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Commission approves 100 California vertical addition after limited shadow review and plaza improvements
Summary
A proposal to add six stories to 100 California Street and upgrade retail and the elevated plaza advanced after staff and the Recreation & Parks Commission concluded additional shadowing on Justin Herman Plaza would be small and brief; Embarcadero Center asked for more detailed shadow data but the commission approved the project with conditions to offset impacts.
Planning commissioners voted Jan. 31 to approve a six-story vertical addition to 100 California Street and an associated ground-floor retail and plaza improvement package after staff and the Recreation and Park Commission reviewed shadow impacts. The project includes plaza upgrades, added retail that better connects to the sidewalk and a sculpted addition designed to minimize new cast shadow on nearby park spaces.
The Department and project team presented a digital-model shadow analysis showing a small amount of additional shading reaching a portion of Justin Herman Plaza (Embarcadero Plaza 2) in late fall and again in late winter for a daily duration typically measured in minutes to at most an hour. Planning staff said the increment of new shadow is limited in extent and duration and identified compensating plaza improvements the sponsor committed to undertake.
Representatives of Boston Properties (Embarcadero Center) asked for fuller, earlier disclosure of the specific podium-area shadow diagrams and urged the sponsor to share more detailed modeling so plaza-users and property managers could judge effects across the center—s elevated walkways. Project sponsor Bay Rock and the design team said they had engaged Rec & Park, provided the shadow analysis that was the subject of Rec & Park—s earlier hearing and included plaza improvement measures to offset the very small new shading footprint.
The commission approved the suite of motions and conditions (including a staff-negotiated agreement to retain major street trees on California Street and plant outboard trees along Sacramento Street) and found that the new shadowing did not constitute an "adverse" impact governed by the downtown podium/open-space rules the commission applied.
What this means: the project will proceed to final documentation and permit processing with conditions to implement plaza upgrades and tree/streetscape work the department negotiated with the sponsor.
