SF New Developments

San Francisco Business Times - March 24, 2006

by J.K. Dineen

Chicago-based Fifield Cos. has snapped up two key parcels on the top of Rincon Hill and has hired international celebrity architect Richard Keating to design a 40-story luxury condo tower there.

Fifield finalized the land acquisition earlier this month from Theodore Brown and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which had entitlements to build a 25-story building at 375 Fremont St. and a 28-story tower at 385-399 Fremont St., according to Tim O’Brien, the company’s senior vice president.

The new 435-unit project, the application for which was filed March 20, represents a validation of sorts for San Francisco’s Rincon Hill plan, which calls for tall svelte buildings pointing skyward. It’s also a victory for San Francisco Planning Director Dean Macris, who had criticized the Theodore Brown and Archdiocese designs as excessively dense and light-blotting and had unsuccessfully lobbied for a single, slender tower.

“They were too close together and too clunky,” said Macris. “The Fifield design is a wonderful response to the site, it’s a beautiful proposal.”

‘Mom and dad would be proud’

The Californian on Rincon Hill, as the project has been dubbed, is the last of a trio of soaring towers planned for the base of the Bay Bridge that will transform the city skyline, according to Keating. He designed the Elihu Harris State Office Building in Oakland and the Gas Company Tower in Los Angeles, along with dozens of corporate headquarters in the United States and Asia.

The other two buildings are the 45- and 55-story One Rincon Hill towers being built by Michael Kriozere of Urban West Associates. The first of these is already under construction.

Keating, who grew up in Orinda but has never designed a building in San Francisco, said the three glass skyscrapers will redefine the entrance to San Francisco as the Union 76 clock tower did when it was constructed in 1955. The clock tower later advertised the Bank of America.

“It will be an urban monument. My mom and dad would be proud of driving across the bridge,” said Keating, a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley.

The building will have an eight-story podium with glass townhouses along Fremont Street. Atop the podium will be outdoor terrace areas with a lap pool, gym and entertaining room. The average-sized unit will be about 1,000 square feet. The top 25 floors will provide unobstructed views of the entire San Francisco Bay and surrounding areas.

Looking for more

O’Brien said Fifield, which has West Coast headquarters in Irvine, is opening a San Francisco office and is looking for more projects.

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