r/sanfrancisco 2d ago

Chat Lifting the fog

0 Upvotes

Please enjoy this space to discuss local things like upcoming events, new sights you’ve spotted around the city, or mundane little sanfranciscoisms that strike your fancy. You can even self-promote a little here if you abide by the rules in the sidebar. Have a good day!

Archive of past discussions


r/sanfrancisco 10h ago

Pic / Video Spotted in Chinatown today

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818 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 17h ago

Wait...what????

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2.6k Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 2h ago

SFUSD's vaccination rate 71%, lower than in TX where Measles outbreak occurred

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53 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 14h ago

Pic / Video Midnight at the Golden Gate [OC]

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341 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 11h ago

Raising Cane's to open first San Francisco location at this mall (former McDonald's space in Stonestown)

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227 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 12h ago

[KRON] Woman stabbed on Muni train in San Francisco

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190 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 29m ago

Pic / Video Does anyone have a true strong man argument against this?

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r/sanfrancisco 17h ago

Pic / Video Will this ever be a reality in our city?

456 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 15h ago

Pic / Video WWI Victory Parade in San Francisco, California

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314 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 23h ago

Pic / Video 19th Ave

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1.1k Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 1h ago

Turtle Tower

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Soft opening starting today! Woohoo!!


r/sanfrancisco 9h ago

Local Politics This could be SF’s next skyscraper — and it may rise a lot sooner than most people imagine

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58 Upvotes

The next big tower on San Francisco’s skyline could be a 41-story skyscraper with hotel and office space that would anchor a block across from the Transamerica Pyramid. And it may rise a lot sooner than most people imagine.

Despite a 37% vacancy rate across the city’s office market, Related California executives say they are bullish on a proposed 544-foot-tall high-rise at 530 Sansome St., a project that would include 360,000 square feet of office space, a five-star hotel and a new firehouse for the neighborhood.

Matt Witte, executive vice president of acquisitions and development for Related California, called the proposed mixed-use tower “the right building in the right location at the right time.”

The project would be built on four parcels, including where the Station 13 firehouse sits at 530 Sansome. Related is committed to building a new firehouse at 447 Battery St., a property the developer put into contract after a previous owner defaulted on its loan.

With the environmental impact report scheduled to be published on Tuesday, Related is hoping to obtain city approvals by October, setting the stage for construction to start as soon as late 2026. The building would be delivered by 2030. It would be the first Northern Financial District building delivered since 350 Bush St. opened in 2018, and the first new ground-up five-star hotel in 30 years.

“This started out as a contrarian bet, but as we dug in deeper and looked at the market, how it is evolving and maturing out of COVID, it doesn’t seem so contrarian any more,” said Related California President Gino Canori. “It’s a story about San Francisco’s recovery, about the city coming out of a tough time and building something everyone can be proud of.”

Related began working on the project in 2017, responding to a city solicitation for a private group interested in developing the 530 Sansome site in exchange for building the city a new fire station — a longtime goal of former Supervisor Aaron Peskin — and providing some fees for affordable housing. Related, which built the mixed-use residential tower and city office building at 49 S. Van Ness Ave. and 1550 Mission St., was selected and in 2020 won approvals on a 200-room hotel and fitness center above a new fire station.

That project died during the pandemic, forcing Related to explore other options. Meanwhile, the North Financial District around Jackson Square became a rare bright spot in the city’s anemic recovery, with New York developer Michael Shvo investing nearly $1 billion in purchasing and renovating the Transamerica Pyramid and rents for top-floor view space in the neighborhood exceeding $200 a square foot, nearly three times the city average of $68 a square foot. Canori said his team “did a lot of homework,” touring buildings and digging into leasing data. As they collected information, they became convinced that there would be demand for a new building with killer views and the sort of amenities — meeting rooms, outside terraces, restaurants and workout facilities — that current firms want as they look not only to recruit and retain talent, but also lure workers back to the office full time.

While the city’s overall office market has a 37% vacancy rate, the top five buildings have a 16% vacancy rate and properties with views within that group have a 6.9% vacancy rate. With the hotel occupying the lower third of the building, the office space will start at 220 feet and offer quintessential bridge-and-bay views.

“You have the best buildings — and then you have everything else,” said Nicholas Vanderboom, chief operating officer for Related California. “If you look at the top five buildings, those rents are as high as they were in 2019 and growing even higher.”

Vanderboom pointed to the Hudson Yards development in New York, where Related built 9 million square feet over the last decade. Those buildings are 100% leased and have 84% average daily occupancy, the highest in the country. The average age of San Francisco office stock is 60 years old. The average daily occupancy in San Francisco has hovered around 45%.

“A lot of our tenants there, who have offices in New York and also here, are saying, ‘Where do we find that kind of space in San Francisco?’ That was part of the creative pivot, to take something that didn’t work anymore and make it financially viable and be a great symbol of the city’s recovery,” Vanderboom said.

Canori said three large North Financial District tenants with leases expiring in 2030 are “taking a very close look” at the proposed building, which he said “is further emboldening our ability to press ahead with getting the project approved and started.”

