Construction suspended on $1.2 billion tower — one of S.F.’s only big building projects

By J.K. Dineen : sfchronicle – excerpt

The developer of a $1.2 billion mixed-use project at the corner of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue has suspended construction, the latest blow in a cascade of bad news that has hit the greater Civic Center and Mid-Market neighborhoods in recent years.

Branded as Hayes Point, the 540-foot tower at 30 Van Ness Ave. had been a rare bright spot in a district that has lost high-profile office tenants like Uber, Reddit and Block, as well as the city’s largest Whole Foods, which shut down a year after opening.

Hayes Point was one of the few major construction projects underway in San Francisco at the moment.

City officials have been pushing legislation to revive downtown and Civic Center. Recent moves include cutting some fees and the amount of inclusionary housing in some market-rate projects with the hope of jump-starting construction. Legislation to smooth office-to-residential conversions is also moving ahead…

Hayes Point is a rarity in San Francisco because it is a true mixed-use project, with 333 for-sale condos on top of 290,000 square feet of office space, with arts space and retail on the ground floor.

In a statement, Lendlease Executive General Manager Arden Hearing said his group would be “pausing construction on Hayes Point until markets normalize and we’re able to bring in early tenancy commitments, or a capital partner, or both.”…(more)

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