SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Residents of a San Francisco building that has flooded twice since June are reporting theft and people going inside their vacant apartments.

On June 10, at 2:27 a.m., Kate Sutherland received a notification. A person had been detected inside her vacant apartment at 33 Tehama.

“Opened the video and I saw a random person just wandering through my unit and taking a video on flash. It sent chills down my spine,” said Sutherland.

The eerie video caught what looked like a person moving slowly in the dark. The building had been vacant for several days after a water main broke and flooded the building. Kate ended her lease four days after this video was recorded.

RELATED: Residents at SF luxury apartment displaced after pipe bursts, flooding all 35 floors

Luz Pena: “How did they explain what happened?”

Kate Sutherland: “They really know how to explain it. They just kept saying that it was unauthorized.”

Kate’s story is the tip of the iceberg. This week another resident captured a contractor using the bathroom inside one of the apartments and taking something on their way out. Hines, the real estate company that owns the building, confirmed the theft that took place Monday, saying in part:

“A contractor who was making repairs in one of the units at 33 Tehama was recorded taking items from the unit. This contractor was terminated immediately.”

In Stephanie Sunwoo’s case, thousands of dollars went missing from her bank account this morning.

“Two fraudulent checks cashed in my account. My bank account both in the amount of over $1,500 each,” said Stephanie Sunwoo, 33 Tehama resident.

RELATED: Residents at flooded San Francisco luxury building may not be able to return home until 2023

Residents of the San Francisco high-rise damaged by a massive water main break may not be able to move back in until late this year or possibly 2023.

Sunwoo says her entire checkbook is inside her nightstand in her vacant apartment.

“It is really alarming to think that somebody is rummaging through my bedroom through my nightstand, grabs a box full of my checkbooks and now I have deep fears of identity theft,” said Sunwoo.

Residents are also reporting theft in the bike room.

“Our bike room was completely looted. There are remains of people’s bikes. Some people’s bikes are completely missing,” said Sunwoo.

Regarding theft, Hines said in part:

“While we haven’t confirmed the validity of these allegations yet, we have temporarily removed all contractor access to resident units while we work on a solution to increase security measures.”

RELATED: Residents report 2nd water leak, presumed theft at luxury SF apartments

And for residents like Maarya Abbasi, these reports make them want to get all of their belongings out of the building fast. She says Hines is making it difficult.

“It just feels like the nightmare that never ends,” said Maarya Abbasi.

Hines is not allowing residents inside the building and is only letting them use movers assigned by Hines.

“That is something I also asked Tehama ‘What is the recourse if our belongings get damaged?’ All I was told was is that we would have to work through our own renters insurance,” said Abbasi.

Hines said they are providing locked storage pods to residents who have scheduled move-outs through the end of the month.

As to bikes getting stolen, they said they don’t know if any bikes have been stolen, but said a large number of bikes were abandoned.

RELATED: New ‘catastrophic’ details reveal what went wrong inside flooded luxury SF apartment building

ABC7 News has learned about new “catastrophic” details into what went wrong inside 33 Tehama luxury apartment building in San Francisco.

We also followed up and asked about the resident who said her checkbook was stolen and they said that’s a police matter.

Statement from Hines about 33 Tehama – August 16, 2022

“It has come to our attention that on August 15, 2022, a contractor who was making repairs in one of the units at 33 Tehama was recorded taking items from the unit. This contractor was terminated immediately. All construction workers at 33 Tehama are licensed, bonded, and insured, and are employees of reputable subcontractors. We have security on the premises 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the safekeeping of our residents’ belongings is our utmost priority.

There are very few allegations of other issues with security in the units. While we haven’t confirmed the validity of these allegations yet, we have temporarily removed all contractor access to resident units while we work on a solution to increase security measures. At a minimum, these measures will include a comprehensive video monitoring system to capture footage while contractors are in residents’ units to safeguard their property in an active construction site.

When we learned that the timeline for reoccupation of 33 Tehama would extend into 2023 and notified residents that they would need to find alternate accommodations, we began working with city officials and local building ownership to secure housing for our most vulnerable residents, which include residents in the 60 below market rate (BMR) units at 33 Tehama. We have had success with the city who responded promptly to the request. We continue to work with local building owners to identify housing solutions for these residents. We are hopeful that San Francisco building owners with vacant BMR units will agree to support these 33 Tehama residents at this time by offering them housing.

