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Planning Commission approves replacement housing at 1601 Larkin after design changes and debate over church preservation
Summary
Commissioners approved a five‑story residential project replacing a deteriorated church at 1601 Larkin, after the sponsor reduced height, placed parking below grade and committed to additional upper‑floor setbacks; opponents urged adaptive reuse and senior housing.
The Planning Commission voted Oct. 3 to approve a five‑story, residential project at 1601 Larkin Street, a site occupied by a deteriorated early‑20th‑century church. The project sponsor sought conditional use authorization and variances to build 27 dwelling units over two basement parking levels.
Project counsel Jim Rubin and architect Ian Birchell described a multi‑year redesign that reduced the building from six to five stories, placed parking entirely below grade, increased setbacks and reworked massing to respond to neighboring Edwardian buildings. Rubin said the team had worked with immediate neighbors on mitigation and stepped the building down to preserve light and air for adjacent properties.
Organized opposition — preservation groups, neighborhood associations and parishioners — urged the commission to deny the conditional use and to pursue adaptive‑reuse alternatives, including senior or affordable nonprofit housing. Opponents said the congregation and community had offered nonprofit options and contended the owner had allowed the church fabric to deteriorate.
Supporters, including immediate neighbors at 1630 Clay who worked with the sponsor, said the project now protects property‑line windows and will remove a long‑standing blight while delivering neighborhood improvements. The owner—s representative noted financial constraints for a feasible rehabilitation and referenced an engineering assessment concluding preservation was not economically viable.
Commissioners debated CEQA "statement of overriding considerations" language and asked the sponsor to preserve and document salvageable historic fabric where feasible. Several commissioners requested larger upper‑floor setbacks; the sponsor agreed to match certain setbacks at 9 feet rather than the existing asymmetry. On that basis the commission approved the conditional use and variance subject to conditions; the vote was unanimous (6–0).
The decision requires documentation and mitigation measures for the existing church as described in the certified environmental review, plus the updated design concessions and conditions recorded by staff.