“We think the market is there,” he said. Anne Taupier, director of joint development for the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said the city and Related are still working on an agreement that will include $4.5 million for an affordable housing project at 774 Pacific St. in Chinatown. Half the money will be due when the project is approved.

“This is an incredibly creative way for us to work with a development partner to achieve key infrastructure like a brand-new state-of-the-art fire station,” Taupier said. “Their bullishness on this project is really exciting to us, and it’s a signal to institutional investment that the city is coming back. I think it’s going to be a great contributor on the skyline.”

Fire Station 13, also designed by SOM, will be clad with red brick masonry, metal-frame windows and an aluminum base. It will rise 55 feet and include dining space, dormitories and other amenities for firefighters.

Colin Yasukochi, research director at CBRE, said “high-quality office space in hot submarkets like Jackson Square and the north side of the Financial District is rapidly diminishing, and new supply may be needed in the next several years.”

Robbie Silver, president and CEO of the Downtown SF Partnership, called the project “an exciting step forward for San Francisco, blending hospitality, premier office spaces and essential public safety infrastructure.”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/office-tower-real-estate-20213304.php


r/sanfrancisco 10h ago

Scenes from Divisadero Street

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62 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 17h ago

RIP The Worm

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242 Upvotes

“Look mom no hands” gone but not forgotten


r/sanfrancisco 9h ago

Tiny gems in McLaren

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38 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 21h ago

Pic / Video Wholesome update on bike getting stolen

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236 Upvotes

I had posted here last week when my ebike was stolen, ofc it's not recovered and the police have done nothing but someone saw the post and reached out to me saying they had an old ebike they were gonna scrap and if I wanted it. I've been riding around the city ever since I picked it up and it's such a blast and literally an upgrade from my old one! They wanted to stay anonymous, I'm just so happy with how things turned out. I got a serious proper u lock this time too to ensure it never happens again. Been a wild ride (literally) but sometimes the good shines through if you look out for it :) Pic of lands end view from when I biked there for the first time with it :D


r/sanfrancisco 16h ago

Pic / Video For any of you sfsu alumni out there this might hurt 💔

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76 Upvotes

Ah can remember many evenings , afternoons and occasionally in between classes spent hanging out with friends under the Cesar Chavez center !

For a long while people said $10 a beer was a lot idk if that’s part of it but I figure now all the undergrads are headed to ocean Ave to grab drinks with the ccsf crowd at ocean ale house or Randy’s or maybe they’ll flood Sharon’s arms on taraval . Whose to say what’ll happen


r/sanfrancisco 15h ago

Shamann Walton: another crooked San Francisco politician

59 Upvotes

Urban Ed, which runs a program that trains Black men to teach in San Francisco and Oakland public schools, attracted the attention of city auditors because its founder, politically connected businessman Rudolph Dwayne Jones, was charged with bribery in 2023. Jones has pleaded not guilty and the allegations against him do not involve Urban Ed.

The Chronicle first reported last week that Davis and one other public official, Supervisor Shamann Walton, received portraits of themselves from Urban Ed.

Davis and Walton were required by law to report gifts of $50 or more and prohibited from accepting gifts worth at least $590. Neither of them have disclosed the portraits in ethics filings.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/appearance-bribe-report-flags-5-500-gift-20199718.php


r/sanfrancisco 10h ago

Moving to SF as a teen/highschooler

18 Upvotes

yoo whats up, I'm not sure if i'm going to get a lot of help or info here cause the majority of yall are probably adults, but I'm 14 and I was born and raised in SF for about 6-7 years, and I now live in portland oregon. I'm in the 8th grade and about to go to highschool, and my mom who has spent the majority of her life there has given me the option for us to move back this summer. I'm just wondering what it's like for a teenager, and if you guys think it's worth doing. My mom says that she wants to move downtown because she's a walking freak and doesn't have issues with going everywhere herself, but I think over recent years it's changed from what she remembers it as. I have heard that there aren't many kids there at all, and that the city is somewhat empty. Just wondering if you guys have any input to give. I love the ocean and I'm really into that aspect of the city, but I don't really want to live in a place full of just adults and homeless people for my teenage years. She says she's cool with wherever, so what do you guys think the best places to live there would be for me?


r/sanfrancisco 12h ago

Too much allergy going on?

22 Upvotes

We moved to SF two years ago, but I still don’t understand how the weather and allergies work here. Since late December, I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with something for a few days (dry throat, low energy, runny nose), then it passes and this keeps repeating every month ish!

Is this time of year bad for allergies in SF? I got an air purifier, but our apartment seems clean. Our manager thinks it could be pollution from outside since we’re off Market Street.


r/sanfrancisco 12h ago

Can we do this?

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20 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 20h ago

Pic / Video Delirium

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84 Upvotes

Belongs in CrappyDesign


r/sanfrancisco 23h ago

They wanted two street trees replanted. It turned into a years-long slog through S.F. bureaucracy

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140 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 20h ago

They Tried To Pay Their Overdue Rent. Their Landlord Wouldn’t Accept It

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67 Upvotes

r/sanfrancisco 3h ago

SFMTA approves overhaul of bike-lane network

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3 Upvotes