Given that the financial and accommodation support for 33 Tehama residents ends tomorrow August 17, we have extended the financial and hotel accommodation support to tenants who meet certain income qualifications until August 31. This is to ensure that they have the resources to secure temporary housing while we continue to work closely with building ownership and in partnership with Supervisor Dorsey and other government officials to find a longer-term solution. “

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As cities across the country try to encourage real estate developers to convert distressed office buildings into housing, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a plan.

New data, however, raise substantial doubt about his office-to-residential accelerator and the number of buildings that can be converted in the first place. The data also suggests that other cities may run into similar hurdles.

Just 33 of the 325 office buildings in midtown Manhattan would be eligible for conversions under the mayor’s proposal, according to an analysis of properties in the areas by online real estate development platform PropertyScout, exclusively provided to The Messenger. Numerous factors, from limited access for fire departments to a lack of street-facing windows, shrink the pool of eligible buildings for conversions.

What’s more, the PropertyScout data does not include other factors like structural integrity and existing long-term leases, meaning its figure for New York will be even lower in practice.

New York City often leads the rest of the country in office building trends and these challenges will certainly resurface in other cities with the same, and separate, fire and building codes required for residential buildings. In San Francisco, for example, sprinkler systems must be installed in specific locations of new and renovated apartment buildings, including in units and garbage chutes. That means, more costly plumbing would have to be added to an existing office.

Since the pandemic decimated the office market, local governments have repeatedly pitched office-to-residential conversions as the solution for vacant office buildings and housing shortages. However, real estate developers often counter that complicated floor plans and high construction costs make conversions difficult, especially without funding. 

Rubik’s Cube of a Mess

“It’s like a Rubik’s cube of a mess. The pieces don’t always fit,” said Adelaide Polsinelli, a New York City broker with Compass who specializes in investment sales.

Currently, most of the midtown Manhattan areas are zoned for manufacturing, meaning that apartments cannot be built in the area. The city’s proposal would change the zoning to residential use, as well as allow buildings built before 1990 to be converted to housing — an update from the existing 1961 and 1977 cutoffs.

Adams has boasted that office-to-residential conversions could produce 20,000 new homes over the next decade.

“Office-to-residential conversions face enough logistical challenges – so our own regulations shouldn’t be one of them,” Dan Garodnick, director of the New York Department of City Planning said in a statement. “We’re working to get overly-restrictive rules out of the way to enable conversions”

Garodnick added that the city is working with the state to pass a tax incentive program for developers.

The area impacted by the city’s rezoning plan.NYC Department of City Planning

A separate study by real estate brokerage Avison Young found that New York’s five boroughs would have 1,698 office properties eligible for conversion. In Los Angeles, 1,212 properties are candidates, followed by 1,030 in Chicago and 795 in San Francisco. But that’s all without considering factors like feasibility, layout, location and costs.

PropertyScout’s data reveals that achieving those housing goals requires more than just giving developers a greenlight.

“The proposed rezoning will do very little to help conversions,” said Wilson Parry, CEO of PropertyScout. “The proposal does not address this elephant in the room.” 

That same elephant exists for office districts all over the country. Real estate developers face battles surrounding light, air and fire department access to apartments. In midtown, one of New York City’s prime office district, buildings are smaller and packed tightly together, limiting room for windows.

Legally, rooms in apartments must have windows that look out to a street, backyard or courtyard. Under New York City’s proposal, some requirements will become more lenient so that windows can be installed on walls just 15 feet away from another building — a change from New York City’s current 30 foot standard. That would theoretically allow for apartments to be created in the back of buildings, even if the views aren’t ideal. 

In some current conversions, office buildings have been hollowed out for light shafts and courtyards that make room for windows. That requires large floors. Conversions at 25 Water Street or One Wall Street in New York both encompass more than one million square feet and are located in Manhattan’s financial district.

When considering window requirements, there are just 33 candidates for conversions, out of 325 total midtown offices.

Other cities have additional rules that make conversions difficult. In San Francisco, sprinkler systems must be installed in specific locations of new and renovated apartment buildings, including in units and garbage chutes. That means, more plumbing would have to be added to an existing office.

