Commercial Buildings (Under Construction) – San Francisco – 94103 – 5/14

Description
888 Brannan Street is a five-story historic building originally built in 1917 and is currently undergoing a complete interior and exterior renovation, including new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Ideally located adjacent to Interstate 80 and Highway 101, 888 Brannan contains 300,000 square feet of Class A technology office space.
Designed by architect/engineer Maurice Couchot, the National Carbon Building at 870 Brannan Street is a largescale industrial warehouse structure overlaid with classical details. The building was built in multiple phases with the original 1917 building facing 8th Street. The 1917 building was four stories tall above street level with a small fifth story section at the northern end. In 1920, a four- story, nine-bay extension of the building was added along Brannan Street. Also added to the complex was the four-story building along the east facade and a one-story structure with a clerestory.

Local Map

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The project site is located on the northeast corner of Brannan and 8th Streets on the block surrounded by
Brannan, 71h, Bryant, and Sth Streets in the Showplace Square/Potrero Hill neighborhood. The project site
contains 9,079 square feet (sf) of retail, 4,910 sf of office, and 409,144 sf of showroom/accessory office,
which is categorized by the Planning Department as production, distribution, and repair (PDR) uses. The
project site is currently occupied by two buildings and contains no parking. The project sponsor proposes
to merge the four parcels into one parcel; include exterior and interior alterations; replace existing on-site
PDR uses with office and integrated PDR uses; reduce on-site retail use (except for a project variant,
which would slightly increase on-site retail use); and add 31 new parking spaces to be accessed via a new
entrance on Decatur Street. With project development, no new space (gross sf) would be added to the
project site, but existing on-site space would be reconfigured.

The two existing buildings on site completely cover all four parcels and are connected internally. The 850
Brannan Street building is a three‐story approximately 40‐foot‐tall concrete building that was constructed
in 1920 and substantially altered in 1944 and 1984‐85.1 It occupies one of the four parcels. It is not listed
in the National or California Registers and is not considered a historical resource for purposes of CEQA.

The 870 Brannan Street building is a five‐story, 65‐foot‐tall reinforced concrete building occupying the
remaining three parcels.2 Constructed in 1917 with additions in 1920, the building and additions at 870
Brannan Street are known as the National Carbon Co. Building. This building is on the National Register
of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. The property is also included in the
Planning Department’s 1976 Architectural Survey and the San Francisco Architectural Heritage Survey. It
is considered a Category A historical resource for the purposes of the Planning Department’s CEQA
review procedures.

Both the 850 and 870 Brannan Street buildings include a basement level that extends approximately 11
feet below ground level. The basement levels of the on‐site buildings are connected.

The proposed project would include interior demolition and new partitions, ceilings, and flooring; new
electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems; and a new stand‐by diesel generator. The proposed project
would include removal of interior access currently between the basement levels and the atrium of the 870
Brannan Street building; the atrium would be used exclusively by the office uses.

As part of the proposed project, the exterior of 870 Brannan Street would be rehabilitated as follows:
 Preservation and rehabilitation of the historic steel‐sash windows on the ground floor of the 8th
Street façade;
 Rehabilitation of the historic steel‐sash window frame and replacement of the existing glazing for
a micro‐rub corrugated glass in northernmost tower (second, third and fourth floors) of the 8th
Street façade;
 Preservation and rehabilitation of the historic steel‐sash windows in the fifth and thirteenth bays
(from the left) of the ground floor of the Brannan Street façade;
 Rehabilitation of the historic steel‐sash window frame and replacement of the existing glazing for
a micro‐rub corrugated glass in the easternmost tower (second, third and fourth floors) of the
Brannan Street façade;
 Replacement of the existing historic window system on the ground floor level of the westernmost
tower for a new fully‐glazed storefront on the Brannan Street façade. This historic window
would be reinstalled within the southernmost tower of the 8th Street façade;
 Replacement of the existing non‐historic door on the ground floor level of the easternmost tower
for a new fully‐glazed storefront on the Brannan Street façade;

Removal of the existing canopy and renovation of the existing storefront within the six, seven,
and eighth bays of the ground floor of the Brannan Street façade;
 Addition of new glazed storefront entry in the tenth bay of the Brannan Street facade;
 Replacement of the steel‐sash windows with a new compatible, substitute aluminum system
(Custom Windows Series 8300) on the second, third and fourth floors of the 8th and Brannan
Street facades;
 Replacement of the steel‐sash windows with a new compatible, substitute aluminum system
(Custom Windows Series 8300) on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors of Decatur Street
facade;
 Addition of new mechanical screens on the fifth floor; and
 Replacement of the existing windows on the north façade (facing Bryant Street) with new steel‐
frame windows with insulated glazing.

No exterior work is planned for 850 Brannan Street, other than replacing the existing open rail gate with
a solid gate at the loading dock.

The project site currently contains an exterior loading dock with two loading spaces, accessed via a curb
cut along Brannan Street. Based on existing uses, nine loading spaces are required, and the project site
currently has a legal deficiency of seven loading spaces. As part of the proposed project, the existing
loading dock would be redesigned to create an open‐air courtyard for the basement‐level and ground‐
level jewelry businesses, while keeping the two existing loading spaces. With the proposed project’s
change of use (replacement of PDR with office and IPDR), the project site would require six loading
spaces. Thus, the loading space deficit at the project site would be reduced from seven to four loading
spaces. Per Planning Code Section 150(c)(1), the deficiency in off‐street loading spaces may be carried
forward for the proposed change of use.

The 31 parking spaces proposed to be located on the ground floor of the 870 Brannan Street building
would be accessed by a new vehicle entrance and exit at the end of Decatur Street. The operation would
be valet parking from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM weekdays, with cardkey access after hours. Table 1a provides a
summary of existing uses at the project site, uses approved for the project site in 2010 but never
undertaken,3 the currently proposed project uses, and the proposed changes compared to existing
conditions. Table 1b presents the project variant, which would include a 4,873 sf ground‐floor restaurant
instead of the same amount (sf) of office use at the corner of 8th and Brannan Streets.

The connected basement levels of the two on‐site buildings are currently occupied by Jewelrymart
businesses, and the above‐ground levels of both on‐site buildings are occupied by Giftcenter and
Jewelrymart spaces. Many of the existing Giftcenter spaces on the various levels of both buildings are
currently vacant. The proposed project would consolidate existing Giftcenter and Jewelrymart (PDR)
uses on the basement levels of the 850 and 870 Brannan Street buildings and on the first floor of the 850
Brannan Street building. Office use would be located on the third floor of the 850 Brannan Street building
and on floors 1 through 5 of the 870 Brannan Street building. The new integrated PDR use4 would
occupy the second floor of the 850 Brannan Street building. Compared to existing conditions, the project
would result in less PDR and retail use, more office use and new integrated PDR use, as well as 31 new
parking spaces. As noted in Tables 1a and 1b, compared to the project that was approved in 2010 but
never carried out, the project would result in less retail and integrated PDR use, more office use, and 31
parking spaces. A project variant would create a 4,873 sf restaurant instead of the same amount (sf) of office use on the
ground floor at the corner of 8th and Brannan Streets, which would result in 191 sf more retail use and
247,460 sf more office use than existing conditions.

Construction is anticipated to occur over a 12‐month period, starting in February 2012.