A New Downtown

Square One has been working with Environmental Science Associates for the past year on visualizations of the new high-rise buildings that comprise the Transit Center District Plan. The plan includes the new Transit Center tower, which will be the tallest in San Francisco, as well as a number of other commercial, residential, and mixed-use towers in the area.


The boundaries of the plan are roughly between Market and Folsom streets, and between Spear and 3rd. These studies compliment our earlier visualizations of the Rincon Hill development plan.


This is from the San Francisco Planning Department press release: 
The overarching premise of the Transit Center District Plan is to continue the concentration of future growth where it is most responsible and productive to do so from a local and regional perspective--in proximity to San Francisco's greatest concentration of public transit service. The plan balances increased density in the heart of downtown with the principles of good place-making that are essential to maintaining and enhancing the distinctive qualities of downtown San Francisco.


We will be working on this project throughout 2011, and we look forward to posting our visualizations as projects get approved. 

Exploratorium Groundbreaking

Groundbreaking for the new Exploratorium at Pier 15 in San Francisco’s Historic waterfront was today! Check out the project's official site.

The Exploratorium, San Francisco's internationally acclaimed museum of science, art and human perception, the acknowledged prototype for hands-on museums internationally, broke ground at its future home on Piers 15 and 17, on San Francisco's historic waterfront. This is the largest project on the waterfront since the Giants' AT&T park.

The project places the Exploratorium at the gateway to the City and at the nexus of public transit, radically improving educational access to all. With room outdoors and in, Pier 15 doubles the exhibition space, doubles the number of classrooms and triples the Exploratorium's capacity for professional teacher development.

Designed by San Francisco-based EHDD Architecture, a leader in sustainable design, the new Exploratorium will be green inside and out. Taking advantage of the piers' location on the Bay, the project will offset as much energy as possible with a 1.4 megawatt photovoltaic array on the roof, an innovative bay water heating and cooling system, and other components that contribute to the Exploratorium's goal of being a LEED Gold, net zero energy facility, perhaps the largest, net-zero energy museum of its size in the world. Yahoo Finance

Chinatown YMCA Grand Opening

A short walk from Square One's offices, the newly renovated Chinatown YMCA is now open for business. 

The new Chinatown YMCA has retained many parts of the original 1911 building, but also has added many new facilities. The first two floors features a swimming pool in the front lobby and a “100 Years of Serving Youth” mural, a teen center, a volunteer lounge, a kitchen, a multi-purpose room, a gym, a group exercise studios, a main courtyard, and a teen center. The third and fourth floors feature an after-school classroom, a health & fitness center, administrative offices, a back courtyard, and a residence hall. AsianWeek

CityPlace Approved

CityPlace at 935 Market, an important part of the plan to revitalize mid-Market Street San Francisco by bringing viable stores and foot traffic to the area, has been approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Located between 5th and 6th Streets, the project will bring approximately 250,000 square feet of new value-based retail to the neighborhood. 


Mayor Gavin Newsom said the CityPlace shopping center between Fifth and Sixth streets "is critical" to revitalizing a blighted area on the city's main boulevard that for years has resisted efforts to spruce it up. SF Chronicle

Treasure Island Draft EIR Published

The 2010 Draft EIR, featuring visual analyses by Square One, was published today, and is available here.

The development plans for Treasure Island include 8,000 new residential units (30% of which will be offered at below-market rates), three hotels, a 400-slip marina, restaurants, retail and entertainment venues—plus nearly 300 acres of parks and open space. The development is clustered around a new ferry terminal and is designed to prioritize walking, biking and public transit. Sftreasureisland.org

For more information on the project, visit the official government site, or check out this summary.