In addition to windows, developers have to add bathrooms and kitchens, divide the floors into apartment units and make the former offices appealing to residents who don’t want to feel like they live in an office building. Other factors like kicking out existing office tenants and a building’s age can also make developers hesitant. Not only is the process complex, but and those costs would be passed down to renters, according to Compass’ Polsinelli.

Hand Over the Keys 

“If you’re an owner, you already have a building, and you have two choices: handing back the keys or doing the conversion. I would hand over the keys,” Polsinelli said. “[Financially] it doesn’t work. It’s not worth the brain damage.”

Still, some real estate professional aren’t not bowed by the data. Brooks McDaniel, a senior vice president of building repositioning at STO Building Group, still encourages developers to examine conversion potential. He said that he’s taken it upon himself to reach out to office owners with buildings that could have a second life. 

“I still have this big learning curve with building owners where I’m sort of educating them on how this works,” McDaniel said. “[We’re] using all of these various methods to make the projects work.”

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• With offices empty and housing scarce, commercial buildings are being turned into homes more often. 
• Architects say the hardest part of these conversions is picking the right building.
• After that, they have to do everything from adding stairs to cutting out the centers of structures. 

Vacant downtown office buildings may be the next SoHo lofts. That is, after they go through the costly process of being converted into apartments and condos. 

Elected officials in cities across the US are trying to solve a housing shortage, empty offices in a remote-work world, and the climate crisis by converting underused commercial space into homes.

Steven Paynter, an expert in office-to-residential conversions at the architecture firm Gensler, thinks converted office buildings will be a trendy, new type of housing. Like the loft apartments converted from former manufacturing spaces that have become some of the most desirable homes in Manhattan, New York, former offices offer unique features and history you can’t find in a new building. 

“A lot of the residential conversion is now providing a better product than ground-up residential because no one builds residential with that high ceilings, or that kind of interesting structural system, or that kind of heritage facade, or building with brick skin,” Paynter said.

The renovated exterior of Franklin Tower, a 24-story former office building in downtown Philadelphia that now contains luxury residences. Courtesy of Gensler and Robert Deitchler

And even in a worst-case scenario, where units are strangely laid out or dimly lit, there can still be unique benefits to living in an old office.

“A lot of people might not care that they get a ton of daylight into their bedroom if it means their rent is cheaper or they live a five-minute walk from work,” Mark Hogan, a San Francisco architect who has advised the city government on policy reforms concerning office conversions, said.

But renovating old office buildings is no simple task. Insider spoke with four architects who’d tackled these projects. They said that turning a cubicle farm or conference room into a livable space involved addressing a host of issues, including inoperable, poorly insulated windows and the dark depths of a skyscraper’s center.

Here’s what it takes to turn an empty office skyscraper into much-needed housing.

The first step is finding the right building

The most difficult part of the conversion process comes before any of the construction begins: selecting the buildings to convert, Paynter said. He and his team have developed an algorithm to determine which buildings are ripe for conversion. It takes into account building size, layout, location, and how updated its facade is. Of the 950 buildings he and his team have surveyed, just 30% are suitable for conversion. People in the industry call them “Goldilocks buildings.”

“If you get the right building, you can make a really great project out of it,” he said. “If you start with the wrong building, you’ve got no chance.

Older, prewar buildings are generally easier to turn into homes than newer skyscrapers. That’s because buildings constructed before air conditioning generally have smaller floor plates, with building interiors no more than 25 or 30 feet from windows that can open. Newer buildings often have deeper floor plates and windows that don’t open, which can make conversion tricky since residential buildings need light, air, and bathrooms all over. 

“A lot of older buildings that are U-shaped or E-shaped, or kind of smaller in floor plate are perfect candidates for conversion,” Charles Bloszies, a San Francisco architect and structural engineer, told Insider. 

In some cases, particularly when it comes to postwar high-rises, it’s more economical to tear old office buildings down and replace them with new housing, Hogan said. He thinks older, smaller buildings are much more eligible for conversion. 

“That is lower-hanging fruit, and I think those are the type of projects you’ll be more likely to see sooner,” Hogan said. 

An exercise and lounge space in Franklin Tower. Courtesy of Gensler and Robert Deitchler

Many buildings need more stairs to meet modern fire codes

The first step in turning a commercial building into homes is figuring out where the staircases will go to meet modern fire regulations, especially in older and smaller buildings, Hogan said. In the US, most apartment buildings more than 4 stories high must have two staircases and exits. Those staircases need to be connected by a corridor, and that shapes how apartments are laid out around them.

