page_title: Rincon Hill, San Francisco
section_title: High-density residential neighborhood
hierarchical_section_title: Rincon Hill, San Francisco / History / High-density residential neighborhood
caption_attribution_description: English: One Rincon Hill South Tower (without the crane) standing tall above Rincon Hill during sunset. San Francisco
context_page_description: Rincon Hill is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 49 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills." The relatively compact neighborhood is bounded by Folsom Street to the north, the Embarcadero to the east, Bryant Street on the south, and Essex Street to the west. Rincon Hill is located just south of the Transbay development area, part of the greater South of Market area. The hill is about 100 feet tall.
  Following the California Gold Rush, Rincon Hill was built up as a fashionable and prestigious residential neighborhood. After it was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, the neighborhood was slow to rebuild and largely became an industrial area with small factories and warehouses. In 1985, and revised in 2005, the area was rezoned into a high-density residential neighborhood designed to house up to 10,000 new residents in close proximity to the city's Financial District.
context_section_description: While its potential for housing development has long been recognized due to its proximity to downtown, blight prevented its effective redevelopment. In 1985, the city adopted an area plan for Rincon Hill in the city's General Plan, zoning this area adjacent to downtown for high-density residential development. However, due to the presence of the former elevated Embarcadero Freeway surrounding the neighborhood, development in the area was slow in coming, suffered from mediocre architecture, and lacked the pedestrian-oriented streets and open spaces emblematic of San Francisco's cherished neighborhoods. As the city later noted, "Rincon Hill has seen the construction of bulky, closely spaced residential towers, which block public views, crowd streets, and contribute to a flat, unappealing skyline. These developments have also contributed little to the pedestrian environment, with multiple levels of above-ground parking, and garage entries and featureless walls facing the street."
  After the physical and psychological barrier of the Embarcadero Freeway (damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake) was removed in the early 1990s, the area within walking distance of downtown gained new attractiveness.  In August 2005, the City adopted a new Rincon Hill Plan, based more on Vancouverism than the 1985 Plan, that emphasizes tall, slender, and widely spaced towers, interspaced with mid-rise podiums and walk-up townhouses.  It aims to accentuate the natural topography of the city by locating the tallest skyscrapers at the top of Rincon Hill.  In tandem with the Transbay development plan just to the north, it designates Folsom Street as the commercial heart of the neighborhood.  The plan calls for improving the pedestrian experience by narrowing the streets to provide more open space and providing more midblock passages.
  Whereas the 1985 plan capped buildings heights at 250 feet (76 m), the new Rincon Hill Plan raised a number of height limits near the peak of Rincon Hill to 400 and 550 feet (170 m).  Although a number of new residential developments were approved to take advantage of the changes, only The Infinity and one tower of 709-unit One Rincon Hill were constructed before the 2008 financial crisis halted projects throughout the city.  As the economy recovered, the second tower of One Rincon Hill began construction in 2012; the 320-unit 45 Lansing Street and 655-unit LUMINA broke ground in 2013; and the 447-unit 399 Fremont Street started in 2014.
  In July 2015, property owners voted to approve of the formation of the Greater Rincon Hill Community Benefit District, a non-profit, public-private partnership focused on advancing the neighborhood's quality of life, enhancing its public realm, and reinforcing the viability of its economic base. In 2017, to more accurately reflect the district boundaries and to unite the Rincon Hill, Folsom Street, and Transbay areas, the non-profit's name was changed to the East Cut Community Benefit District.
caption: One Rincon Hill south tower at sunset in 2007
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