Transbay Transit Center Under Construction, Spring 2013
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The San Francisco Transbay development is a completed redevelopment plan for the neighborhood surrounding the
Salesforce Transit Center The Salesforce Transit Center, also known as the Transbay Transit Center, is a transit center in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal for the San Francisco Bay Area, and is proposed as a possible future rail terminal. ...
site,
South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, so named due to its location south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of ...
near the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...
in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. The new transit center replaced the since-demolished
San Francisco Transbay Terminal The San Francisco Transbay Terminal was a transportation complex in San Francisco, California, United States, roughly in the center of the rectangle bounded north–south by Mission Street and Howard Street, and east–west by Beale Street an ...
, and new skyscrapers, such as
Salesforce Tower Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...
, took advantage of the height increases allowed through the San Francisco Transit Center District Plan. The sale of several land parcels formerly owned by the state and given to the managing
Transbay Joint Powers Authority The San Francisco Transbay development is a completed redevelopment plan for the neighborhood surrounding the Salesforce Transit Center site, South of Market (San Francisco), South of Market near the Financial District (San Francisco), Financial ...
helped finance the construction of the transit center.


History

The original
Transbay Terminal The San Francisco Transbay Terminal was a transportation complex in San Francisco, California, United States, roughly in the center of the rectangle bounded north–south by Mission Street and Howard Street, and east–west by Beale Street an ...
opened in 1939 as the San Francisco terminus for the
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area ...
and other commuter trains that travelled across the new
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, commonly referred to as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 in California, Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco an ...
to the East Bay. Train service to San Francisco was discontinued in 1958 and the Transbay Terminal was reconfigured for buses. Transbay train service would resume in 1974 with the opening of
BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
and the
Transbay Tube The Transbay Tube is an underwater rail tunnel that carries Bay Area Rapid Transit's four transbay lines under San Francisco Bay between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California, Oakland in California. The tube is long, and attaches ...
, but the BART tracks were routed under Market Street, bypassing the Transbay Terminal. By the end of the 20th century, the Transbay Terminal was underused and rundown, handling an average of about 20,000 commuters per day. In 1985, San Francisco adopted the Downtown Plan, which slowed development in the Financial District north of Market Street and directed it to the area South of Market around the Transbay Terminal. In the early 1990s, the
Embarcadero Freeway Embarcadero, the Spanish word for wharf, may also refer specifically to: Places * Embarcadero (San Diego), California ** Embarcadero Circle, waterfront re-development project in San Diego * Embarcadero (San Francisco) The Embarcadero (Spani ...
was demolished following the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...
, freeing up numerous city blocks for development south of the Transbay Terminal. In 1995,
Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...
agreed to study extending its commuter rail service from its Fourth and King terminus closer to the Financial District, including whether the obsolete Transbay Terminal should be removed, remodeled, or rebuilt. Ultimately, it was decided that the Transbay Terminal should be rebuilt, with the rail extension entering the Terminal under Second Street. In 1996, then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown issued the idea of redeveloping the earthquake-damaged Transbay Transit Center. To that end, Brown tapped his then-new deputy Mayor Maria Ayerdi Kaplan to head the project. Kaplan created, and then became executive director of, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority in 2008. To finance the projects and promote development in the area, the Transbay Redevelopment Plan was adopted by the City of San Francisco in June 2005. By raising a number of building height limits and selling former freeway parcels, the plan envisions the development of over 2,500 new homes, 3 million square feet of new office and commercial space, and 100,000 square feet of retail.


Developments


Salesforce Transit Center

Designed by
Pelli Clarke Pelli Pelli is the surname of: * Arttu Pelli (born 1996), Finnish ice hockey * César Pelli (1926–2019), Argentine architect * Denis Pelli (born 1954), Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University * Fulvio Pelli Fulvio Pelli ...
, the new Salesforce Transit Center replaced the former Transbay Terminal at a cost of roughly $2 billion
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
and has been dubbed the "Grand Central Station of the West" by proponents. The new center is planned to eventually include an extension of the
Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...
commuter rail service into the station from its current northern terminus at 4th and King Streets in Mission Bay via tunnels which would also carry the Bay Area segment of the future
California High-Speed Rail California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system being developed in California by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Phase 1, about long, is planned to run from San Francisco, California, San Francisco to ...
(CAHSR) and terminate at the station, as mandated by California voters in Proposition 1A, the ballot measure authorizing CAHSR construction. This extension would cost an additional $2–4 billion and is currently unfunded. The Transit Center currently has three levels plus a public rooftop park. The ground level is the street entrance to the Transit Center. Above that are administrative offices, retail shops, restaurants, and the Amtrak/Greyhound waiting room. The final indoors level services Transbay buses from San Francisco's Muni, the East Bay's
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
, and
WestCAT WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County (north of Alameda County, California, Alameda County). It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority. Contra Costa County has four public bus transportation ...
, as well as long-distance buses operated by
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
and
Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
. Future Caltrain and HSR service would utilize two underground levels, the lower of which would house the tracks and platforms, and the upper of which would house a retail concourse and waiting areas.