“There’s a lot of existing buildings that have a fire escape as a second means of egress in San Francisco,” Hogan said. “In a building where you’re changing the use, you typically have to bring it up to code, and so adding extra stairs is a really major intervention and is just going to change the available square footage pretty dramatically.” 

Cutting out the middle of skyscrapers to add more windows

Key to the interior design in converted buildings is maximizing the amount of exterior wall per unit to get each home the most light and air possible. In some newer office buildings, architects will cut out a portion of the center of the building to create a courtyard or shaft for air and light. Sometimes that lost floor space will be made up by adding several floors to the building. 

John Cetra, a Manhattan architect who has worked on office conversions since the 1980s, is leading the second-largest office-to-residential conversion project in Manhattan. The building — at 25 Water St. in the financial district — houses JPMorgan’s offices and is set to have 1,300 apartments eventually. But first, sections of the center of the building, including excess elevators, are planned to be cut out, with new floors added. 

“We created the hole in the doughnut to bring the light and air into the middle of the space,” Cetra said. “And we took some of the floor area that we eliminated, and we’re building 10 stories on top of the building.” 

A rendering of a coworking space at 55 Broad St in Manhattan. Courtesy CetraRuddy

In another such project completed in 2007, Bloszies and his team turned the oldest skyscraper on the West Coast — San Francisco’s Chronicle Building — into 100 homes. They stripped off a metal shroud that had been added to the building, restored the original facade, and added 8 stories to the top of the building — one of the largest vertical additions to a historic building in the world at the time.

Rebuilding a skyscraper can get expensive

Not all buildings can accommodate a renovation like this. Some building foundations can’t handle the extra weight of additional floors. Cetra said he and his team “draw the line” at reinforcing foundations, a process that he said was too expensive and disruptive to be worthwhile.

Changing an older building’s use often triggers requirements to have it abide by modern building codes. This includes updates like seismic retrofitting, which strengthens buildings to protect them against earthquakes. It also includes abiding by modern energy-efficiency standards. New plumbing, mechanical systems, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems are also usually part of the construction process. 

Renovating the facades and windows of buildings is also a costly but often necessary endeavor. Many buildings, particularly those constructed after 1960, don’t have operable windows, and even if they do, they don’t meet modern energy-efficiency standards. 

When Gensler renovated Franklin Tower, a vacant 1970s office building in downtown Philadelphia, it fully reconstructed the facade and windows. It also solved some of the problems associated with a large floor plan by creating smaller amenity spaces on several floors occupying many of the windowless spaces in the center of the building, Paynter said. 

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1313 L St. in Washington, D.C., was formerly an office building. By the end of this year, it will be home to newly finished apartments.

Richard Morrison, Erin Kenney/NPR

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Richard Morrison, Erin Kenney/NPR

1313 L St. in Washington, D.C., was formerly an office building. By the end of this year, it will be home to newly finished apartments.

Richard Morrison, Erin Kenney/NPR

If you walked past 1313 L St. in Washington, D.C., a few years ago, you would’ve seen a 1980s-style office building. The headquarters for the National Association for the Education of Young Children was red brick, with big windows and the organization’s logo plastered across the side.

But if you walk by the same spot this time next year, you could be looking at a newly finished apartment building with sleek gray siding and a rooftop patio.

The project is one example of a growing real estate trend — converting old, unused office space into apartments. These conversions seem like a win-win: turning a plethora of barely used office space into desperately needed urban housing.

But converting offices into apartments is easier said than done. And while it’s easy to imagine the process behind conversions, like adding in walls and plumbing, it gets complicated.

Out-of-the-way and older office buildings are targets for conversions to apartments

City centers are struggling to fill the gap left by commuters who now come into the office a few days a week, if at all. These workers were patrons of downtown businesses, from restaurants to dry cleaners. Without them, offices are desolate and businesses are shuttering.

To save these downtowns, cities are trying to turn unused office space into housing. San Francisco officials are making efforts to adjust current building codes and get rid of extra fees for office-to-residential projects. In Washington, D.C., the mayor wants to put more money into a tax relief program for office conversions.

Even cities like New York, where many companies have offices, vacancy is becoming a problem. Office vacancy in Manhattan was 15% in May, according to real estate investment firm CBRE.

