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Apple Gets Final Go Ahead for New San Francisco Flagship Store

Tuesday March 11, 2014 4:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple has received final approval for its upcoming Union Square Apple Store from the San Francisco Planning Commission and the city’s Board of Supervisors, reports Re/code. With the go ahead from the city, Apple can begin construction on the new store, which is located approximately three blocks away from its existing San Francisco store.

model
A model of the San Francisco Apple Store courtesy of ifoAppleStore
"We are thrilled that the city of San Francisco has given its final approval to begin work on our new store and public plaza, which will make a wonderful addition to Union Square and create hundreds of local jobs," Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette told Re/code. "Our Stockton Street store has been incredibly popular, welcoming over 13 million customers since it opened nine years ago, and we look forward to making a new home on Union Square."
Apple first earned final approval from the planning commission in February and it received a necessary zoning concession from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week after agreeing to revise its initial building plans. Apple’s original plan, which received some criticism, called for the removal of the historical Ruth Asawa fountain at the location and the installation of an 80-foot wide wall along a key pedestrian and transit corridor.

The company filed a revised plan back in August, pledging to move the fountain to a nearby location, add an eight-foot wide window for visual interest, and move the glass wall of the store back by four feet.

Apple's new Union Square store will be located in the former Levi's building at the corner of Post and Stockton streets. Renderings of the location have suggested it will have massive 44-foot tall sliding glass panels at the entry way, with an Apple representative calling the location "more iconic" than the company's well-known Fifth Avenue store in New York City.

[ 56 comments ]


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iapplelove
67 months ago
More iconic than the fifth ave store? Hmm not sure about that.
Rating: 5 Votes
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sfoneway
67 months ago
one problem

ummm looks like the architects have cars going both directions on the road in front of the new apple store....except that's a one way road here in SF. doh
Rating: 5 Votes
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NachoGrande
67 months ago
I hope they plant the tree a little bit better than in the model...
Rating: 4 Votes
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Z400Racer37
67 months ago
"Gets Final Go Ahead" - Receives approval from bureaucrats to do something they want to do on their own property.
Rating: 3 Votes
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TimeSquareDesi
67 months ago
Oh this is just GREAT....
Stop #1 - Louis Vuitton store in Union Square
Stop #2 - Apple store in Union Square
Stop #3 - The poor house
Rating: 2 Votes
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keysofanxiety
67 months ago

"Gets Final Go Ahead" - Receives approval from bureaucrats to do something they want to do on their own property.


I assume you haven't ever had to acquire planning permission, because they can take you down for so much as building a garage in your own property.

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Will those huge doors open automatically when someone walks close?


Only if you're 30-foot tall. In which case, you can definitely complain that the iPhone's screen is too small.
Rating: 2 Votes
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IJ Reilly
67 months ago

So you support a world in which the people with the most money can buy up land and do whatever they want with it? Sounds great. Want to build a sex shop next door to a primary school? Sure no worries—you paid for the land! Build a 30 metre monument to yourself in the middle of the city? Sure, why not—if you've got the money to do it. Build a 5 story tower in your suburban block that casts a shadow over half your street? Hey, it's your own property—go for your life!

(PS. I'm not saying the bureaucrats aren't too heavy handed at times. Just pointing out that some urban planning is a necessary function of government.)


Crypto-libertarianism is a uniquely American phenomenon. My experience in dealing with these people is that for the most part, they don't actually believe in the ideology they preach. If something big and ugly and disruptive was dropped on their doorstep, they'd be the first to demand that something be done about it.
Rating: 2 Votes
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guzhogi
67 months ago
Anyone else think of this when they saw the picture?

Rating: 2 Votes
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kalsta
67 months ago

"Gets Final Go Ahead" - Receives approval from bureaucrats to do something they want to do on their own property.


I assume you haven't ever had to acquire planning permission, because they can take you down for so much as building a garage in your own property.


...Exactly my point. It's disgusting, and so are they.


So you support a world in which the people with the most money can buy up land and do whatever they want with it? Sounds great. Want to build a sex shop next door to a primary school? Sure no worries—you paid for the land! Build a 30 metre monument to yourself in the middle of the city? Sure, why not—if you've got the money to do it. Build a 5 story tower in your suburban block that casts a shadow over half your street? Hey, it's your own property—go for your life!

(PS. I'm not saying the bureaucrats aren't too heavy handed at times. Just pointing out that some urban planning is a necessary function of government.)
Rating: 2 Votes
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IJ Reilly
67 months ago

Well, "Some regulation" in a civilized society is necessary and is just fine. But, if you've ever built or remodeled your own home, especially an older home built before many city codes became so rigid, you'll see that the real problems start when those planning commissions have absolute power and it starts to get way out of hand. Our neighbor here in LA has been fighting with the city of Glendale for YEARS because he has an innocuous 18" tall white picket fence on his own property the city doesn't happen to "like". I received hostility at the permit office because I wanted to replace our 50-year old fire-hazard cedar shake roofing with new, safer asphalt shingles because they said I'm "not allowed to change the style" even though there's a code that states I MUST replace older wood roofs in this part of LA because of the fire hazard. I'm trying to do what they want- so why do they have to give me such a hard time about it? I also have to follow a 27 page brochure on what kinds of windows I'm allowed to put in my own house, even on the side that's not seen from the street. If the originals are wood, I have to replace them with wood, even though more modern building materials may look exactly the same, last longer, be more environmentally friendly and cost 1/4 as much. They don't care if I go broke following the regulations. When we went to a variance committee meeting, the council suggested removing and completely replacing our 2 car garage to get it "in code" because, no kidding, it was ONE INCH too close to the property line. No hazard or safety issue. $7,000 bucks to fix something 1 inch off of regulation. We said no thanks, so they denied the permit we wanted for an addition. These are just a few examples of why regular, hard-working taxpayers who want to improve their homes get mad about it all.....

Ahh, never mind..... good luck. If you ever need a permit for something big, hope your city is easier to deal with than ours has been!


I was a city planner in a previous life. I gave it up for a number of reasons, but first and foremost was my painful discovery that nobody was really in favor of city planning, which to succeed fundamentally requires that everyone be prepared to give up something such that the overall living environment for everyone is better.

Instead, most public planning decisions boil down ultimately to a battle of wills and competing self-interests, with the most powerful wills and self-interests prevailing. This is a fascinating if depressing result, when you consider that the laissez-faire element believes this is precisely how the world should work, but without government involvement.

What a great many people favor on a whole is being able to do whatever they want with their own property, while preventing others from doing what they want with theirs. My home is my castle, but your home is a big problem. This phenomonon is the source of my concept of crypto-libertarianism. The prevalence of this "philosophy" is why planning, which works so well in other countries, is at best a blunt instrument wielded randomly in this country.
Rating: 1 Votes

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