443-Unit Tower Proposed for 1301 Van Ness in San Francisco

A development application filed with the San Francisco Planning Department proposes a roughly 360-foot residential tower at 1301 Van Ness Ave, on the city’s Van Ness corridor. The filing, case number 2026-009027PRJ, was submitted Oct. 13, 2026, and remains in “Submitted” status, meaning it has not been approved and could still change during city review.

The application describes the project as a Housing Choice-SF development, the city’s streamlined entitlement path for housing near transit corridors. As filed, the building would rise approximately 360 feet, or about 390 feet including rooftop appurtenances, and contain 443 dwelling units along with approximately 4,525 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The planning record does not list a development company in its applicant field; that field instead names an architectural representative, not a corporate sponsor, so this report does not attribute the project to a developer.

Why it matters

A 443-unit entitlement on San Francisco’s Van Ness corridor would be among the larger housing filings the city has processed this year. The corridor, a wide arterial connecting Civic Center to the Marina, has drawn a string of high-rise residential proposals in recent years as the city has pushed to add density along transit routes. If this filing advances, it would add to that pipeline at a site currently occupied by a single-story retail building.

The numbers

The filing specifies a height of approximately 360 feet, or about 390 feet counting rooftop mechanical and elevator appurtenances. It calls for 443 dwelling units and approximately 4,525 square feet of warm shell retail space at street level. The parcel, APN 0671/002, currently holds a roughly 46,800-square-foot commercial building dating to 1948, according to county property records.

What’s next

The application must clear San Francisco Planning Department review before any entitlement is granted, and the scope, height, or unit count could be revised during that process. The Housing Choice-SF pathway is designed to compress typical review timelines for qualifying housing projects, but no hearing date or approval timeline has been set as of this filing. The American Developer will update this story if the planning record identifies a development sponsor or if the case advances to a commission hearing.