The half-life of Lucky 13 has been extended by bits, again and again, since 2015. It is now extended longer as the developer adds another building parcel, plus the adjacent parking lot, for a far more ambitious project.
It’s been nearly five years since the original plan to demolish Lucky 13 for condos got San Francisco bar-hoppers’ black fur flying. But the place has seemingly had nine lives — discretionary reviews tripped that project up in 2017, so the building owner put the property on the market a few months later. A new ownership outfit called Keystone Group bought it up quickly for about $2.5 million less than the asking price, according to the Bay Area Reporter, and submitted plans to build an eight-story complex with 33 dwelling units. That was more than a year ago, and we haven’t heard much since.
Now we’ve heard more. Hoodline reports that Keystone Group has submitted new plans to replace Lucky 13, and the plans are a hell of a lot more ambitious. They’ve nearly tripled the number of units to 90, added another story so it’s a nine-story project, and they now hope to demolish the three-level house next door to include it as part of a new Market Street housing behemoth. Previous plans to build over Lucky 13’s adjacent parking lot remain in place with the new plan.
Hoodline has a copy of the Pre-Application Meeting Notice form sent to neighbors, and the fact that is a pre-application meeting means it’s still going to be a long time until the Planning Department or Department of Building Inspections issue any permits. But a pre-application meeting is public, so you can show up for it at 2134 Market Street (the white house next to Lucky 13) on Tuesday, December 17, at 6 p.m. to squawk about it.
And people will squawk. The neighborhood still has a bad taste in mouth, because the new development just five doors down at Church and Market has been turned into corporate rentals instead of housing. Moreover, that corporate rental building is also owned by former Lucky 13 owner Brian Spiers, so it’s not hard to imagine the same happening to a redeveloped Lucky 13 site.
“We already have three condo buildings on one block. Many units seem empty, and there’s very little business in the retail spaces," neighbor (and Sister of Perpetual Indulgence) Christine Costello told Hoodline. "I’ve known 34 friends who were displaced by illegal evictions. No one I know could afford to live in any of these units."
Again, this new development is starting from scratch with Planning and DBI, so you probably have at least another year of pool, punk rock, and popcorn at Lucky 13. But of all the plans to replace the bar, this one would certainly change the neighborhood the most.
Related: Lucky 13 Murals Mysteriously Painted Over As Bar Faces Fears Of Demolition [SFist]
Image: rick via Flickr