312 Sutter Street, Suite 500 PLANNING + URBAN RESEARCH San Francisco, SPUR ASSOCIATION 94108-4305 t.415.781.8726 f.415.781.7291 www.spur.org

July 19, 2004

BOARD MEMBERS Mr. Michael Kriozere Michael Alexander David Baker Rincon Ventures LLC Rick Barna Andy Barnes c/o UrbanWest Associates of Jesse Blout Gwyneth Borden 6335 El Camino del Teatro Margo Bradish Pam Brewster La Jolla, CA 92037 Ryan Brooks Claudine Cheng Julienne Christensen Gia Daniller Re: Proposed Residential Development at One Rincon Hill Luisa Ezquerro Lisa Feldstein Frank Fudem Tom Hart Dear Mr. Kriozere: Vince Hoenigman Jon Holtzman Caryl Ito Redmond Kernan On behalf of the members of the SPUR Urban Design Review Committee, we would Patricia Klitgaard Rik Kunnath like to thank the members of your project team for bringing the proposed residential James Lazarus Ellen Lou development at One Rincon Hill to our group for consideration and review at our June Henry Louie 10, 2004 meeting. John McNulty Chris Meany Peter Mezey Sandy Mori The mission of the SPUR Urban Design Review Committee is to consider projects that Dick Morten Mark Mosher are of citywide importance and to evaluate them according to criteria related to land Paul Okamoto Lester Olmstead-Rose use, public realm interface and environmental effects. In all cases, we are seeking a Brian O’Neill Brad Paul combination of excellent design solutions that will ensure the positive contribution of Laurence Pelosi Roderick Roche each project to a safe, comfortable, visually appealing and useful urban setting for the Mike Sangiacomo Nicole Sawaya people who live and work in San Francisco. Paul Sedway Anna Shimko Dave Snyder John Stewart As a result of our review and discussion of the One Rincon Hill project, we provide Stephen Taber Lydia Tan the following comments for your information and action: Jeff Tumlin Steven Vettel Claudia Viek Brooks Walker III 1) Land Use: Wells Whitney George Williams J. Peter Winkelstein Howard Wong The committee noted with great appreciation that plans for One Rincon Hill are Paul Zeger claimed to be fully compliant with the objectives of the Rincon Hill Plan, a downtown neighborhood initiative currently pending environmental review. Certainly it has been very difficult to mediate between the more protracted timetable of a community planning process and the economic pressures and citywide demand for housing that are compelling a more rapid development of the Rincon Hill area. So it is all the more heartening when project sponsors make every effort to respond to overall urban plan- ning and design goals in such a fluid planning environment.

One Rincon Hill requires the demolition of a commercial office building, garage and clock tower, to be replaced by 720 units of housing in two towers (one 450 feet and one 550 feet tall) and a series of townhouses. 42% of units are 2-3 bedrooms, thereby opening the possibility to use as family housing. The project includes 375 independently accessible parking spaces, a modest amount of ground-floor retail space, 49,000 square feet of private and common open space, and 19,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space. This intense use promises a substantial contribution to new housing and new residents in the emerging Rincon Hill downtown neighborhood. The tall towers signal a commitment to a truly urban style of living. The committee was nearly unanimous in their response to the transparency and elegance of the tower designs.

Some questions were raised regarding tower placement/spacing, with several committee members expressing the desire for more information in understanding of the context of tower impact/spacing/view corridors in the area. Clearly these are important issues for the overall success of the neighborhood—both as a neighborhood and in its relationship to the broader silhouette of the downtown cityscape and its bay views. If your project team would be willing to bring additional drawings related to the context of the tower placement, the committee would be happy to revisit this issue and make a stronger finding.

1) Public Realm Interface:

Within the project area, there was general agreement that One Rincon Hill works to maximize tower spacing by pushing the two towers to the diagonal corners of the project site. However, the greatest urban design challenge of the project is the site itself, which is nestled between two freeway ramps, the Bay Bridge approach, and busy Harrison street. Clearly traffic calming measures and the creation of a pedestrian-friendly streetscape are high priorities. The project team has worked to minimize garage and loading area entrances, to plan for some neighborhood-serving retail at ground level, to buffer the First Street onramp with landscaping, and to use the proven solution of townhouses to promote liveliness at street level and to mediate between the human scale of a pedestrian realm and the much grander scale of the towers.

However, the townhouses also provoked the greatest comment among committee members. To be sure, townhouses with independent access to the street have been employed in Vancouver, Chicago and other cities with great success, and their stoops and small garden areas make for an invitingly walkable streetscape. However, this solution is mediated by two particular challenges on this site. One is the height of the towers, which are significantly taller than the average Vancouver project. In this sense, some committee members wondered if the townhouses were a sufficiently weighted visual counterpart to the towers, or whether they risked appearing dollhouse-like (and fussy) in relation to the glassy, monumental tower forms. Secondly, the townhouses largely face heavily trafficked Harrison Street, which will remain a principal feeder street for the Bay Bridge, thereby provoking comments about the desirability of living at street level here.

Further, it should be noted that the townhouses do not, strictly speaking, wrap or “front” the towers (as is more typical in Vancouver or Chicago), but rather connect them, which also raises concerns about their use in this particular case. For all these reasons, there was a certain amount of discussion about the possibility of stronger forms, which would perhaps complement the solidity and street-holding power of the historically important and visually compelling Sailor’s Union of the Pacific building across Harrison, and alternative uses which would contribute as much or more to an active street (community serving space? commercial/retail/eating and entertainment space?). While it is clearly not the purview of the committee to dictate use to a project sponsor, it does seem worthwhile to raise the questions, in order to ensure that the townhouse solution does not become an obligatory cliché.

2) Environmental Effects:

As previously noted, One Rincon Hill envisions 375 parking spaces for 720 units, with the possibility of using stacked, valet parking if demand exceeds this level. It is SPUR policy to encourage reducing parking allocations whenever possible. However, the success of reduced parking and increased foot traffic and use of alternative transportation will depend upon the effective management of traffic on the automobile-clogged streets surrounding the project site. The committee strongly encourages the project sponsor to work with City Planning, DPW and DPT to ensure that appropriate measures are implemented in the project area.

Finally, it should be noted that the project requires the demolition of the clock tower, a 1950s-era visual landmark/historic resource that has long oriented people to the downtown area. While SPUR values the historic legacy and the local cultural meaning of the tower, we believe the need for more housing and for prioritizing neighborhood-building projects supercedes such concern in this case. There was mention in your team’s presentation of the possibility of “remembering” this clock tower in some way through a public art or other enhancement at the top of one of the towers. This is an interesting idea, and it is generally a good thing to create some sense of continuity between the past and the present of an urban place. But the committee hopes that any such enhancement will have sufficient design integrity and creativity to complement the tower designs rather than compromise them with kitsch. Whatever the solution to the parapet design of either tower, it should be as much about defining place as keeping time.

In sum, the SPUR Urban Design Project Review Committee finds One Rincon Hill to be a project with potential to provide much-needed housing and a compelling visual landmark in the emerging Rincon Hill downtown neighborhood. We hope these comments will be of use, and look forward to seeing further refinements as the project moves through the entitlement and permitting process.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for questions/clarifications.

Sincerely,

Jeannene Przyblyski Dan Cohen Co-Chairs, SPUR Urban Design Review Committee cc: David Prowler Steve Vettel, Esq. SPUR Board of Directors