Out Of The Shadow And Into The Spotlight: 555 Washington Designs at SocketSite™
The developers behind a proposed 38-story and 248-unit condo tower in the shadow of the Transamerica Pyramid are pushing forward. From the Draft Environmental Impact Report:
The proposed new 336,585 gross square-foot 38-story, 390-foot-high project building plus 35-foot mechanical penthouse would contain about 248 residential units (133 one-bedroom units and 115 two-bedroom units) and amenities in about 331,640 square feet; 6,780 square feet of retail space; over 7,000 square feet of common and private open space plus additional open areas/public park space on Mark Twain Alley and Redwood Park in excess of 26,000; and 230 parking spaces in four subsurface levels.
From J.K. Dineen with respect to the “preferred” residential design:
In the revised design by San Francisco-based HellerManus, 555 Washington St. would start with a rectangular base and twist a quarter-turn as it rises, morphing into a circle at the top. The design, with a footprint that is 30 percent less that the zoning allows, enables the developer to expand Redwood Park, the half-acre cluster of soaring redwoods at the northern edge of the financial district.
Under the proposed project, which requires a variance for height, the redwood grove would be expanded and ownership of the park would be transferred to the city. In addition, Mark Twain Alley, a dead-end that cuts from Sansome Street into the park, would be converted into a pedestrian piazza, with ground floor restaurants spilling out from the new condo tower and other buildings along the alley.
Wow, I hope this gets built! This is the kind of architecture that we need more of in San Francisco.
