A proposal for a 46-unit residential building at Folsom and Russ Streets would, potentially, mean the demolition of several retail businesses facing Folsom Street on that block, including restaurants Fondue Cowboy and the Deli Board. Also under threat, as Hoodline notes, in that same building, is noted BDSM dungeon Alchemy (1060 Folsom), which operates out of the basement.
The developer, who's only just submitted preliminary plans to Planning that may still be rejected, had previously proposed a 10-unit building at 190 Russ Street, at the rear of this same site, that was rejected over a shadow that it would cast for part of the year, 42 minutes per day, on the park across the street, Victoria Manalo Draves Park. The new proposal is a larger building the same height as that one, six stories, with more Folsom frontage, and it's unclear why the developer, Golden Properties, believes that this idea will fly if that one didn't. But perhaps they've made some new accommodation for the shadow.
The building will be 12 percent affordable, and this developer may be hoping that creating more affordable units will appease neighborhood groups who fought their earlier proposal in 2014.
Both the Deli Board and Fondue Cowboy opened around the same time, between 2010 and 2011, at a moment just as this part of SoMa was on the cusp of gentrifying. Now, multiple residential projects are being proposed near this park, and rents have skyrocketed all through SoMa during this tech boom.
As with all things, this project will take years to start construction, so Deli Board, Alchemy, and Fondue Cowboy are safe for now.