The owner of Gabby's convenience store on Harrison Street has been waiting six years for the influx of residents who were supposed to turn Rincon Hill into San Francisco's most dense high-rise neighborhood. Back in 2006, San Francisco's Rincon Hill, a hilltop south of the Financial District near the approaches to the Bay Bridge, was a top target for luxury housing developers, a hotbed of speculative investment sparked by the Rincon Hill plan. A total of 2,127 housing units are under construction on the hill, with towers rising at 399 Fremont St., 340 Fremont St., 333 Fremont St., 45 Lansing St., and 201 Spear St. Apartments in the second phase of One Rincon Hill have hit the market, with one-bedrooms starting at $3,300 a month and three-bedroom units at $9,900 a month. Plan bearing fruitFor developer Michael Kriozere, who led development of One Rincon Hill, the construction boom is vindication that the 2005 neighborhood plan was viable. For pioneers who bought early on Rincon Hill, the mind-blowing views have come with some disappointments. Besides Gabby's and the popular Local Restaurant and Wine Merchant at 330 First St., Rincon Hill is bereft of retail. Plans to convert the Sailors Union of the Pacific building at 450 Harrison St. into a marketplace with retail, restaurants and community arts space have stalled. Gunnar Lundeberg, president of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, said he is happy to have the construction companies paying rent, but in the long run the union would like to inject new life into the building with shops, restaurants and other businesses. While he credits management at One Rincon Hill with bringing residents together with parties and events, Meehan said the neighborhood lacks a focal point - a park or retail district to foster casual interaction.
Reported by SFGate 11 hours ago.
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