Market Street towers plan still faces fight

Excerpt from the San Francisco Business Journal by J.K. Dineen

It took seven years, 51 public hearings, and a last-minute plea from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, but developers in the Market-Octavia neighborhood finally have a set of rules they can follow. At least for now.

On April 5, the Planning Commission passed the Market-Octavia Better Neighborhood plan, a piece of legislation covering 379 acres including Hayes Valley and portions of Mid-Market, Mission Dolores and Duboce Triangle. The plan could result in 4,000 more housing units over the next 20 years. It allows taller buildings and increased density near Van Ness Avenue and along Market Street, but reduces heights in areas like Hayes Valley.

Not all of the plan has been finalized. The Board of Supervisors still has to endorse it, and a key part of the plan — which would allow for a half dozen 400-foot towers near the intersection of Market and Van Ness — is on hold as the Planning Department looks into increasing the percentage of affordable units required on those sites.

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