The mixed-use version of the plan splits the building into 21 floors of office space on the lower levels and 25 residential floors stacked on top, with amenity floors on the 22nd and 47th stories. There's also an all-office iteration floating around that features a more sculpted, arched design. Either way, this is exactly the kind of dense, vertical development that San Francisco desperately needs — and has spent decades making painfully difficult to build.

Let's be real: SoMa has the infrastructure, the transit access, and the zoning capacity to absorb a project like this. What it hasn't always had is the political will to let builders actually build. Every month a project like 536 Mission sits in review limbo is another month of constrained housing supply and upward pressure on rents across the city. If San Francisco is serious about its housing goals — and not just serious about talking about its housing goals — projects with this kind of density should be fast-tracked, not slow-walked through bureaucratic purgatory.

The neighborhood itself remains a work in progress. As one local put it about the area around Mission Street: "It's sketchy, but you're one of hundreds or thousands of people going through." That's an honest assessment, and it underscores why adding residents and economic activity to SoMa is a net positive. More eyes on the street, more foot traffic, more reasons for businesses to invest — that's how you revitalize a neighborhood without blowing taxpayer money on another consultant study.

We'll be watching to see which version of the tower moves forward and how quickly the city lets it happen. Don't hold your breath, but do hold your elected officials accountable.