c74c1c8a-29df-11ef-822a-efd6c6092675.html

Hines, a premier developer behind Salesforce Tower and other prominent San Francisco buildings, has run into problems with two downtown high-rise projects amid The City’s sluggish post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

A Hines-led joint venture has let die an option to develop one publicly owned property in the South of Market area, for which it had proposed a 47-story residential tower, a townhome building and a mid-rise building which together would have a range of ultra-luxury to below-market-rate residences.

The company also did not pay a $5 million penalty for missing a completion deadline for an 800-foot-tall office, condominium and hotel tower that has yet to break ground — a reflection of challenging market conditions that include reduced corporate office footprints, notably that of Salesforce.

It is a marked turn in the fortunes of one of San Francisco’s major developers, an international company that has been active in The City for more than 50 years.

The two projects combined would deliver around 850 units of housing — a significant portion of which would be below-market-rate units, a precious resource in a city that has become unaffordable for many.

Hines has pursued the two developments in the Transbay redevelopment zone for much of the last decade through F4 Transbay Partners, a joint venture with Urban Pacific Development and Broad Street Principal Investments, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs.

Most recently, on June 1, the partnership did not make a $115,385 payment to the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure — the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s successor — to extend an option to develop Block 4, a plot of land between Howard, Main, Tehama and Beale streets. The purchase price was to be $6 million, and 45% of the units were to be affordable.

“Hines acknowledged they did not make the option payment, which means they no longer have an exclusive option for the development of Block 4,” said Thor Kaslofsky, executive director of the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure.

“Although we are in communication with Hines, OCII is taking a strategic review of the block to see how best to maximize the affordable and development capacity of this attractive East Cut neighborhood site,” Kaslofsky said.

For Block 4, Hines had proposed a 47-story tower with ultra-luxury condominiums, along with luxury and below-market rental units; a 20 unit townhome building; and a 16-story building with below-market-rate housing that would be developed with Mercy Housing California.

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One thought on “San Fran DOOM LOOP Grows: Two SF tower projects face troubles amid weak downtown economy

  1. The only individuals who believe that luxury living dwellings should be built next to affordable housing dwellings are politicians, bureaucrats and greedy thieves. It is like trying to mix oil and water. In addition to the difference in money, Luxury living dwellers have nothing in common with affordable living dwellers. Education, culture and social interactions are not common among the two groups so they cannot survive side by side. No one will spend $3 or $4 million for a high-rise dwelling facility that is next door to a $4 hundred dollar facility. These projects are illogical!

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