Three years after a consortium of real estate investors and developers won the bid to develop Transbay Block 9, development activities are kicking into high gear. A recent off-hour visit showed construction equipment and heavy machinery sitting idle over the partially excavated site. Liquid cement seeping above the unsettled earth indicated contractor Balfour Beatty is stabilizing the silty soil before starting major foundation and trenching work. A 42 story tower, two podium structures, and row of two story townhouses are planned for the 400 ft. zoned limited parcel. The complex will include a prodigious 545 apartments and 267 parking stalls located in six underground levels. 109 of the 545 housing units will be affordable and eligible for those making up to 50% area medium income.
Though SOM Architecture’s renderings show a conventional rectilinear form for the 440 ft. tall tower, a creative facade gives the overall structure a fresh and innovative look. Outlines of individual windows are subdued in favor of the contours of multi-floor square shapes. Depending on the side, square forms rise up the building in either stacked or running brick-like patterns. Such fluctuating patterns help maintain visual interest when the tower is viewed from different vantage points. Fougeron Architecture chose a somewhat different design philosophy for the podium buildings, forgoing the glassy look of the main tower for more earthy textures and tones. Despite these differences, enough glass and similar shapes exist to maintain visual continuity with the much taller tower. Overall, the contrasting architectures pull together to form a cohesive and refreshing design.
A coalition of vested parties have an interest in Transbay Block 9, also referred to as 510 Folsom. Most sources show Essex Property Trust, BRIDGE Housing, and Avant Housing LLC (a joint venture between TMG Partners, AGI Capital Group, and CalPERS) as the major investors in the project. A more recent but unconfirmed source shows AEW and Essex taking a 50/50 interest split on the project.
The project is on a 39 month construction cycle, which would bring completion somewhere in early 2019.
