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A rendering depicts a 41-story luxury office-and-hotel tower that Related California is proposing to build at 530 Sansome St. in the northern Financial District.that would bring a new, privately financed firehouse to San Francisco’s northern Financial District won unanimous approval Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors.
Located at the corner of Sansome and Washington streets at the edge of the trendy Jackson Square historic district, the estimated $750 million project would replace an aging fire station, create a new public plaza, and deliver both a rare, new office tower and the first upper-end hotel built in San Francisco in recent times. The developer, Related California, has been energetically pushing its latest proposal for the site since August 2024 after an earlier plan stalled. The new proposal sailed through the entitlements process, promising an economic boost for downtown as The City grapples in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with “Related is proud to reach this major milestone in collaboration with the City to reimagine a quiet corner of the Financial District and Jackson Square as a vibrant new destination,” said Gino Canori, president of Related California, in a prepared statement. “By delivering the highest-quality office space, the first five-star hotel in downtown in decades, and a state-of-the-art fire station, this is the right project at the right time to set the stage for San Francisco's future,” Canori said. Related California Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Vanderboom, left, and President Gino Canori show off a view of the Paramount — a Related California development at 680 Mission St. — from their office at 44 Montgomery St.Related California officials have predicted construction will start late next year. Company officials have expressed confidence that a tower with small-footprint office spaces, expansive views and state-of-the-art amenities will be in demand along with an exclusive hotel. An economic-impact study done for Related estimated that development of the project will result in 390 jobs over four years and about 1,600 permanent, ongoing full- and part-time jobs on site, with an estimated $816 million economic impact compared with the existing land uses. Related committed to paying prevailing wages for construction of the tower and fire station.who represents District 3, which includes the site. It could receive nearly $69 million or more in tax incentives over up to 25 years based on the hotel’s performance but is expected to generate even more for city coffers, according to San Francisco officials. Lurie and Sauter together introduced legislation to allow use of some of the tax revenue generated by the new hotel to support the overall project, including construction of a roughly $40 million firehouse on a neighboring plot that the developer will deed over to The City. Getting a new four-story brick fire station to replace the existing two-story Fire Station 13 at 530 Sansome St. — which would be the location of the new tower — has been an important consideration for city officials. The project has been developed in partnership with the San Francisco Fire Department and The City’s Real Estate Division. Related California won city approval in 2021 for a plan that featured a 218-foot-tall mixed-use tower with a fire station at the base, but later determined that its plans were infeasible. The new fire station is to be constructed at 447 Battery St., on the same block as the proposed tower. To make that possible, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday also rescinded the landmark status of the 118-year-old three-story brick building now at the site on the condition that the property is deeded to The City., who said destroying an existing landmark would set a bad precedent, as it would mark the first time that The City rescinded a local landmark designation for the sake of a redevelopment project. The structure, built in 1907, housed the Jones-Thierbach Coffee Company for 60 years. A city report called it a sole survivor in the area of The City’s coffee roasting and warehousing industry. Supervisors granted it landmark status — and thus added protections — in 2022. Required mitigation measures include historic documentation, a materials-salvage plan and a public-interpretive plan. Located one block east of the Transamerica Pyramid and one block west of One Maritime Plaza, Related California’s planned 544-foot-tall office-hotel tower would feature offices on upper floors with 11-foot-tall windows to enhance views, as well as a restaurant, meeting space and up to 200 hotel rooms. As part of the development, Related would also convert all of Merchant Street between Battery and Sansome streets into a privately owned and maintained public open space with landscaping, string lighting and widened sidewalks. 447 Battery St. in San Francisco, pictured Thursday, July 31, 2025, is the proposed site of a new fire station as part of Related California’s planned development. The amount of transient occupancy tax that could go to Related is estimated in net present value at almost $68.9 million over a period of up to 25 years, with the amount potentially rising to $86.1 million, according to a recent Budget and Legislative Analyst report. The fire station would cost an estimated $44.2 million, the report said. Leigh Lutenski — director of development at the city Office of Economic and Workforce Development, which has worked closely with Related California on its proposal — said the project would the first time such a financing mechanism has been used in San Francisco, though it’s a tool commonly used elsewhere, including in Los Angeles. The project is expected to generate significantly more revenue annually to The City than the company will receive in hotel-tax incentive payments, Lutenski said. A report by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Legislative Analyst cited a fiscal analysis indicating that the proposed development would provide net general-fund revenues of about $8 million per year compared with the existing land use, after accounting for the hotel-tax payments to the developer. “We're talking about a lot of net new revenue to The City when this project does get built,” Lutenski said. The $24.1 million in impact fees to be paid would be $6.2 million less than if there was no development agreement, a fee reduction aimed at ensuring the project is financially feasible, the Budget and Legislative Analyst report states. Of that total, the company would pay nearly $15 million for affordable housing, with priority given to projects in District 3 — particularly for senior housing — as well as about $1 million into the Downtown Park Fund. The development agreement with The City calls for an accelerated payment of $2.1 million for affordable housing. “The goal, again, is to help the developer recoup the cost of the fire station and to make sure that the overall project is financially feasible,” Lutenski said. “We think this is a really great project that represents people's continued interest in the growth of San Francisco.” Related’s investment “really represents a great vote of confidence in the upward trajectory of San Francisco,” she said. Rodney Fong, president and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes the project “signals that San Francisco is ready and prepared for other development to happen and get cranes in the sky.”Click and hold your mouse button on the page to select the area you wish to save or print. You can click and drag the clipping box to move it or click and drag in the bottom right corner to resize it. When you're happy with your selection, click the checkmark icon next to the clipping area to continue.This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely!Create a password that only you will remember. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address.Forgot Password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
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