San Francisco high-rise upsized despite new housing limits – The San Francisco Standard
Despite opposition from some local residents and policymakers to high-rise development in San Francisco’s Northern Waterfront, developers are seeking to make a new housing project in the area even larger than they originally planned.
Last month, when Supervisor Aaron Peskin laid out the reasons behind his proposal to limit density in several historic neighborhoods in his district, he cited a 17-story project at 1088 Sansome St. as a key impetus.
Peskin’s legislation was approved, but less than two weeks later, the developers struck back with a proposal that would make the Sansome Street development two stories taller. The group, led by Angus McCarthy, submitted new plans to raise the height of the residential tower by more than 30 feet and increase the number of housing units from 120 to 132.
McCarthy, a longtime local developer and former president of the Building Inspection Commission, is pursuing the project with investor Michael Moritz, who is chairman of The Standard. If built as proposed, the project would deliver 132 new housing units for sale, ranging from one to three bedrooms.
In January, the group originally proposed demolishing the existing three-story, 116-year-old office building near the foot of Telegraph Hill that once housed the Bemis Bag Company. Now, McCarthy intends to preserve the historic structure and build a tower on top instead.