Salesforce Tower

Adjacent to the Transit Center and at the center of the redevelopment effort is a signature skyscraper at First and Mission Streets. The proposal featured plans from several major architecture firms including
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...
,
Richard Rogers Partnership RSHP is a British architectural firm, founded in 1977 and previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership which became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007. The firm rebranded from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to simply RSHP on 30 Jun ...
, and
Pelli Clarke Pelli Pelli is the surname of: * Arttu Pelli (born 1996), Finnish ice hockey * César Pelli (1926–2019), Argentine architect * Denis Pelli (born 1954), Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University * Fulvio Pelli Fulvio Pelli ...
Architects. Eventually the plan from Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects was picked. The original plans from Pelli Clark Pelli Architects called for a tower as the main tower and a massive three-block-long Transbay Center. However, due to considerations about how the tower would cast a shadow over some of the city's parks, the height was eventually reduced to . The designs to the supertall tower changed during its planning phase, its final design eventually incorporates slits at each side of its angular top along with an altered terminal station design. However some of the original design cues were later restored and reincorporated due to complaints about the design modifications. The tower and the new terminal had their groundbreaking ceremonies on March 27, 2013. The office tower opened in early 2018, followed by the Transit Center in August of that same year.


Increased height limits

With the adoption of the Transit Center District Plan in 2012, height limits were raised for several parcels in the vicinity of the Transit Center. Among the parcels zoned for taller buildings are
50 First Street Oceanwide Center is a mixed-use skyscraper complex on hold in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California, consisting of two towers. Design The taller tower, located at 50 First Street, is expected to rise and contain 34 st ...
, 181 Fremont Street,
350 Mission Street Salesforce East is a 30-story skyscraper in the South of Market district of San Francisco, California. Location and architecture 350 Mission Street is located at the northeast corner of Fremont Street and Mission Street in a part of the Sout ...
,
Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, technology, accounting, ...
's campus at 536 Mission Street, the proposed Palace Hotel Residential Tower, and the
Salesforce Tower Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...
site.


Former freeway parcels and bus ramps

Following the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...
, the
Embarcadero Freeway Embarcadero, the Spanish word for wharf, may also refer specifically to: Places * Embarcadero (San Diego), California ** Embarcadero Circle, waterfront re-development project in San Diego * Embarcadero (San Francisco) The Embarcadero (Spani ...
was torn down, opening up a number of blocks for development. Several other parcels, near Beale and Howard streets, were used for the East Loop Ramp of the Transbay Terminal and are not needed for the new Transit Center. In 2007, the state of California officially agreed to transfer the state-owned parcels to the City and County of San Francisco. The former freeway parcels are located mostly along the north side of Folsom Street between Essex and Spear and have been zoned for residential use. Other lots, called Parcel F, Parcel M, and Parcel T, have been zoned for office buildings. Parcel T is the site of Salesforce Tower. As of 2013, Transbay Joint Powers Authority has accepted proposals for Blocks 6/7 and Block 9. The first parcel developed was Block 11, also known as the Rene Cazenave Apartments, an affordable housing project located at 25 Essex Street.


Transbay Joint Powers Authority

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) oversees the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the Salesforce Transit Center. The charter of the TJPA includes three initiatives: * Replacing the San Francisco Transbay Terminal * Extending the Caltrain rail line * Redeveloping the area surrounding the Salesforce Transit Center The TJPA was created in 2001 as a collaboration of several Bay Area government and transportation agencies. It coordinates the efforts of 11 local, regional, and statewide transit systems.


See also

*
List of tallest buildings in San Francisco San Francisco, California, in the United States, has at least 482 high-rises, 58 of which are at least tall. The tallest building is Salesforce Tower, which rises and is the List of tallest buildings in the United States, 17th-tallest buildin ...


References


External links

*
Transbay Redevelopment Project Area – S.F. Office of Community Investment and InfrastructureTransbay Transit Center proposal from Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Francisco Transbay Development Transit centers in the United States South of Market, San Francisco César Pelli buildings Salesforce