Plans for a 50-story skyscraper apartment building near San Francisco’s Ocean Beach have been updated—and are sure to intensify debates around the project.
Under the new plans, the tower at 2700 Sloat Blvd. would include 680 apartments, almost half of which would be studios. Of those, 110 would be set aside as means-tested affordable housing. The proposal also includes a "fitness and wellness spa," retail space and and a community facility for the public.
But the massive proposal, first revealed in April, was met with fierce pushback from residents of the sleepy Outer Sunset neighborhood: More than 2,200 people signed a petition protesting the project.
The filing was accompanied by comments from developer CH Planning that the plans were submitted “under protest” of the San Francisco Planning Department’s interpretation of the State Density Bonus Law, which allows developers to increase the size of projects under certain conditions, according to SF YIMBY.
A planning department spokesperson told The Standard that the new plans remain “categorically out of compliance with both state and local laws.”
Earlier renderings of the project are now being used in messaging for a planned statewide ballot initiative that would reverse state housing reforms meant to encourage more housing.
This isn't a joke - it's a real proposal in San Francisco and neighborhoods all over California could be next – including yours. But we are fighting back & standing up for our right to have a say about what gets built in our communities. Join us: https://t.co/rxJ3sWMFQ5
— Our Neighborhood Voices (@OurVoicesCA) June 30, 2023
In online chatter, the Sunset skyscraper has been characterized as a “spite project,” submitted in response to the planning department’s rejection of an earlier, more modest 12-story plan.
The Board of Supervisors recently upheld an appeal under the California Environmental Quality Act of another alleged “spite project” that would place 10 townhomes on a Nob Hill site overlooking a playground.