Thompson Builders Expands Plans for Delayed SF Project

Thompson Builders is pivoting once again on a planned residential high rise in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

The Novato-based developer filed new building permits for a 21-story housing tower at 360 Fifth Street in SoMa, San Francisco YIMBY reported. It’s the latest in a string of updates to the troubled site, which has gone through a few tweaks this year.

The latest vision increases the size.

The project is now slated to include 272 units, with 69 studios, 108 one-bedrooms and 95 two-bedrooms; of those, 42 units will be set aside for deed-restricted affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households.

The building will rise 257 feet, spanning 303,000 square feet, including 29,000 square feet of parking across two levels with space for 164 cars and 180 bicycles. Amenities include a podium-top courtyard and a rooftop deck spanning about 9,800 square feet.

A previous version called for building 20 stories with 258 residential units.

In 2017, Trammell Crow Company received an entitlement for an eight-story apartment complex and sold the project to Leap Development the following year.

Leap began construction in 2019 but suspended work the following year, allowing the site to collect water before a 2024 public nuisance lawsuit from City Attorney David Chiu accused Leap of abandoning the partially excavated development site. An affiliate of Leap allegedly owed more than $1 million in fines after defaulting on a $10 million loan secured by the property.

The 0.2-acre property sold for about $1.3 million earlier this year. Thompson Builders, Leap’s former contractor, had previously filed plans for 115 condominium units with no ground-floor retail; that iteration included 31 studios, 31 one-bedrooms, 36 two-bedrooms and 17 three-bedrooms.

Thompson’s latest application estimates construction costs at just under $69 million. Work is expected to begin next summer and wrap up as early as 2028. — Chris Malone Méndez