The four fully below-market-rate housing projects coming to the Mission District in the next few years will be among the tallest buildings in a neighborhood known for its opposition to height -- and three of them may accomplish the feat by breaking through current height limits.
For 2070 Folsom St., a pair of nonprofit developers goes before the Planning Commission on Thursday, July 28, with plans to squeeze 25 percent more units into their project by building three stories above current limits.
That would make the project go to 85 feet in a parcel zoned for 50 feet via a one-time legislative rezoning, increasing the units on-site from the originally proposed 101 units to 127 units.
The move comes alongside a similar height increase at 1296 Shotwell St., which will also rise to 85 feet, 20 feet higher than the current 65-foot limit for a 96-unit building.
At 490 South Van Ness Ave., plans for a 72-unit complex are still being drawn up but city officials said they hope to squeeze more units onto the site, and the project may also go to 85 feet by going above its 68-foot height limit. Both this and 1296 Shotwell St. would use recently passed density bonus legislation to build up.