Organized Labor

301 Mission Condos Also Moving Ahead

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

Up to 200 construction workers are currently working on various stages of the Infinity Towers being built at the former 300 Spear Street, between Folsom and Main. Webcor Construction is building the mixed-use residential project that will include four towers—two high-rises of 36 and 41 stories each and two mid-rise, 8 and 9 story buildings. The project is being built with all-union labor.

The Main Street Tower is poured through the 8th floor and is expected to climb steadily at a 4-day cycle for each level, according to Webcor. Installation of the glass curtainwall will begin in August, with framing of the interiors following close behind.

Excavation on the East half of the project will continue through the end of July, with a third tower crane to be erected mid-August when the excavation is complete. Two more all-night mat pours are also planned for August. The Main Street Midrise is at Level 3. The glass curtainwall will not be installed on that building until end of the year. Webcor has corporate headquarters in San Mateo with an office in San Francisco and a Concrete division based in Hayward.

Laborers Local 261 Recording Secretary David De La Torre said that the majority of workers on the Webcor projects now are laborers. He said that the surge in construction now in the city is keeping Local 261 members busy. “There’s been a lot of work on hold that’s now starting up,” he said. “Right now there’s plenty of work.” The union normally has about 200 members waiting for work, while now there about 50, De La Torre said.

The completed project at 300 Spear will have 365 luxury condominiums priced from $500,000 for a studio to around $2 million for a three-bedroom condominium, and over $2 million for a 37th floor penthouse. The development also includes a central courtyard, fitness center, and business center.

One block from the Embarcadero at Folsom and Spear, the Infinity is, “A unique location in San Francisco that connects with the skyline and the Bay and the bridges,” says Architect Bernard Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica in a promotional DVD for the project.

Fort-Brescia says of the towers’ design that he wanted the buildings to have a flowing quality while also being part of the city’s urban, rectilinear landscape. “There’s one thing that happens at the base, and from it emerges a different shape that addresses the long distance views, the image of the building from far away.” That image will be of an all-glass exterior with curved windows.

The building’s exterior walls will be glass from floor to ceiling, “to connect the inside and outside as one,” says Fort-Brescia. The curving glass walls shape the exterior and exaggerate the panoramic views of the Bay and the City, he says, “as if you are inside a monumental bay window—as if the whole room was a bay window.” Other buildings designed by Arquitectonica include the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana and American Airlines Arena in Miami. Each also features curved glass exteriors. Other members of the design team are San Francisco-based architect Heller Manus, Landscape Designer Hargreaves Associates, and Residential Interior Designer Orlando Diaz-Azcuy.

There are 71 subcontractors, including Cupertino Electric, Chritchfield Mechanical, Allied Fire Protection, J.W. McClenahan, Aderholt Specialties, Pacific Stairs, Malcolm Drilling, Ryan Engineering, C.E. Toland, Dolan Concrete, Bay Area Reinforcing, Treadwell Rollo, ISI, and Permasteelisa.

The project is being developed by Tishman Speyer Properties, also the developer of One Bush Street in the city. Webcor’s Marketing Manager Steven Fruhwirth says that the project is scheduled to be completed by the winter of 2007, with the first occupants to move in by early 2008. 301 Mission Street

Webcor is also constructing a condominium/ mixed-use project at 301 Mission Street that will be a 645-foot, 60-story tower and a separate 12-story building. The two buildings will be connected by a 3-level podium. The site will also include an atrium and five levels of below grade parking. The total area will be approximately 1,150,000 square feet. About 50 construction workers are currently on the jobsite.

Ironworkers Local 377 Field Rep. John Rocha said that about 20 to 30 rodbusters are currently installing the vertical rebar for the main core of the Tower. He said that the design of the building calls for large central cores to eliminate the number of interior columns and allow for a more open floor space with less restricted views. Almost 950 piles for the Tower were completed by Mid-May, according to Webcor.

The contractor reported that the elevator matt/pile-cap was tied with rebar and the concrete was placed at the end of May. The bottom climbing crane was erected and certified within a week after this pour took place. The project worked through some technical rebar challenges and placed the 6,200 cubic yard, 10 foot matt/pile-cap for the Tower in mid-June as scheduled.

After the completion of the rebar, the first stage of three for the core climbing system was erected and concrete placed in early July. The next core pour (the second stage of the climber system) is scheduled for the third week of July. After the third pour, the core climbing system should be completed and will pace three floors ahead of the deck pours, according to Webcor.

Shotcrete for the exterior walls on the B1 level started work the first week of July and was expected to be completed before the end of July. Work on the structural columns and walls started the second week of July; also to be completed before the end of the month.

Forming for the first level deck is scheduled to begin in early August when all the vertical work has completed. Excavation, shoring, and foundation work for the mid-rise and is scheduled for an October 2006 start.