“The commute has crushed a lot of people’s willingness to trudge into the office every day,” said Jason Alderman, the head of real estate giant Hines’ New York office. He said Hines’ buildings within a half-mile of the major transit hubs Grand Central and Penn Station have higher occupancy rates than others.

But, he added, “buildings that are catering to people — making it exciting to come back to the office or easy to come back to the office — are winning.”

As demand for other office buildings decreases, Hines is considering office-to-apartment conversion projects. Alderman said the company is actively bidding on properties.

Too many rules, not enough incentives

Converting an office building into a residential space can be difficult, and that’s when the building already has the right structure to work with. A lot of buildings don’t — they’re too wide, or have the wrong kind of windows, which makes conversion more expensive. But politics may be a greater factor in a project’s success.

Even as cities try to entice developers to turn office buildings into apartments, they’ve also put up obstacles. In New York, strict zoning rules already impact which buildings — and in some cases, how many floors — can be converted into housing. Rezoning a property for residential use can be timely and costly. Alderman said approval also requires support from politicians, who often add requirements for affordable housing a developer may be unable to afford.

Right now, many developers in New York are adjusting after the expiration of a state tax exemption for builders who include affordable housing in their projects. The exemption played a large role in multifamily housing construction in the city. According to a study from NYU’s Furman Center, 70% of multifamily properties built from 2010-2020 took advantage of the tax exemption.

Alderman said, while he hopes it is reinstated, “That would be both [the city and the state] cooperating together and waving a magic wand. And I’m not holding my breath that that’s going to happen anytime soon.”

The 1313 L St. building, pictured here in December 2021, is being converted into apartments by architecture firm Hickok Cole.

Richard Morrison

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The 1313 L St. building, pictured here in December 2021, is being converted into apartments by architecture firm Hickok Cole.

Richard Morrison

In Washington, D.C., the government has exempted downtown projects from affordable housing requirements to encourage developments like the 1313 L St. building, which is being converted by architecture firm Hickok Cole.

“The economics of these projects, they’re not slam dunks,” said Guilherme Almeida, the firm’s director of high performance design. “They actually are pretty complex and expensive projects to execute, so [an affordable-housing requirement] would have disincentivized the creation of more housing downtown.”

Turning offices into homes would be better for the environment than starting from scratch

Building construction produces 11% of global carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. It can take up to 80 years for a new, energy-efficient building to offset its own carbon emissions, according to a study by the National Historic Preservation Fund’s Preservation Green Lab. The fund’s former sustainability director, Patrice Frey, said reusing an existing building can reduce emissions dramatically.

“I don’t think we can think of our resources as so expendable that we can just continue to build and abandon or build and demolish,” Frey said. “We’ve really got to think more sustainably about using what we’ve got.”

She said one reason behind the commercial real estate and housing crises is that over the last few decades, developers built with one use in mind, whether it be office space or residential. She’s hopeful that in time, the industry will shift to designing buildings that are more adaptable to changing needs.

“That mentality, that thinking about flexible, adaptable space has to be integrated into everything we construct into the future,” Frey said. “Because we’ve got to be designing for centuries, not for decades.”

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An eight-story office building formerly owned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia will be converted into a 120-unit residential complex.

The property at 2100-12 Arch Street, formerly Building of the Jewish Community Services, was sold for $12 million last month to MM Partners, a developer specializing in adaptive reuse projects. A building permit Approval was granted this week for the planned residential conversion, which will also include commercial space on the ground floor. A schedule for the project is not yet known.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed commercial real estate markets, proponents of office-to-residential conversions have argued that aging, vacant office buildings should be repurposed for residential use.

Property records indicate the building was constructed in 1913. The Jewish Union sold the 121,500 square meter property because it was not there optimized spatial; The organization had rented space to non-profit organizations, but didn’t want to be a long-term landlord. The company has since moved its offices to 23,000 square feet on a single floor of a building at 20th and Market Streets.

MM Partners has completed more than a dozen adaptive reuse projects in Philadelphia over the years, including the conversion of Fairmount’s AF Bornot Dye Works building into a mixed-use facility; the Waterworks Apartments, built in a former industrial warehouse in Manayunk; and the former FA Poth Brewing Co. building in Brewerytown, now housing apartments and commercial space.

