One Step Closer to the "Grand Central Station of the West"
On September 20, 2007, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (“TJPA”) selected Pelli Clark Pelli Architects and the Hines development firm to design and develop the new Transbay Transit Center and Transit Tower.
The new Transbay Transit Center at First and Mission Streets in San Francisco is part of a $983 million project that will centralize the region’s transportation network by accommodating nine transportation systems under one roof, including AC Transit, Caltrain, Muni, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, Greyhound, BART, WestCAT, and future California High-Speed Rail. The project also includes demolition of the current terminal and running a temporary terminal. TJPA officials hope to open the new terminal by 2014.
The Pelli/Hines proposal calls for a new terminal, a futuristic quarter-mile-long structure that would extend above First and Fremont streets and would be topped by a 5.4-acre park, and an open-air plaza topped by a glass canopy that billows up to the terminal's rooftop park. The team also seeks to build a 1,200-foot office tower at First and Mission streets and has offered $350 million for the site - money that would help pay for a new Transbay Terminal next door.
TJPA officials hope to work out a financial deal with Hines within six months. In the same period, Macris said, the Planning Department aims to release an initial recommendation as to what heights should be allowed on the Transbay site and nearby blocks. If approved, zoning would be in place by early 2009 - in time for the Hines-Pelli team to take a revised version of its proposal to the city's Planning Commission. If this occurs, construction could begin within months and a tower could open by 2013.
Click here for more information about the Transbay Terminal Project:
www.transbaycenter.org/transbay/
Click here to seek the Pelli/Hines Presentation Boards:
www.transbaycenter.org/TransBay/uploadedFiles/Project/PelliBoards-All.pdf
