The Port of San Francisco sees in Piers 38 and 40 the opportunity to transform an underused stretch of the City’s waterfront into a vibrant extension of the bustling South Beach and South of Market neighborhoods that it borders.
Last month, the port invited developers to suggest strategies to make the piers a destination for San Franciscans and tourists alike—while at the same time honoring the structures’ (and the area’s) unique history and contributing to the City’s effort to better the resilience of the waterfront. The request for proposals was issued on January 10, and the deadline for proposals is March 4.
“This area is ripe for activation,” said David Beaupre, the Port of San Francisco’s master planning project manager. “Oracle Park is right next door, so are South Beach Marina, South Beach Park and Brannan Street Wharf Park. There’s already foot traffic in the area, so we’re looking to come up with creative ways to leverage that and then build on it.”
Pier 38 has been vacant since 2011, while Pier 40 is only partially occupied at this time. Both structures need plenty of TLC to bring them up to modern standards, so whoever’s idea gets the greenlight from the port must commit to a substantial list of necessary upgrades as a part of the deal.
“There’s a fair amount of structural rehabilitation that needs to be done, flood-proofing, entirely new utilities—rehabilitating these piers requires a significant investment,” Beaupre said. “How the structures relate to the seawall also needs to be considered.”
The four-mile-long seawall is what keeps the waters of the San Francisco Bay from reclaiming the landfill atop which the Embarcardero, portions of the Financial District, South Beach and South of Market were all built. Though a modern marvel for its day, 100-plus years later engineers question the seawall’s ability to withstand a good shaking or projected sea level rise.
The City is now a few years into the planning phase of a seawall rehab that could include replacing portions of the wall, as well as moving critical pieces of infrastructure that have been rendered vulnerable by time.
Piers 38 and 40 were built not long after the seawall’s completion, and the sea air and Bay water lapping at their heels for nearly a century have compromised the Beaux Arts beauties’ overall condition and leasability.
Why now?
From 2015 to 2019, the port undertook the task of updating its waterfront land use plan, which guides how port property can be used. To help with this, the port assembled a 30-member group representing a diverse cross section of the City to weigh in on the best path forward.
“And what we heard loud and clear is that we need to really invest in the Embarcadero Historic District,” Beaupre said. “Preserving a national treasure is important to them, as is finding uses and activities that draw the public to the waterfront to enjoy historical aspects, improve the waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods, and help build a more resilient city.”
And time, Beaupre added, is not on the port’s side. “The condition of these piers isn’t getting any better and the longer they sit vacant, the worse they get,” he said.
The group had a lot of good ideas for ways to help make the piers more of an attraction. Among them was attracting world-class cultural and arts facilities, and carving out affordable space for community groups and nonprofit organizations.
“That was a big one,” Beaupre said. “But in general people really wanted to make sure that the plan for activating the piers includes uses that attract the greatest diversity of people possible—all ages and income levels and ethnic groups. That was very important to the group.”
Beaupre’s ideal mix would also include restaurants and shops, office and creative spaces, and open space. The only nonstarters are residential and hotel uses, which San Franciscans voted in the 1990s to ban on port property in order to retain both the charm and integrity of the waterfront area.
“But beyond that, we’re leaving it up to developers to apply the goals and objectives of the waterfront land use plan and come up with their own vision for the piers,” Beaupre said. Those visions will first be subject to a third-party review to gauge technical feasibility, after which a panel of stakeholders will be assembled to determine which proposals best mesh with the community feedback that recently helped reshape the waterfront land use plan.
“We’re aiming to go to the port commission on May 12 and present the proposals that qualified,” said Beaupre, who adds that lease negotiations could begin before summer. Part of that process would be an environmental review.
Sustainability is a key tenet of the port’s ethos, and one with which a potential tenant’s plan will need to align. And if all goes well, Beaupre hopes to see new life breathed into Piers 38 and 40 within the next two years.
“The City and The Port of San Francisco have very forward-thinking sustainability programs, and everything we do gets looked at through that sustainability lens,” Beaupre said. “A big focus of late is building a resilient city, and a big part of that is sustainable development.”
