en.Wedoany.com Reported - Formal permits have been submitted to convert the Empire Theater in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood into a nine-story residential building. DM Development is handling the application on behalf of the owner, Empire West Portal LLC., planning to build a mixed-use complex with ground-floor retail space and 64 apartments on the former theater site at 85 West Portal Avenue.
The building is expected to be approximately 112 feet tall, with a total area of about 113,670 square feet, including roughly 94,400 square feet of residential space, 13,300 square feet of parking, and 4,100 square feet of ground-floor retail. The unit mix includes 16 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, and 12 three-bedroom apartments. The ground floor and basement garage will provide 27 car parking spaces and 64 bicycle parking spaces.
Ten of the 64 apartments will be deed-restricted below-market-rate units, with five reserved for households earning up to 50% of the area median income and five for households earning up to 120% of the area median income. Accordingly, the applicant can invoke AB 1287 and the State Density Bonus law to obtain a 100% density bonus. The project also benefits from AB 2011 and Senate Bill 330 to streamline the approval process.
Handel Architects is responsible for the design. Updated renderings show the complex using different tones, terracotta, and off-white concrete panels, appearing externally like two buildings overlooking West Portal Avenue and Vicente Street. Schematic drawings indicate that a decorative cornice will be preserved above the future retail space, while the rest of the century-old theater will be demolished.
The building will cover most of the 0.4-acre site, except for a small portion directly behind 69 West Portal Avenue. The L-shaped floor plan orients the retail and residential lobby toward West Portal Avenue, with the garage ramp located on Vicente Street.
The former cinema operated in West Portal from 1925 to 2021, originally opening as the Portal Theater and renamed the Empire Theater in 1936.
The project timeline has not been announced, with DM Development estimating completion as early as 2028. Construction costs are expected to be approximately $45 million, a figure that does not include all development expenses.
