Seawall Lot 330

With the Presidio Trust having rejected plans for a Lucas Cultural Arts Museum to rise across from Crissy Field, Mayor Lee is preparing to offer Seawall Lot 330 along the Embarcadero to Lucas as an alternate site upon which to build his museum.

Currently zoned for building up to 65 feet in height with the potential to reach 105 feet for towers of limited bulk, the Golden State Warriors were working on plans to build two 100-foot hotel buildings and a 175-foot residential tower upon the South Beach Seawall lot as part of their now abandoned bid to build an arena on Piers 30-32.

And according to the Chronicle, the mayor is open to letting Lucas attempt to build his museum on Piers 30-32 as well.

22 thoughts on “San Francisco To Lure Lucas With Alternate Waterfront Site”
      1. Excellent example, the museum campus (Shed Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and Field Museum of Natural History) combined with Soldier’s Memorial Field form quite the entertainment/sports complex right along the Lakefront.

        Of course Chicago has the amazing foresight to convert it’s waterfront into virtually unbroken parkland giving the entire city access to driving ranges, sport fields, beaches, biking/walking paths, parks, museums, sports stadiums, and entrainment complexes (Navy Pier) that run the length of the city. The only real issue they face is providing enough pedestrian access to the lakefront mostly on the south side.

  1. Haha, instead of a great looking sports stadium we get a tacky museum filled with, what I find at least to be, boring art and glorification of his career. Granted, I didn’t want the sports stadium there either, so I guess I deserve it.

  2. Most of you are missing the reason for this ,
    1st , it gets private money to fund fixing the pier ,
    2nd , it provides the needed new home for the SF Fire Boat
    3rd , it provides needed additional docks for pleasure ships ,
    and lastly its a killer background with the Bay Bridge ,
    The building of the Museum here would be great, and would not look at all like the one proposed by Crissy Field

    1. Just to be clear, the site in question is the seawall lot across the Embarcadero from the piers. Any deal for that site is highly unlikely to involve rehabilitating the piers in any way.

      While M&R report that “If he’s feeling ambitious, the mayor is open to letting him try to build his museum on Piers 30-32,” realistically, that’s not going to happen. Lucas would face the same huge hurdle that finally sunk the Warriors’ plans, namely an Army Corps of Engineers-mandated requirement for a lengthy (3–5 years long) federal environmental review, in addition to the various state reviews. (Not to mention the ballooning costs for rehabbing the piers, and other significant impediments.)

      1. i thought I read that the point of offering up the lot across the street for the museum would allow lucas to get around the port’s restrictions (ie. maritime uses, etc)

  3. Snore.

    If we must have his museum and an existing Presidio structure won’t do, how ’bout the Tenderloin (rising) or Hunters Point (rising)?

    Think different.(ly)

  4. This is a much better location than the Presidio. The museum will probably get 2X the visitors compared to that remote location by the GG bridge.

    1. Agreed – I think it’s a perfectly fine location, that will help tie together the tourist spots of the Ferry Bldg & north, with the Ballpark and burgeoning points south.

  5. And right across from the city’s largest and most scenic parking lot. Congratulations, Mr. Lucas.

  6. Without absolute certainty about what will eventually become of pier 30-32 I don’t see how this is really a viable option. Not to mention it is a highly irregular site to say the least.

    Chicago has delivered a huge prime waterfront parcel next to the city’s most prestigious museums with carte blanch for Lucas to do as he wishes. Perhaps more importantly Emanuel can deliver exactly what he has promised with no delays or insane ballot initiatives coming out of left field.

  7. Well at least Aaron Peskin should be able to support it. After all, it’s a museum dedicated to Ewoks.

  8. Great location! Great idea! Why not include some housing on the sight. And BTW the height limit is 65′ to 105′ on seawall 330 and not limited to 65′ (East SoMa zoning) . Build the museum and one residential tower and everyone’s happy. Uhm…did I really say everyone’s happy…not a chance in SF.

  9. Why isn’t housing compatible with a museum on this site? Like the Museum Tower over the MOMA in New York City, there could be apartments on top/integrated into the building.

    How about a futuristic “Skywalker Tower”? Or, simply, “The Ewok.” (Proposed marketing slogan: “Walk to work from the Ewok.”) There are so many techie Star Wars fans, the building would sell out faster than a Millennium Falcon. (Not to be confused with the current Millennium Tower.)

    In fact, it would be a cool project for the futuristic architect, Zaha Hadid. May the floors be with you!

  10. i think the Death Star on pier 30-32 (within height limits) would be a perfect present for the “no wall on the waterfront” [people].

  11. If Lucas just wants to get this done quickly, he would need to keep it simple and exclude housing. Otherwise the half of the SF population that absolutely hates young tech money would kill the project because it includes “luxury” housing. Look to the Exploratiorium and the Pier 24 museum for examples of how to do a museum right along the waterfront.

    SWL 330 is currently worth double the $30 million appraised value from several years ago. This is more than enough funds to remove the collapsing piers 30-32 across the street.

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