Lendlease halts work on 47-story residential tower in SF

Construction workers have put down their tools at Lendlease’s 47-story mixed-use condo tower in San Francisco’s Hub just seven months after the project broke ground.

The Australian-based developer has halted work for more than a month at 30 North Van Ness Avenue on the only skyscraper to have started since the pandemic, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Arden Hearing, executive general manager of West Coast development for the developer, confirmed the construction stoppage, citing a new focus on needed permit work.

“Site activity will become more intense shortly,” Hearing told the Business Times. “We’ve had a bit of a lull and re-sequencing as we navigate the rains and finish up some necessary permit work.”

Hearing declined to comment on the nature of the permit work or when construction could restart. 

A BART spokesperson said Friday that the pause is the result of “adjustments” the transit agency requested due to the project’s proximity to underground rail tunnels.

“BART has requested additional analysis to demonstrate the building will have no adverse impacts on Van Ness Muni station and the BART tunnels,” Alicia Trost, BART’s head of communications, told the newspaper.

Delays in construction projects can add millions of dollars to the cost.

Lendlease’s $1.15 billion project, dubbed Hayes Point, represents its largest investment in the U.S. 

The tower’s top 38 stories will feature 333 for-sale condos, while the building’s first nine stories will contain 290,000 square feet of office and retail space in a podium. 

The all-electric project, designed by SCB Architects, is expected to reach 540 feet and make 25 percent of its homes affordable. It was expected to be completed in 2025, though it isn’t clear if the timeline stands.

Lendlease paid $70 million in cash in 2017 for the then city-owned site after the Board of Supervisors rejected a bid from developer Related California, in part because Related’s affordable housing commitment was too low. Lendlease agreed to build 83 below-market rate homes on site.

Other major projects in San Francisco have been put off because of the pandemic and economic conditions. The city’s office vacancy rate is now 27.6 percent — up from 4 percent in early 2020 — during a shift toward remote work.

Last spring, Brookfield Properties paused construction on Pier 70, slated to become a new neighborhood on San Francisco’s Central Waterfront, citing economic fallout from the pandemic. 

The Canadian developer announced this week it has partnered with life science developer King Street Properties to move the project forward by swapping approved offices for lab space.

Work on the two-tower, 2 million-square-foot Oceanwide Center started in 2016 but was partially halted in 2019, when the project was listed for sale.

After demolishing the existing buildings at 88 Bluxome St. in SoMa, developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities paused work there. After striking a planned tennis club from the project, the Pasadena-based developer listed it for sale, sparking a lawsuit.

City officials said that they are contemplating policy changes to make it easier for developers to pivot on entitled plans, given the upheaval in the market.  

— Dana Bartholomew