Updated renderings have been published for Strada’s waterfront housing development at 555 Beale Street, San Francisco. The new illustrations showcase the design by the international architecture studio Grimshaw for two residential buildings expected to deliver over six hundred units along The Embarcadero. Construction could start as early as next year.
555 Beale Street Building 1 podium view, design by Grimshaw and Perry Architects
555 Beale Street updated design massing, design by Grimshaw and Perry Architects
London-based Grimshaw Architects is leading the design for 555 Beale Street, working in partnership with San Francisco-based Perry Architects. The proposed 23-story tower is not quite tall enough to noticeably alter the waterfront skyline surrounding the Bay Bridge. The highest point of the masterplan would rise only as tall as its neighbor. To further reduce the visual impact of the development, the project team states that “massing is sculpted to preserve view corridors,” adding that “90% of site coverage is below 105 feet.”
Full build-out will yield around 600,580 square feet across the two structures, with 433,460 square feet of housing, 186,290 square feet for parking, and 6,970 square feet of ground-level retail. Unit sizes will vary, with 162 studios, 321 one-bedrooms, and 136 two-bedrooms. The podium-level garage will be provided for 354 cars and 37 bicycles. Of the 619 apartments, 93 will be deed-restricted as affordable housing.
There is a third parcel, dubbed Building 3, which is expected to become fully-affordable housing under a separate application.
555 Beale Street Building 2 aerial overview, design by Grimshaw and Perry Architects
555 Beale Street Building 2 pedestrian view, design by Grimshaw and Perry Architects
The plans for housing at 555 Beale Street, also addressed as Seawall Lot 330, were previously dependent on the commercial redevelopment of Piers 30-32, all on city-owned property. Last July, Strada Investment Group received approval from the city’s port commission to alter the development agreement and separate the office and housing projects.
The Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco, Elaine Forbes, said that the developer has determined that based on “based on a $125 million infrastructure funding gap, the complex timing of the U.S. Army Corps-led seawall project, prolonged weakness in the office market, and uncertainty in federal infrastructure funding,” the office component for Piers 30 and 32 is too speculative to proceed.
Seawall Lot 330, image via Google Satellite outlined approximately by YIMBY
The 2.3-acre property is located along Beale Street and the Embarcadero, directly across from Piers 30 and 32. The site is currently occupied by surface parking and a non-profit-led navigation center. Construction is estimated to cost at least $600 million, with work expected to start as early as next year.
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555 Beale Street City and County of San Francisco Grimshaw Architects James Corner Field Operations Perry Architects Strada Investment Group