San Francisco Chronicle: Massive art and culture hub coming to S.F. pier that’s been empty for more than a decade
Concept renderings of Pier 29, activated by CAST. The space, which has been vacant, will become a large space for arts and cultural events. (CAST / Allie Johnson)
By Laura Waxmann
On a mission to claim some of downtown San Francisco’s languishing commercial buildings as affordable spaces for the city’s artists and culture groups, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust has set its sights on a vacant pier.
On Tuesday, the community-centered real estate organization, known as CAST, scored approval from the city’s Port Commission to reimagine a roughly 100,000-square-foot warehouse that spans Pier 29 and has largely sat vacant for more than a decade as artist studios and for arts and cultural programming.
The lease deal is for a two-year activation term, which will begin after a six-month construction period in which CAST plans to make improvements to the property. The organization also has an option to request a two-year extension of its lease once it expires.
CAST’s proposal for Pier 29 includes a partnership with Art + Water, a new organization by the Hawkins Project, which is a local nonprofit associated with the philanthropic endeavors of author Dave Eggers and artist J.D. Beltran, who also serves on the city’s Arts Commission.
Eggers is the co-founder of 826 Valencia, a youth writing center located in the city’s Mission District. At Pier 29, Art + Water will occupy some 30 “art pods” designed by CAST, which will span just over half of the existing warehouse. Some of the remaining space will be sublet to other arts groups, and a portion will be built out as convertible space for cultural programming and events that can accommodate up to 2,500 people.
Once the project is completed, it will become San Francisco’s largest combined studio and exhibition space, according to the port. It will also reboot a vacant warehouse that has been empty since the 2013 America’s Cup. The building was previously used for storage and parking — it burned down prior to the sailing competition but was quickly rebuilt, said Port Executive Director Elaine Forbes.
“It was an amazing historic rebuild. We did it in nine months. It’s a beautiful building that we haven’t had much activity in,” she said.
Activating the stretch of the waterfront between the cruise ship terminal at Pier 27 and Fisherman’s Wharf at Pier 39 has been a growing priority of the port, Forbes said.
“We recognize there’s this beautiful historic waterfront that isn’t very busy, frankly, in that section and all the way up to Pier 39. We really want these piers to be able to welcome the public more and bring residents in and visitors in,” Forbes said, but added that the warehouse was designed for “breakbulk” shipping — a method of transporting oversize and heavy cargo — and is therefore limited in regard to its future uses. On the flip side, the warehouse’s large, barn-like open spaces and high vaulted ceilings provide flexibility for artistic and creative endeavors.
CAST’s plan to convert the warehouse into a work and exhibition space for artists was “just a great fit for us,” she said. The organization will invest about $300,000 of its own funds for tenant improvements, along with a $500,000 contribution from the port.
“We get two years of low-cost artist studios, with hundreds and hundreds of subsidized artists coming to work in this waterfront venue. There’s event space and creative space. And it just feels like such a nice match between what we have in this historic pier and how we could open it to the public for use,” Forbes said.
David Keenan, CAST’s director of special projects, said the organization has been working with the port for nearly a year to secure the Pier 29 building.
“It’s 100,000 square feet of open floor plan space that’s kind of ideal for arts production, exhibitions and events. But, to actually get through regulation, we had to show that we are not going to impose a lot of impacts on the building … in order to not trigger major building code upgrades,” Keenan said. “It’s challenging for arts groups that are trying to maintain premises but keep them affordable.”
Commercial real estate prices in San Francisco have toppled due to the pandemic-induced downturn — in the Financial District, office vacancy reached a historic high of 37% last year. While tech firms and other companies have dumped thousands of square feet of once-coveted office space on the market, CAST has seized upon the rare opportunity to own and lease real estate to serve the arts community in the heart of downtown.
Earlier this year, CAST purchased the historic Warfield Building in the city’s Mid-Market neighborhood — once a tech hot spot that housed companies like Uber, Zendesk, X Corp. (formerly Twitter) and Block (formerly Square), all of which have exited the neighborhood in recent years — with plans to reposition the property as an arts and independent media hub.
And at the end of last year, CAST pounced at the opportunity to buy foreclosed property in the SoMa neighborhood that was once earmarked for a 16-story co-living tower. That building, located at 457 Minna St., will now provide space to community organizations serving the neighborhood’s Filipino community.
We are really trying to be an active player in a down market,” said CAST Chief Executive Officer Ken Ikeda. “Our objective is to participate when we can reset the floor of affordability. We’re really busy.”
City leaders have been hyperfocused on reviving the city’s battered downtown in recent years, and have hailed efforts to support arts organizations taking space in the office-heavy economic core as one part of the solution. It’s a stark but refreshing reversal to the years leading up to the pandemic, which saw many arts and culture groups being priced out of the area.
Last year, two San Francisco nonprofits submitted plans to build 100% affordable housing specifically for artists at 1687 Market St. The 100-unit housing project is slated to include a community center, studio space and a theater. It is funded by a $100 million gift from an anonymous benefactor.
“Our arts and culture are driving San Francisco’s comeback, and this new space at Pier 29 is another exciting step in the right direction,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement to the Chronicle. “By partnering with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, we’re creating the largest artist studio and exhibition space in the city — right on our iconic waterfront.”