Although such projects are touted as office vacancy solutions, especially in light of the ongoing work-from-home world, adaptive repurposing is required projects are difficult to complete technically and financially. Office buildings are built to restrict the entry of natural light, and their centralized utilities make it difficult to connect heating, ventilation and plumbing to homes.

Office space is also scattered around. Difficult buildings do not necessarily lack tenants and the combination of offices and new housing on multiple floors is not ideal for adapting an older building versus building a new co-living area (where people rent and work). .

Although apartment rents have risen in line with inflation in recent years, office rents remain more expensive per square foot, so developers and building owners may hold back on new leases rather than investing in residential conversions. And even if they move to residential areas, the adapted properties would not be an automatic solution for the people most affected by housing shortages. With no subsidies or other incentives for affordable housing, the economy suggests that the housing is being offered at or above market prices. That’s a tough sell for downtown renters in places like Philly, where nearly half of the city’s newbuild homes are in Center City.

Source/Google EarthAn aerial view of 2100-12 Arch St. in Center City.

Some states and localities have been looking for ways to encourage office-to-residential conversion projects. In March, Chicago city leaders took up the idea, investing $550 million to convert three office buildings — with about 5 million square feet of vacant office space — into more than 1,000 mixed-income housing units. And in San Francisco, where the office vacancy rate hit 29.5% in the first quarter of this year, city officials moved to cut costs and remove roadblocks to projects.

So far, however, results have been limited. A report released last December by Coldwell banker Richard Ellis, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm, found that despite the hype surrounding office-to-residential conversions, there were only 42 completed conversions in the US last year. Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 39 conversions were completed each year, the report said.

In Philadelphia, CBRE reported that the downtown office vacancy rate was about 19.2% in the first quarter of 2023 and nearly 44 million square feet were vacant. The office vacancy rate across the suburb was 23.5%, with more than 62 million square meters available. Those numbers followed a period of apparent recovery in mid-last year, offset by staff cuts and tenant subletting of excess space.

During the COVID era, office occupancy in Philly fell by more than 9.7 million square feet, which is about the size of eight Comcast centers, according to the Inquirer.

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Take a look at the construction of the new apartment complex in Napa: SoCo Napa. It is located in Central and Soscol in Napa. Most units will be off the shelf.

Jennifer Huffman, Register

A “Maker” workspace. A bicycle “kitchen”. A community garden, lounge, pool, waterfall, two exercise areas, game room and even a pet spa.

These are some of the amenities new residents of SoCo Napa Apartments can choose from in the 15-acre complex.

A total of 171 units are currently under construction across seven buildings in downtown Napa. As of last week, the hammering and building work is about 60% complete, said Kevin Meier, site manager at Cresleigh Homes. The first apartments are to be rented by the end of May.

A proposed apartment complex in central Napa would offer not only 172 rental units, but also a dozen two-wheeler rentals.

Located at 725 and 737 Central St., the SoCo Napa project was originally intended to be developed by Napan Wayne O’Connell and partners.

He planned to name it Pietro Place in honor of his grandfather, Pietro Lepera, an immigrant from Italy, O’Connell said in 2015.

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However, in 2016, O’Connell sold the project to builder and developer Cresleigh Homes.

The new SoCo name was inspired by nearby Soscol Avenue, said Abigail Buffaloe of Cresleigh Homes.

During a tour last week, Buffaloe noted that Cresleigh isn’t new to Napa. With offices in Roseville and San Francisco, the company also owns and operates the Towpath Village condominium complex in Napa on Old Soscol Way.

Large and buildable lots are becoming increasingly scarce in Napa, and another is on the way to being filled by a new condominium complex.

“We’ve been in the neighborhood,” Buffaloe said. Cresleigh Homes is “really drawn to populating residential areas, (and) we just fell in love with the project.”

Napa is “such a unique community,” she said. It’s close to the larger Bay Area, “You’ve got a bustling downtown, art and music, and great restaurants.” (all) in the “world-class” Napa Valley.

“And we really want to share that with our residents and give them a new place to call home.”

The unit could potentially be sold at some point in the future, but for now they will be leased at market rates, Buffaloe said.

That ranges from about $2,500 per month for a one-bedroom unit to $3,000 for a two-bedroom unit.

Because SoCo uses a dynamic pricing engine, lease rates can actually fluctuate on a weekly or even daily basis. It all depends on supply and demand in the market, Buffaloe said.

