San Francisco's Greenest Tower?
The just-announced Transbay Block 6 project in SoMa, which will include a 32-story apartment tower, townhome residences, a ground-level courtyard, and street-front retail at 299 Fremont, is about to take sustainability to new heights. (It will make your recycling look like throwing trash in the ocean.)
"We've designed a building that is more sustainable--and not just from an energy and resource conservation standpoint but also social perspective--than any other high-rise building in San Francisco, and maybe anywhere," says SCB managing principal Chris Pemberton. For one, instead of an AC system and the cooling towers and chillers that go with it, Block 6 will have a smartphone-controlled, mechanized natural ventilation system that relies on the fact the local climate never gets that hot. (So you can't do it in Texas or Chicago, or you might find melted residents.) It also has a spot for bicycle storage and repair.
Above, you see bay-facing sky gardens every three floors up the 409-unit tower. There will also be rooftop gardens, we're told. (Can we grow blueberries up there? They need lots of sun and aren't known to be scared of heights.) Golub & Co will break ground by year's end and wrap up in late 2015, shooting for LEED Gold status. MEPT and Bentall Kennedy are backing the project; Bentall Kennedy COO Amy Price tells us the project banks on a real estate trifecta: a long-term demand for an urban lifestyle, job growth, and the Transbay Transit Center and its impact on the city (especially how it encourages greater use of public transportation). It's estimated the Block 6 project will create more than 2,500 green jobs and $490M in economic activity for San Francisco.
While talking to Chris, we also found out that SCB's residential tower underway at 100 Van Ness (pictured) will be followed by 429 units next door. Located at 150 Van Ness, the 13-story site will stretch along Hayes Street and replace two dilapidated buildings at the former AAA complex. Green amenities include 183 parking spots for bikes and only 215 spaces for cars (AAA wouldn't be amused) and tenants also get a DIY shop with sawing machines. The preliminary project assesment was just submitted, and it's in entitlements now. Chris says his San Francisco office has over 2,000 active units under design, making it the current leader in local multifamily architecture (other projects include 399 Fremont and 101 Polk, which will both break ground in 2014).
