From the Ground Up: The Business of Building in an Age of Money

by Douglas Frantz

A look at the revitalization of San Francisco's South of Market district follows Scott Johnson, who designed Rincon Center, as he modifies designs to accommodate egos and revises plans to fit budgets

Genres: Architecture

Hardcover

First published November 22, 1993

Reviews

[Raul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good primer on how the various players come together in the elaboration of a major commercial property in the United States, and the challenges they confront - investors, bankers, developers, architects, engineers, contractors, elected and unelected officials, lobbyists, artists, and users and eventual entities own in or renting the final product. When you think of it, it is an amazing process, full of surprises, whose success ultimately depends on luck and the actor's experience, leadership, and the ability to get along with eachother.

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid journalistic review of what it takes to build a skyscraper downtown in the 1980s. The answer? Fungible tax breaks and compliant zoning regulations.

It also provides a very satisfying balance between the financial, political, and physical aspects of building, and lucky for the author the builders he features made plenty of great boneheaded moves to keep the story itself exciting.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

About building of Rincon Center in S.F. Very interesting - addresses issues of historic preservation, financing, and how a project like this really gets done.