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One Rincon Hill

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Template:Future building

One Rincon Hill South Tower
Map
General information
StatusUnder construction (Topped Out)[1]
Location425 First Street
San Francisco
Estimated completion2008[1]
OpeningEarly 2008 (est.)
Height
RoofTemplate:Unit ft[2]
Technical details
Floor count60[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates
DeveloperUrban West Associates
One Rincon Hill North Tower
Map
General information
StatusApproved
Location425 First Street
San Francisco
Estimated completion2009Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page).
Height
RoofTemplate:Unit ft
Technical details
Floor count45
Design and construction
Architect(s)Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates
DeveloperUrban West Associates

One Rincon Hill is a residential complex that is currently under construction on the apex of Rincon Hill in San Francisco. The complex, designed by the Chicago architectural firm Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates, will include townhouses and two highrise condo towers.[1] One tower, One Rincon Hill North Tower is planned to reach a height 541 feet (165 m) with 45 stories.[6] The other tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower, is planned to have 60 stories and stand 641 feet (195 m) tall.[2] However, because of the sloped nature of the Rincon Hill site, the lobby floor or the First Street entrance will be located on the sixth floor, and the "first" floor will be five levels underground from the First Street entrance.[7]

Because of their height, both towers will offer spectacular vistas of the surrounding landscapes.[8] Upon completion and due to its height, this will be the most significant addition to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years and be one of the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi River.[1][8]

Location and history

The Template:Unit acre site that the complex is located on is bounded by Harrison Street to the west, the Fremont Street off ramp to the north, the western approach to the Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) on the east, and the First Street on ramp to the south.[9][10] A 183 feet (56 m) tall clock tower, owned by UNION 76 and then Bank of America was originally on the site.[10] However, this was deemed an ineffective use of the land, and so in 2003 Urban West Associates bought the land and later proposed the first version of the complex on the same site.[11] The original version of the complex was a 28 story and a 33 story tower named 475 First and had only 506 apartments.[11] The city, after the initial proposal, changed the zoning in Rincon Hill neighborhood and raised height limits.[12] Later, a second version of One Rincon Hill was proposed.[13] When the second and final version project was approved by the city on August 4, 2005, the fate of the Clock Tower was sealed.[4] Before construction of One Rincon Hill, the clock tower was razed to make way for the construction of the towers.[4][14]

Description

Architecture

Both the north tower and the south tower of the Rincon Hill complex bear a resemblance to The Heritage at Millennium Park in Chicago, a building of a similar height to the south tower designed also by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates.[15] The architectural style for both buildings is late-modernist.[16][17]

Developer

The developer of this complex is Urban West Associates. The total cost of the project is $290 million.[18]

Earthquake engineering

In order to support the 60 story condo tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower will have a 12 foot (4 m) thick massive foundation embedded deep into serpentine rock. Although some engineers view serpentine rock with suspicion, there are massive structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, that have foundations on rock that is largely serpentine.[19] Rising out of the foundation are the concrete core and large, tall columns of steel-reinforced concrete called outriggers. The core is attached to large outrigger columns by steel-buckling restrained braces that are designed to transfer building loads in an earthquake. These V-shaped restraining braces are said to act like a shock-absorber during earthquakes. The braces are also encased in a concrete and steel casing in order to prevent the braces from buckling and losing their strength. At the top of the building are two large tanks, capable of holding up to 100,000 gallons (378,500 litres) of water combined.[20] There are two liquid damper screens in each tank to control the flow of the water in order to counter the sway from the powerful Pacific winds, which can sometimes reach hurricane-force.[19] Many of these engineering technologies used in One Rincon Hill South Tower are new to the United States.[19][20]

Residences

The entire project will provide 695 condos and 14 townhomes and is intended to help remedy San Francisco's continued housing crunch and its problems. The towers themselves will be priced to be affordable to upper-middle to ultra-wealthy residents, with no affordable housing on site. The units vary greatly in price from $600,000 to $2,500,000, depending on view and the size of the unit (600 to 2,000 sq ft. or 56 to 186 sq. m). There are 26 different floor plans for the 695 condo units of the tower. The project opened up a sales office on June 16, 2006 and even before the opening, 130 condo units located in the South Tower were already spoken for in a frenzy.[21] The Sales Center is rumored to have cost $2 million. Before the week ended, many of the units had been spoken for in a storm of potential buyers[22], hinting of the housing demand in the area. Currently, only six units in the South Tower are not yet under contract and 12 townhouse units.[23][24]

Construction

South Tower

This is the second-tallest tower currently under construction in San Francisco.