A condominium complex has permission to fill one of Napa’s last major land blocks near downtown.

However, a total of 12 units are rented out to eligible residents at “affordable” rates. Depending on income and household size, those units could start at about $1,250 a month, Buffaloe said.

Almost half of the units have one bedroom; the other half, two. The complex does not have studios or three bedroom units. A total of 305 parking spaces are planned, including 109 garage parking spaces.

The seven residential buildings are each in different construction phases. For example, the building next to Central Avenue is about 90 percent complete, Meier said. Appliances, countertops and other surfaces are currently being installed. At the other end of the spectrum, part of the complex on Soscol Avenue will be fitted with heating and plumbing. The building is about 30% complete, Meier said.

That could happen around the first quarter of 2024, Buffaloe said.

“It will be a nice project,” adds Meier.

Guided tours are not yet available, but see Cresleigh.com for information on the apartments.

PHOTOS: Take a sneak peek inside these Napa apartments under construction

SoCo Napa Apartments 2

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 1

A construction worker is seen Wednesday, April 5 near the unfinished pool at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 3

Construction workers work at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 4

Clubhouse tour on Wednesday, April 5th at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 5

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 5

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 7

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 8

Construction workers work at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 9

Construction workers are seen Wednesday, April 5 near the unfinished pool at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 10

Construction workers work at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 11

Construction workers work at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 12

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 13

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

SoCo Napa Apartments 14

A construction worker works at the new SoCo Napa Apartments in Napa on Wednesday, April 5.

Nick Otto, Registry

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 707-256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com

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The post 171 new flats rising in central Napa appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A new seven-story, 99-unit residential building with ground-floor restaurant space is planned for a building at 421 Cypress Ave. in South San Francisco, which is home to the closed Bertolucci’s restaurant.

Peter Sodini, the owner of Bertolucci’s, applied for the project last year, according to the city. The Planning Commission will review the project during a meeting at 7 p.m. on August 18.

Bertolucci’s, an Italian landmark that opened as a boarding house in 1928, was purchased by Sodini in 2005 after the Bertoluccis retired. The restaurant has been closed during the pandemic and will reportedly reopen in the new building, which may be called Sodini’s, according to renderings.

Plans include 1,500 square feet for the corner restaurant and outdoor seating. The first floor would also include 99 parking spaces made possible by mechanical forklifts.

The existing two-storey building with a restaurant and five apartments would be demolished.

According to a city report, the architecture of the planned building “reflects on the historical character of the city with its brick base”. “A faithful reproduction of the original Bertolucci character” would also be included, it says.

Sodini, a Burlingame resident, also owns Golden Boy Pizza with its original location in San Francisco and a newer location in San Mateo.

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A new seven story, 99 unit residential building with restaurant space on the ground floor has been proposed to replace a building at 421 Cypress Ave. in South San Francisco, home to the shuttered Bertolucci’s restaurant.

Peter Sodini, the owner of Bertolucci’s, submitted an application for the project last year, according to the city. The Planning Commission will review the project Aug. 18 during a 7 pm meeting.

Bertolucci’s, a landmark Italian eatery — opened in 1928 as a boarding house — and was purchased by Sodini in 2005 after the Bertoluccis retired. The restaurant closed amid the pandemic, and will reportedly reopen in the new building, potentially called Sodini’s, by renderings.

Plans indicate 1,500 square feet of space for the restaurant at the corner of the building, plus outdoor seating space. The first floor would also include 99 parking spots, made possible with mechanical stackers.

The existing two-story building including the restaurant and five apartments would be demolished.

The planned building’s architecture “harkens back to the historic character of the city with its brick base” according to a city report. “A faithful reproduction of the original Bertolucci’s sign” would also be included, it states.

Sodini, a Burlingame resident, also owns Golden Boy Pizza, with its original San Francisco location and newer location in San Mateo.

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A new 292-unit apartment building has been proposed in South San Francisco to replace an aging industrial facility near Highway 101.

The building would rise eight stories on a 1.6-acre lot at 40 Airport Blvd. and include 308 parking spots in a multi-level garage. The site is bordered by the highway and Caltrain tracks, and would sit adjacent to a La Quinta hotel and Denny’s restaurant. Across the street a 480-unit apartment building is planned, slated also to replace industrial buildings.

