Responses to the Port of San Francisco’s request for concept proposals from developers and tenants interested in redeveloping thirteen of San Francisco’s historic piers, along with the Agriculture Building adjacent to San Francisco’s Ferry Building, are due this Wednesday, October 31, at 5PM.

Once again, proposed concepts for the piers and building, which stretch from Pier 35 to Pier 48 (which is the one which Anchor Brewing was slated to occupy) are expected to align with the public-oriented priorities outlined in San Francisco’s Waterfront Land Use Plan, priorities which include “arts and culture, assembly and entertainment, education, food and beverage, maritime (excursion and leisure), museums, recreation and specialty retail” uses.

In terms of the possibility for raising the roof of any of the existing pier structures, a question which a development team or two has raised, the existing roofs and exteriors are “character defining features” of the historic buildings, “so alterations are generally limited to installation of HVAC equipment, cell antennas and photovoltaic panels.”

And based on responses to the Port’s solicitation, a targeted Request for Proposal(s) is expected to be issued for one or more of the piers in early 2019. Keep in mind that all of the historic structures are in need of some serious rehabilitation and any qualifying response at the RFP stage will need to be financially feasible.

We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

10 thoughts on “Concept Proposals for SF’s Historic Piers Are Due”
  1. in need of some serious rehabilitation

    It’s a miracle a few decades of neglect haven’t completely destroyed them.

    The City that knows how…

    1. I envision a lot of RFP’s from those that require public funds to support. Which gets to one simple question, the city needs to decide if they want to save the piers or not, or even how many piers to save? The RFP sounds good from a public entity that probably does a good job on spending its revenues on administration but will only add a few more years of neglect as the price rehab continues to grow.

      It is simply wishful thinking that the port is going to get proposals from private capital to finance these rehabs and come close to in recouping its investment in rent. I believe the running cost just to get the underside of a single pier in state of good repair & up to seismic code is anywhere from $50 to $100 million or greater. That is even before you spend on the topside.

      In the meantime, the city has a $5 billion dollar investment to make on the sea wall. Time to combine the two, sea wall & piers and dedicate some of those tourist dollars that make general fund fat.

  2. Pirate headquarters. Meets 6 of the 8 objectives:. “arts and culture, assembly and entertainment, e̶d̶u̶c̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ food and beverage, maritime (excursion and leisure), m̶u̶s̶e̶u̶m̶s̶, recreation and specialty retail” uses.

    And it’s certainly financially feasible. Couple of boats a day come into the Golden Gate….

      1. I always thought it was a Caribbean thing but apparently there were historical pirates of the West Coast worthy of a pierside museum: “Frenchman Hippolyte de Bouchard raided the Presidio of Monterey in 1818”

        But I think I like the Wells Fargo angle almost as much. As their recent billion dollar settlement with the Feds prove, Wells Fargo is certainly the most piratical bank out there. Their stagecoach would be a worthy inclusion in a museum of nautical naughtiness. Especially if it came with some low interest F̶i̶n̶a̶g̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ financing for the renovations.

  3. Doesn’t the Port issue these RFPs every few years, demand too much, waste everybody’s time, and then nothing ever moves forward?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *