Align Aims to Convert SF Industrial Building to 44 Homes

Align Real Estate wants to convert an industrial building in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill into 44 homes.

The San Francisco developer has filed plans to redevelop the industrial part of its development at 790 Pennsylvania Avenue into apartments, SFYimby reported.

The three-story, light-industrial wing is connected to The Landing SF, a 263-unit apartment complex that Align built in 2019 at 1395 22nd Street.

Plans call for an industrial-to-home conversion, with housing across 31,900 square feet on the upper two floors overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue and an 280 Freeway overpass covering the 22nd Street Caltrain Station.

The ground floor would become a common area and lobby, topped by 18 studios, 20 one-bedroom and six three-bedroom apartments. Parking would serve 44 bicycles.

Construction is expected to cost around $20 million, or $455,000 per unit, according to the project application. To get it approved would require a legislative amendment, as current zoning doesn’t allow for residential use.

The converted building, redesigned by locally based Perry Architects, would add glass bays along the north and south sides, with privacy screens over each window. A landscaped rooftop deck would remain.

A decision by Align to convert to housing reflects one trend in San Francisco’s troubled office economy, which has also impacted leasing at light-industrial and life science buildings, according to SFYimby.

In the nearby Mission Bay neighborhood, research laboratories were 14.6 percent vacant in the third quarter, according to JLL.

Align Real Estate, founded by veterans of Tishman Speyer in 2015, filed plans in November to replace an aging office building in the Mission District with a 265,500-square-foot life science lab at 1717 Mission Street.

The company led by Jason Chadorchi also aims to build a 62-story, 826-unit apartment tower dubbed The Cube at 620 Folsom Street in South of Market.

— Dana Bartholomew