The project sits on a trapezoidal 2.53-acre site with a long side fronting Mission Street to the south, bounded by 11th Street on the east and South Van Ness on the west. The surrounding neighborhood is of varied scales, with bulky towers to the east and a mix of low-rise and mid-rise buildings to the west and south. The design divides the site into two primary land uses: an L-shaped office parcel bridging along the north side from South Van Ness to 11th Street, and a southwest corner parcel of 1.41 acres. At the southwest, a forty-story residential tower rises, clad in precast concrete skins that open up at the corners to reveal stepped window walls and terraces. The lower portions of the civic building on the northeast corner of the site are L-shaped, creating very large floor plates with access from both primary streets, upon which are stacked smaller office floors. The office tower is articulated as two glass-clad bars, between which are a series of multi-story balconies. Every three floors of the tower are combined via a three-story atrium, around which conference rooms, social spaces, and stairs connect the employees of individual city departments. A public open space dubbed the “forum” cuts through the site from South Van Ness to Mission Street, connecting primarily nodes of access to the civic building lobby, creating light and air between the buildings and accommodating public art and landscaping.

49 South Van Ness & 1550 Mission comprise a mixed-use, public-private project in the heart of San Francisco which catalyzes neighborhood redevelopment and redefines the public’s experience of interacting with government. Born out of a unique collaboration between Related California and the City and County of San Francisco, the 1.2 million square foot project includes 110 affordable housing units, 440 market rate units, 30,000 square feet of retail, public open space, a multi-agency permit center, and 560,000 square feet of offices for the agencies which are responsible for the City’s public realm. The project includes the adaptive reuse of a former bottling plant and automotive factory as a women’s health clinic and a day-care facility.