More highrise housing slated for Rincon Hill

From today's San Francisco Business Times, "Yet another condo tower may soon sprout from Rincon Hill's fertile ground. Developer Ezra Mersey has submitted plans for a slender 206-unit, 25-story highrise at 1 Hawthorne St., a narrow alley that runs between Howard and Folsom streets in Rincon Hill. The site is home to a single-story parking garage and a vacant four-story office building, both of which would be razed under the proposal."

"The $35 million project is slated to go before the San Francisco Planning Commission on March 23, according to city planner Adam Light, and would also require a zoning variance from the Board of Supervisors. While Mersey has filed two sets of plans -- one for the 206-unit project and one for a 15-story, 135-unit structure -- Light said the city has pushed the developer toward the taller alternative "so that more housing could be created on this site.""

"The development will aim to provide primary housing for San Franciscans, rather than pieds-à-terre for out-of-towners, Light said. To this end, the development proposes 27 moderately sized studios, 68 one-bedroom apartments, and 62 two-bedroom units, with less than a one-to-one parking to unit ratio. He compared the model to 199 New Montgomery St., a 16-story development, 90 percent of which is being used as a primary residence."

"Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, said the more Rincon Hill housing, the better. "The best thing that we could hope for is that the developers overbuild and add enough supply to start driving down housing costs," said Metcalf. "Is that going to happen? I'll believe it when I see it.""