The city’s Housing Standing Committee, which includes members of the City Council and Planning Commission, gave the project a positive review last week, advancing it to a vote to grant entitlements at a later date.

“I think it’s a great addition, the existing building doesn’t do the area justice,” said Planning Commission Chair Sam Shihadeh.

The plans were originally submitted in late 2020, when the city’s zoning for the site was for an industrial use. With the city’s general plan update, the lot will allow for a residential building. The existing facility, occupied by a produce distribution company, is regularly accessed by large trucks.

“I would say it no longer really fits with the character of the neighborhood, particularly as this area’s programmed to move to more residential uses,” said Ryan McNamara, vice president of development for Blake Griggs, the Danville-based developer for the project.

The building would be 330,000 square feet, with the structure wrapping around a central courtyard and most units including balconies.

McNamara said the apartments would be smaller than average new units in the area, allowing for more affordable rents. On average, rents would be $200 to $300 less than nearby new construction, resulting in studios in the $2,400 range and one-bedrooms under $3,000, he said.

The smaller size will require a reduced subsidy from the developer to provide affordable units in line with the city’s inclusionary zoning requirements. The city’s rules require 10% of units be offered with rents affordable to those earning 80% or less of the county median income — which works out to studios offered at or below $2,558, one-bedrooms at $2,741 and two-bedrooms at $3,290. Another 5% of units would need to be more affordable, for those earning 50% or less of median income, with rents in those categories at $1,598, $1,713 and $2,056, respectively.

The building would include 57 studio units, 32 one-bedroom units, 122 two-bedroom units, 59 three-bedroom units and 22 four-bedroom units. Amenities would include a cafe and bar for residents only, a gym, a rooftop lounge, coworking space and a pet run and cleaning area. Parking space for 135 bicycles would also be available.

The developer proposed to cover the cost of various changes to Airport Boulevard, including adding bike lanes, removing a separated turning lane to improve pedestrian safety and making landscaping improvements. A payment to the city of $630,000 was also offered as part of the agreement, which would come on top of standard impact fees to be paid by the developer likely to cost several million.

Councilmember Mark Addiego suggested the developer could also make improvements to a nearby pedestrian tunnel under the train tracks that provides access to downtown and transit stops.

The developer of the 480-unit project, slated for 124 Airport Blvd., proposed lighting and paint upgrades to the tunnel, which some councilmembers had indicated could be insufficient. McNamara said because the tunnel is owned by Caltrain, more extensive upgrades to it would require its cooperation. He said further upgrades would be explored in conjunction with the developer of the other project.

The larger project was the subject of a lengthy and contentious approval process, and finally received the green light late last year amid concerns that the developer, Hanover Company, did not plan to employ union carpenters during construction. The property owner, PS Business Parks, opted to seek a new developer this year.

Addiego said Texas-based developer Trammell Crow had been chosen as a replacement.

“Sounds like we might have some high-level, major players out there creating a new neighborhood, so I’m pretty excited,” he said.

Mayor Mark Nagales emphasized the need for both developers to coordinate upgrades along Airport Boulevard. He also raised concerns regarding disruptions if both developments were to be constructed at the same time.

But, he said, “overall, I’m pretty excited about the project.”

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The newly built Edwin M. Lee Apartments in San Francisco will provide 62 apartments of supportive housing for homeless veterans and another 52 apartments for low-income families. Photo courtesy Cameron MacAllister Group

The newly built Edwin M. Lee Apartments in San Francisco will provide 62 apartments of supportive housing for homeless veterans and another 52 apartments for low-income families.

This 11,520 m2 (124,000 sf) affordable housing development will also provide ground-floor services for families, veterans, neighbors, and the community.

The building enables sustainable lifestyles for its residents, prioritizing access to views and daylight, along with connections to nearby public transportation. The project frames an internal garden courtyard that balances a range of areas for retrospection, interaction, and play.

With a GreenPoints Rated Platinum certification, the project includes photovoltaic and solar hot water panels to reduce operating costs and provide sustainable energy. The photovoltaic renewable energy system is on display to the public and an integral feature in the overall building’s civic design. The design’s material and assembly selections incorporate biophilic design principles and material selections are intended to reduce long-term operating and maintenance costs.

This collaboration—Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, Saida + Sullivan Design Partners, Swords to Plowshares, and Chinatown Community Development Center—supports a community in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.

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