One Rincon Hill

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One Rincon Hill or 425 First Street is a residential complex that is currently under construction on the apex of Rincon Hill in San Francisco. The complex, designed by the Chicago architectural firm Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates, includes townhouses and two highrise condo towers, with the north tower being 49 stories and 541 ft. (165 m), and the south tower being 62 stories tall and 605 ft. (184 m). The sloped nature of the Rincon Hill site means that the lobby floor or the First Street entrance is at floor 5 and floor 1 is two levels below ground. Adding on the height of Rincon Hill, at about 120 ft. (37 m), the total height of the tower is 725 ft. (221 m) above sea level, offering spectacular views. In addition to the views, there will be many luxurious offerings included in the complex like a swimming pool. Upon completion and due to its height, this will be the most significant addition to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years and the tallest all-residential tower in California.

1 Location and history
2 Construction
3 Current Progress
4 Condos
5 Gallery
6 See also
7 Links

[edit] Location and history

The 1.3 acre site that the complex is located is bounded by Harrison Street to the west, the Fremont Street off ramp to the north, the western approach to the Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) on the east, and the First Street on ramp to the south. A clock tower, owned by UNION 76 and then Bank of America was originally on the site. However, this was an ineffective use of the land, and so in 2002 Urban West Associates bought the land and later proposed the first version of the complex on the same site. The original version of the complex was a 28 story and a 33 story tower named 475 First, with little space in between the towers. It also had only 506 apartments (see here for more). The city, after the initial proposal, raised height limits in the surrounding area and urged Urban West Associates to build to the maximum zoning - 49 stories (450') and 62 stories (550') and have at least 115 ft. of clear space in between the towers. When the second and final version project was approved by the city on August 4, 2005, the fate of the Clock Tower was sealed. Before construction of One Rincon Hill, the clock tower was razed to make way for the construction of the towers.

[edit] Construction

Construction started on the first phase of the project a little over three months after the project was approved by the city in August, 2005. The ceremonial groundbreaking of the project was attended by many of the top officials of San Francisco, including Gavin Newsom. However, according to sfgate.com and emporis.com, the project was stalled until January 2006. The first phase will build the townhomes and the taller south tower (368 condo units) that will be completed in 2007 or 2008. The south tower will have 55 floors of condos above ground and 4 parking levels below ground with a lobby on the 5th floor (ground level). The 6th floor will include a meeting area and the top floor for a liquid tuned mass damper for a total of 55 floors above ground and 62 levels in all. The remaining north tower (327 condo units) will start construction in 2008 and be completed in 2009. The total cost of the project is $290 million. The contractor is Bovis Lend Lease.

On July 21, 2006, a metal construction deck collapsed sometime around 10:45 in the morning. Two carpenters and two ironworkers were injured when they fell approximately 15 feet (5 m) along with the deck sending all four men to the hospital. Three of the men were released that afternoon, but however one of the ironworkers was kept at the hospital with his leg broken in two places, a broken ankle, and a broken shoulder.([1]).

On the weekend of August 5-August 6, September, two times in October, Thanksgiving weekend, and in late December, the crane was raised. The crane eventually will tower 720 ft. (219 m) over the construction site.

The condo is the first building in the United States to have a liquid tuned mass damper. It is designed to reduce sway from earthquakes and powerful Pacific winds and it's located on the very top of the building at the 62nd floor or 57 floors above ground level.

[edit] Current Progress

Currently, the foundation work for the tower is complete and the first 39 concrete floors for the south tower have appeared, rising much higher than the upper deck of the Bay Bridge approach. Framework reaches to 41 stories. The outer support columns, steel rebar and elevator core poke farther up into the sky to about 45 stories. There is a tower crane poking up from the site as well, a sure sign for motorists that change is happening. The podium for the townhouses has reaches above street level; columns and the first floor of the podium can be seen. The underground parking garage is going to be hidden from view later on. The crane was raised two times in February. The meeting/event floor or the second floor of the lobby could be seen as well. Curtainwall glass covers floors 6-27 of the structure. The first set of the steel buckling-restrained braces have been put in. This is the second-tallest tower currently under construction in San Francisco and another project is going up nearby. From March 11 to 19, the crane was lowered to replace a broken part in the crane. The crane was raised back up when a replacement part came in and the part was installed on the crane.

[edit] Condos

The entire project will provide 695 condos and 14 townhomes and theoretically help remedy San Francisco's continued housing crunch and its problems. The towers themselves will be priced to be affordable to upper-middle to ultra-wealthy residents, with no affordable housing (it will go somewhere offsite). The units vary greatly in price from $500,000 to $2,000,000, depending on view and the size of the unit (600 to 2,000 sq ft. or 56 to 186 sq. m). The project has recently opened up a sales office on June 16, 2006 and even before the opening, 130 of the 368 units were already spoken for in a frenzy. The Sales Center is rumored to have cost $2 million. Before the week ended, many of the units had been spoken for in a storm of potential buyers (see this), hinting of the housing demand in the area.

[edit] Gallery

Construction site and tower crane as of July 16, 2006.	Closer view of the rebar for the South Tower.	Site and raised crane on August 11.	Closer view of the site. the lifting rig for the crane can be seen as well as the scaffolding around the site.
The building.	The core close up.	Columns for the townhouses can be seen.	Closer view of massive foundation.
The crane from the south.	Another picture.	Site on August 16.	Advertisement and the rebar columns.
The crane.	Work continuing.	Site on August 25.	Closer to the crane.
Rising up.	Concrete is being placed at this time.	Meeting/event floor/lobby and the first floors of condos.	Townhouses will poke out of the hole eventually.
View from the intersection.	Sunset view on September 17.	The crane and the concrete structure alone.	The massive foundation under the concrete structure.
Night view on October 14.	View from Interstate 280 (white/black crane) in late October.	Elevator lift on October 28.	The structure.
Another picture.	Massive foundation, rebar columns for the townhouses and the lower levels of the tower.	Yellow crane (used for Rincon Hill) and black crane (used for Western Approach Replacement Project).	Crane and building so far.
Closer view of the columns for the townhouses.	View of the site.	The crane.	Another picture of the elevator lift.
View from Interstate 80 heading east on October 29	Closer view.	Another view on November 5	Note how the structure hides the Bay Bridge.
Closer view.	Closer view.	Site on December 3.	Rincon Hill in December.
Southwestern face curtainwall glass.	One Rincon Hill in mid-December, taken on westbound Interstate 80.	View of the top.	Closer view of the glass.
Aerial shot, One Rincon Hill is on the left center edge of the picture.	One Rincon Hill on January 14, 2007.	The two cranes; by this time, the podium is clearly visible above street level.	One Rincon Hill in mid-February.