Sutro Cove Project to Bring 20 Units to Ocean Beach

Nearly two dozen futuristic-looking homes have been proposed for a cliffside in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond overlooking Ocean Beach.

Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Incorporated has filed an application to build 20 new units across three, four-story buildings next to Golden Gate National Recreation Area land at 641-645 48th Avenue, SF Gate reported. The project, deemed Sutro Cove, would rise on a site owned by longtime residents that live in two homes on nine lots, which firm founder Stanley Saitowitz said his team plans to subdivide into 20 units.

“The property actually belongs to a family that grew up there,” Saitowitz told SF Gate. “We’ve done quite a few buildings around the city that present this… modern interpretation of the traditional texture of the city, and that’s really what’s driving the design.”

The buildings would feature floor-to-ceiling windows and inset balconies facing the Pacific Ocean. Units would feature repeating bay windows that Saitowitz said would create a “waving facade” mimicking the ocean waves below. Residences at Sutro Cove would range from studios to four-bedroom units. Two of the apartments in the building would be set aside as deed-restricted affordable housing for residents making 80 percent of the area’s median income — $87,300 for one person or $124,700 for a household of four. The firm has applied to use Senate Bill 423, which streamlines approval for affordable and mixed-income housing.

The development would also have garage parking for 18 vehicles and internal courtyards to help block winds coming off the ocean — a common architectural touch in many Sunset and Richmond District homes.

Saitowitz’s firm has left its mark across San Francisco with notable projects such as the Beth Sholom Synagogue in the Inner Richmond. Sutro Cove’s design is inspired by the recently completed “House of Fog” at 2117 46th Avenue in the Sunset District, which Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects designed. That two-unit property is centered around a central courtyard and served as “a prototype for the thinking around these houses,” Saitowitz said.

— Chris Malone Méndez