Decommissioned Power Plant First Mega-Project to Emerge in Crisis Era, Will Re-Connect Dogpatch to Bay & Provide Thousands of New Homes
SAN FRANCISCO, April 21, 2020 – The Power Station, a proposed extension of the Dogpatch neighborhood that will create thousands of new homes, honor San Francisco’s industrial past, and reconnect the community with its waterfront, was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today.
The Power Station is the first mega-project to emerge from San Francisco’s extensive public planning process since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Board’s unanimous approval of the ambitious plan follows unanimous approvals at the Planning and Port Commissions. It also comes after Supervisors praised the Power Station’s project sponsors for their flexibility and willingness to work with the community to achieve a broad range of public goals, and for transforming an old power plant into a vibrant new neighborhood.
“We are so energized by the public embrace of the Power Station that we are moving full-steam ahead, even in this extraordinary era,” said Enrique Landa of Associate Capital, the local project sponsor. “The fact is, we will always need housing, and now we’re going to need economic development more than ever. This project will deliver great jobs, and our workers will deliver new homes.”
Associate Capital has been preparing for the implementation phase of the Power Station, following the entitlements stage, and, as an “essential project,” will work with the City to begin a safe and secure construction phase.
The Power Station is reimagining 29 acres of San Francisco’s industrial Central Waterfront, creating new places to live, work, visit and play. A former fossil-fuel power plant that community leaders fought for decades to close, the Power Station will join Pier 70, its immediate neighbor to the north, in creating an exciting bayfront addition to the Dogpatch neighborhood.
The proposed project will be a majority-residential, mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhood delivering approximately 2,600 new homes. Anchored by a historic 300-foot stack, the Power Station will feature seven acres of park and open space, a boutique hotel adapted from a former steampower facility, and community-serving restaurants, cafes, shops and stores – all coming together along an area of the waterfront that’s been cut off from the public for nearly 165 years.
The diverse new neighborhood will also include 1.5 million square feet of Office/Life Science and/or Laboratory space; 100,000 square feet of retail; and ample community-serving amenities.
In total, the project will contribute more than $860 million in public benefits, ranging from its affordable housing program and historic preservation to public infrastructure and open space — all of which will directly benefit San Franciscans. These include:
- 30% affordable housing (at 72% AMI for rental and 99% for home ownership) without public subsidy or public financing tools
- Massive investment in neighborhood parks
- 36 units dedicated to a homeless prenatal program
- Extension of the San Francisco Bay Trail
- Public transit on site (“55-Dogpatch” Muni line)
- Full-sized grocery store
- 25,000-square-foot community facility operated by YMCA
- 12,000 square feet of childcare facilities
- 1,500-square-foot catering kitchen/incubator space for La Cocina
- Neighborhood streetscape improvements
- Water transit pilot program
- Investment in sea level rise defense
- Soccer field and playgrounds on site
The proposed Power Station has undergone a three-year public planning process, involving more than 170 public meetings and community events, and has been discussed many times at the Planning Commission and other public agencies.
The Power Station’s development agreement legislation was officially sponsored by District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton and Mayor London N. Breed.
“I am looking forward to realizing the benefits for the community from this project – to the affordable housing coming in the first phase, to the open space and the preservation of Station A, and to the community center that is vital for vibrant neighborhoods,” Sup. Walton said.
“Before the onset of the pandemic, we set an ambitious goal of 50,000 new homes in San Francisco over the next 10 years, and we still intend to meet that goal,” Mayor Breed said, “We will need ambitious, community-oriented projects like the Power Station to achieve this goal.”
The Power Station’s development agreement will now move to the Mayor’s desk for her signature.
With the development of new housing designated as essential, construction on the Power Station is slated to begin as early as this summer.
