SF Approves 820-Foot Van Ness Tower, City's Third-Tallest Building

The stretch of Van Ness Avenue where a Honda dealership once stood, and where an events venue now hosts concerts steps from Market Street, is about to be remade at a scale the corridor hasn't seen before. San Francisco's Planning Department approved a 67-story residential tower at 10 S. Van Ness Ave. on December 17, authorizing developer Crescent Heights to raise an 820-foot building that would hold 1,019 homes and rank as the city's third-tallest structure, trailing only Salesforce Tower and the Transamerica Pyramid.

The approval advanced under Senate Bill 423, a state law that limits local discretionary review and accelerates permitting for transit-oriented and mixed-income projects. The statute gave Crescent Heights a path where earlier iterations of the same plan hit walls: a 55-story version received approval in 2023 but never advanced to construction. The revised design is taller and denser than any predecessor, the culmination of a development effort the company began with its first planning application in mid-2015.

The 1,019-unit program is divided between a lower podium containing 363 rental apartments, 89 of them set aside as affordable housing, and 656 condominiums stacked above in the tower. Crescent Heights managing director Adam Tartakovsky said the project could cost just under $1 billion and take approximately three and a half years to build; the San Francisco Business Times reported construction could begin in 2027.

The project's affordable housing obligation produced a significant outcome for the Mission District. Crescent Heights purchased a 1.3-acre parcel at 1979 Mission St., near the 16th Street Mission BART station, for $40 million and transferred ownership to the city for fully affordable housing development. That parcel had been the flashpoint of a fierce neighborhood battle when a prior developer proposed a large market-rate building there; opponents nicknamed the plan the "Monster in the Mission." Demolition work at 1979 Mission is now set to begin, a direct consequence of the Van Ness project clearing its approval.

"San Francisco has long been the heart of innovation, and 10 SVN stands at the heart of the city," Tartakovsky said, describing the site as a gateway where panoramic views meet technology and wellness amenities designed for modern living.

Two other projects could eventually surpass 10 S. Van Ness in the skyline rankings: Hines' 77 Beale St. development and the long-stalled Oceanwide Center site both carry approved or proposed heights that could exceed 820 feet.

The December approval was an administrative Planning Department decision, and no legal challenges have been publicly filed. Construction permits and financing are the next hurdles, neither of which Crescent Heights has publicly confirmed. The company's most visible prior project in the neighborhood is the NEMA apartment tower, developed a few blocks south on Market Street.