Reinventing the transit hub

In collaboration with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the city’s Planning Department, SOM developed the conceptual framework for the Transbay Redevelopment Project. Nearly half a century in the making, this dramatic expansion of downtown San Francisco has transformed much of the 40 acres around the Transbay Center, the region’s future transit hub, with more improvements to come.

Despite its prime location between San Francisco’s Financial District, the Embarcadero, the Yerba Buena Center area, and Rincon Hill, the Transbay district was long regarded as a “pass-through” neighborhood. For decades, the area around its namesake terminal was characterized by infrastructure such as the Terminal Separator Structure that connected the Bay Bridge to the Embarcadero Skyway. This elevated freeway was removed in 1992 due to seismic concerns following the Loma Prieta earthquake, spurring the redevelopment of the terminal site—now known as the Transbay Transit Center—and the surrounding blocks of publicly owned land.

A rare opportunity for renewal

Intended to eliminate blighting influences in the area, the Design for Development plan outlines the regeneration of reclaimed space and underutilized or vacant properties, adding new housing, commercial space, and hotel rooms, along with public parks, open space, and pedestrian-friendly alleys. Informed by public planning processes, the plan introduces residential and mixed-use development to what was once a business district, with the notable requirement that 35 percent of the new residences built be affordable housing.

The Design for Development plan established frameworks for land use and maximum development; circulation including sidewalk and bike lane improvements; streetscapes and open space; and vertical development in the Transbay area. Created concurrently with the adjacent Rincon Hill Plan, it has provided for consistency in urban design while allowing for architectural creativity in extending and redefining the San Francisco skyline. Balancing density with access to sunlight and open space, it also incorporates pedestrian-friendly public improvements and encourages active uses at street level.

Realizing a vision for 21st-century urbanism

The document continues to shape the high-density, transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood that has emerged within walking distance of the Financial District and waterfront. As part of the Design for Development, SOM also created Development Controls and Design Guidelines to support the community’s vision of a highly livable, economically diverse, and environmentally sustainable urban neighborhood. Once an ungainly hodgepodge of office buildings, parking lots, and freeway overpasses, Transbay has come into its own as a burgeoning new downtown community, home to thousands of residents, thriving shops, and services. With the implementation of the Design for Development, Transbay is becoming a dynamic new part of the city—a place that any of us would be proud to call home.