2005-2006 construction holdup

About a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking in November 2005, the project was put on hold by the Department of Building Inspection and Construction.[4][25] In addition, about a week after the ceremonial groundbreaking, department Chief Engineer Hanson Tom ordered that construction permits cannot be issued without his authorization.[25] This construction hold came about because staff members of the Department of Building Inspection wanted further assurances about the seismic integrity of One Rincon Hill. Their concerns focused on the core-outrigger structural system of One Rincon Hill, which was new to the city of San Francisco.[4] After additional review, San Francisco's city officials agreed with the structural engineers and construction permits were issued in January 2006, although the San Francisco Chronicle reported this over a month later.[4][26][27]

July 2006 construction accident

On July 21, 2006, a metal construction deck collapsed sometime around 10:45 in the morning. Two carpenters and two ironworkers were injured when they fell approximately 10 feet (3 m) along with the deck sending all four men to the hospital. Three of the men were released that afternoon, but however one of the ironworkers was kept at the hospital with his leg broken in two places, a broken ankle, and a broken shoulder.[28]

Current Progress

The building is currently topped out. Curtainwall glass covers floors 7 to 60 of the building.[1]

North Tower

The remaining north tower (327 condo units) will start construction by the end of 2007 and be completed in 2009.[5][17]

Criticism

With condo prices set at $5-600,000 to $2,000,000, many critics have noted that the complex is too expensive for most San Franciscans[29]. They also note that this project is oriented towards the upper-middle class to upper class in contrast to San Francisco's goal of providing housing to all wealth classes. This is due to the fact that the complex does not have any low-income units located on site, unlike nearby projects like the 300 Spear Street complex. However, the developer Urban West Associates has contributed a total of $38.5 million to funds like the South of Market Community Stabilization Fund in order to address this problem.[30]

The height of the South Tower was also a concern to residents living to the northeast of Twin Peaks. They feared that any tall towers rising in South of Market would block their view of the Bay Bridge[31].

For a detailed gallery of the construction, see SF Construction Photos

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "One Rincon Hill South Tower". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  2. ^ a b c Building height and number of floors varies depending on the measuring location and whether the five underground levels, the lobby and the topmost two mechanical levels are included in the measurement. Sources like the corresponding SkyscraperPage thread list the tower at Template:Unit ft tall with 60 floors, leaving out the topmost two levels. Source. However, the San Francisco project rundown thread on the same site lists the tower at Template:Unit ft with only 55 floors, omitting the five underground and topmost two non-residential levels. Source. Emporis lists the building with the same height figure, but omits the lobby level in addition to the seven nonresidential levels from the floor count, leading to a count of 54 floors. Source. Another site gives no height figure but mentions the tower has 62 levels. Source. At least one San Francisco Chronicle article states the building is Template:Unit ft tall with 62 levels, which includes the seven nonresidential levels. Source. However, another Chronicle article uses a different measuring location, stating that the south tower has Template:Unit ft and 60 floors. Source.
  3. ^ "Officials break ground for new condo towers at foot of Bay Bridge". San Francisco Chronicle. 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "One Rincon Hill complex". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  5. ^ a b "Work to start on second Rincon tower this year". San Francisco Business Times. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "One Rincon Hill North Tower". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  7. ^ "Picture of One Rincon Hill South Tower floors - One Rincon Hill South Tower thread - Post 327". Socketsite.com and SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  8. ^ a b One Rincon Hill Aerial Tour, found on One Rincon Hill's website
  9. ^ Site description is based on Google Earth images.
  10. ^ a b "Clock Tower Building". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  11. ^ a b "A NEW SKYLINE RINCON HILL". San Francisco Chronicle. 2003-06-15. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO". San Francisco Chronicle. 2004-02-04. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Rincon Hill on the rise". San Francisco Chronicle. 2005-04-18. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ John King (2005-09-29). "The city has a chance to create a great neighborhood on Rincon Hill". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "The Heritage at Millennium Park". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  16. ^ "One Rincon Hill - South Tower". SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  17. ^ a b "One Rincon Hill - North Tower". SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  18. ^ "ONE RINCON: Building a High-Rise CITY'S SKYLINE MOVING UPSCALE Condos in the high-rise towers will start at $500,000 -- it's pricey, but there is a killer view from the top". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b c "Tall, skinny ... stable". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "accessdate-2007-09-24" ignored (help)
  20. ^ a b "San Francisco One Rincon Hill Earthquake Proof". KRON4 and YouTube. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  21. ^ "Condo units fly out door, before doors even open". San Francisco Business Times. 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ [1] Sfbizjournal 6-19-06 article
  23. ^ [2] sfgate.com 4-16-07 article
  24. ^ [3] sfgate.com 6-16-07
  25. ^ a b "Rincon Hill's huge towers put on hold". San Francisco Chronicle. 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO High-rises pass city's seismic muster". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO Rincon Hill towers get permits after OK for seismic safety". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "4 construction workers injured in deck collapse". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-07-21. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ [4] 8-13-06 article
  30. ^ [5] 2-2-07 Article
  31. ^ "One Rincon Hill Thread-Post 719". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 8-17-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

See also

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