Construction has started for two affordable housing complexes rising on Transbay Block 2 in East Cut, San Francisco. While site work has been active since the start of this year, its official groundbreaking ceremony was held late last month. Once complete, the block will add 335 new apartments in the high-rise neighborhood by Rincon Hill.

The taller complex will be Transbay 2 East, a 17-story family housing project led by Mercy Housing. The complex will offer 183 units affordable to households earning between 20-80% of the area’s median income. Kennerly Architecture is responsible for the design.

Transbay Block 2 West is being developed by the Chinatown Community Development Center. The nine-story structure will create 151 units of affordable housing for seniors. The design team includes Mithun and Kerman Morris Architects.

Transbay Block 2 East (left) and West (right) aerial perspective, rendering by Mithun

Transbay Block 2 East seen from Main Street and Clementina Street, rendering by Kennerly Architecture & Planning

Both structures will have a distinct architectural treatment, though the planning documents write that “the two buildings are a complementary pair, sharing a unifying low-rise townhouse massing fronting the park and a common masonry material sensibility establishes the block as its own precinct in contrast with the glassy towers across Folsom Street.” Facade materials will include pre-cast panels of varied textures, metal mullions and spandrels, curtainwall glass, and concrete accents. Wood accents will add some naturalistic materials along the street level.

The affordable housing block will be unified with an approachable landscaping scheme designed by Plural. Carved between the two buildings, a pedestrian mew will connect pedestrians from Folsom Street to the future Transbay Block 3 Park. The mews will pass by a central courtyard and secured childcare open space.

Transbay Block 2 East aerial view over the proposed park, rendering by Kennerly Architecture & Planning

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Transbay Block 2 image from Beale Street, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

Transbay Block 2 seen from the new park, rendering by Kennerly Architecture & Planning

The 0.98-acre construction site occupies a third of the former Transbay Bus Terminal. Now, the site is a community space dubbed the Crossing at East Cut. Block 2 is currently occupied by a community room, surface parking, a children’s play area, and a dog run.

Across from the Block 3 Park, Hines has originally pursued plans for a 47-story residential tower. The tower would have created 681 apartments, of which nearly three hundred would have been priced below market-rate. However, last week, Patrick Hoge reported for the San Francisco Examiner that Hines had filed to make a payment to the Office fo Community Investment and Infrastructure, thus losing their exclusive option for the development.

Transbay Block 2 3 and 4 site map

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Similarly, Hines recently missed a $5 million payment to the city for failing to start work on Parcel F, the 61-story mixed-use skyscraper on Howard Street. Hines secured a loan extension from JP Morgan Chase Bank and United Overseas Bank in early July last year for construction at Parcel F, only to list the property for sale by the end of the month. Salesforce had signed an agreement in 2018 to be the anchor tenant of the planned skyscraper, but backed out of the agreement in the fall of 2020.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco firefighters say a small child helped save the day when a fire broke out outside a home.

The child witnessed the flames after they stared at the house on 35th Avenue in the Richmond neighborhood.

He told his parents to call 911.

And was very excited to be the hero of the day.

SFFD: “Luca, what did you see up there?”

Luca: “There was a fire, and it was this big.”

SFFD: “And what color were the flames?”

Luca: “It was orange and red.”

SFFD: “And what did you say to mommy and daddy?”

Luca: “Call 911!”

SFFD: “And did you save the day?”

Luca: “Yes.”

SFFD: “Yay. Thank you Luca!”

Crews put out the flames.

It’s a good thing young Luca is keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood, and happens to love fire trucks.

The San Francisco Giants pitching staff is facing serious injury issues right now, and it could lead to some prospects being rushed into playing at the MLB level before they are ready.

They are currently working with a two-man rotation and will be without a starting pitcher ready to pitch after Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Alex Pavlovic of NBCS stated on the game’s broadcast that the Giants may need to call up one or two Triple-A pitchers as “they just need people who can throw innings.”

“They’re trying to sort through right now, and Bob Melvin said today they’re still trying to sort through what they can do for the next three games. Spencer Howard will probably be the bolt guy tomorrow, but after that, a couple days they have to figure out until they get back to Jordan Hicks on Thursday.”

Among potential options listed for San Francisco were Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour, Mason Black and Kai-Wei Teng.

The best option among those names is the left-handed Whisenhunt, who is the No. 2 prospect in the Giant’s farm system.

The 23-year-old was a second round selection in the 2022 MLB draft. In his first Triple-A season he has a 4.87 ERA and 1.574 WHIP. He strikes out a lot of batters, but has struggled with command. That’s been the case for pretty much his entire baseball career.

Seymour is a 25-year-old prospect who is in his first season at the Triple-A level. He has a 4.33 ERA and 1.604 WHIP.

Next up is Black, a 2021 draft pick. He’s the No. 7 Giants prospect and has already been given a chance in the Majors this season, but it didn’t go well. In four appearances back in May, he had a 8.79 ERA across 14.1 innings pitched.

The 24-year-old walked seven batters while striking out just 10 and gave up a staggering four home runs. His walk issues have persisted in the minors, but he at least has been more of a strikeout-heavy pitcher there.

Teng is another pitcher who already got called up for a short stint this season but was quickly sent back down when things went sideways.

In just 11 innings pitched over four starts, he had a 9.82 ERA and 2.091 WHIP. He averaged 6.5 BB/9 and just 5.7 K/9. The numbers have not been much better in the minors this year, falling off a cliff after a couple of promising seasons.

He’s the No. 22 prospect in the farm but throwing him out on the mound right now seems like it would be a recipe for disaster.

Whisenhunt and Seymour could make sense as they haven’t gotten a chance to prove themselves in the MLB and have at least been a bit promising.

Black and Teng have been poor in their chances and are clearly not ready, but could be the options they turn to by default.

Whatever decision the Giants make, they need to hope their staff can return to health.

Blake Snell and Robbie Ray could be making their way back soon, but may not factor into these next few games due to rest.