530 Sansome Inches Closer to Groundbreaking
41–Story, 100%-Union Development With Hotel, Office Space, and Fire Station Clears Major Hurdle
The project at 530 Sansome Street will rise to 41 stories and join San Francisco’s skyline as the 11th-tallest building once complete. The finished product is depicted in the above rendering.
In the past month, a unique development that includes the unlikely combination of a fire station, a hotel, and office space has made significant progress toward becoming a reality in San Francisco.
The project at 530 Sansome Street, which is being developed by Related California and is located a block east of the Transamerica Pyramid, cleared a crucial environmental review hurdle recently. The SF Planning Commission will hear the project in July, and it could move to the Board of Supervisors as early as September.
According to San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council Vice-President and IBEW Local 6 Business Manager John Doherty, Related California has committed to building the 530 Sansome project with all-union labor.
The 41-story tower in the North Financial District near Jackson Square will be the first proper skyscraper to be built in the City in several years, and, once completed, will become San Francisco’s 11th-tallest tower.
The $600 million, 544-foot structure will include 360,000 square feet of office space atop a five-star, 200-room hotel. The project includes a new fire station at the adjacent 447 Battery Street, replacing the existing two-story SFFD firehouse that has occupied that site for decades.
The current plan for the 530 Sansome project is an update of a previously designed 19-story structure that was approved by the Planning Commission in 2021.
The Planning Commission heard the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) at a meeting on Thursday, April 17, that was attended by building trades representatives and Related California Principal Matt Witte.
SF Building Trades Council Secretary–Treasurer Rudy Gonzalez credits the developer for its bold proposal.
“I recognize that Mr. Witte and his organization are doubling down on San Francisco at a time [when] we’re not seeing that in the hospitality or commercial sector,” Gonzalez said. “I think it’s a really important opportunity for us to send the right signal that when developers can mitigate the concerns in the DEIRs, we should move forward and, frankly, roll out the red carpet for them. It’s an incredible opportunity for our local economy and the local construction workforce that I represent.”
Air quality during construction was one concern voiced by some attendees during the hearing.
“I think it’s worth noting that in areas where there are mitigation notations, I think the project sponsor can and will solve for this,” Gonzalez said during the Planning Commission hearing. “They have a long track record of developing in San Francisco and being very sensitive to these issues.
“Any construction in the City is going to have a certain degree of unavoidable issues with respect to air quality,” he added. “There are technologies that we can employ in the construction sector that can mitigate those.”
Illustration by David James Smith
The following all voiced their support for the project during the hearing: UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 38 Business Agent John Corso; Sprinkler Fitters Local 483 Business Agent Dan Torres; Cement Masons Local 300 Business Agent Israel Vargas; and Alex Lantsberg, research and advocacy director for the SF Electrical Construction Industry.
So, what about building a hotel and copious office space when demand for both appears to have dropped in a post-pandemic San Francisco? Witte spoke briefly to that issue during the hearing.
“While it may seem counterintuitive to think about taking two uses — hospitality and office, that today are both struggling — there are reasons why we think this project is feasible,” he said.
Representatives of Related California declined a request for further comment.
In an interview with Organized Labor, Doherty recalled retrofitting and updating various fire stations over the years but said that it’s been a while since the City built a new fire-station facility from the ground up. He cited several interesting elements that go into creating a new fire station, including exhaust systems, fuel pumps, hazardous storage areas, and other unique components.
Doherty also trumpeted the opportunities the development will present to workers both during the construction phase and in the future, with tenant improvement work.
“This will be a fantastic shot in the arm when they start building it,” he said. “There are so many different systems that go into these facilities: electrical, plumbing, sprinklers, sheet metal, flooring. Everybody gets a bite of the apple. These are good projects.”