Austin Klar explains why the Hayes Point tower at Van Ness and Market in San Francisco stopped building. The 47-story project got full approval in 2020 and started excavation in 2022, but the developer paused due to rising costs and shifting market conditions. Recent crane activity isn't construction resuming, just temporary bracing for safety.
Work has picked back up at a stalled 47-story megatower on Market Street, but not in the way the city was hoping. The skyscraper at Hayes Point has had approvals in place since 2020 for an over 500-foot-tall structure that would bring a mix of housing and office and retail space to the corner of Van Ness and Market Street. Construction started in September of 2022 on excavating the site and on a multi-story foundation for the eventual building, but the developer put things on pause because of changes in city dynamics until it could reassess. But just recently, cranes were seen on site, making people speculate that the project has resumed And that's not exactly what's going on. Permits were recently issued to allow for bracing of the site support structure to make sure that the overall site is safe for people in the area. There are still no firm plans or timelines in place for resumption of construction of the actual tower itself, but there have been some modifications to the plans that were previously approved. If built, the new version of the project would see the creation of a 540-foot-tall skyscraper with 467,000 square feet of housing spread across 333 units, plus another 250,000 square feet of office space and 6,400 square feet of retail. We'll see If the project ever formally restarts, it's one of several projects at that intersection that have stalled as market dynamics and construction costs have meaningfully changed since the projects were initially approved. Let me know what you think in the comments and follow me for more Bay Area real estate.
