The following article was published in the The San Francisco Business Times on April 2, 2019
The languishing development of the former KRON TV building at 1001 Van Ness Ave. is back on track after a two-year delay.
The San Francisco Business Times reported in late 2016 that a 239-unit condo and retail project in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood had been approved to replace the former television building. Plans called for construction to start in early 2017.
But that never happened.
Now the condo plans have been scrapped. Oryx Partners revamped its proposal late last year to instead build a residential care facility with 247 assisted-living units for seniors and more than 8,200 square feet of retail space. according to SiteSocket. The project will join other assisted living facilities on Van Ness Avenue, including The San Francisco Towers and The Avenue.
The projects are a stone’s throw from Sutter Health’s new $2.1 billion CPMC Van Ness campus hospital that opened in March along with a massive medical office building.
Oryx Partners reportedly retooled the plans because the condo project wasn’t economically feasible. Many planned housing projects in San Francisco have stalled over the last few years as developers grapple with skyrocketing construction costs. The problem is exacerbating the housing crisis.
Developers Oryx Partners and South Beach Partners bought the property in 2014 for $26 million.
Oryx Update: Planning Commission unanimously approved the proposed assisted living senior housing project with strong community support and no opposition on April 4th, 2019. Demolition is expected by YE 2019. Video of the Planning Commission hearing on this item provided here: