Table Of Content

CENTRAL SOMA PLAN & IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FINAL PLAN ADOPTED DECEMBER 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PLAN PURPOSE PLAN VISION Central SoMa is a 230-acre area that sits adjacent The vision of the Central SoMa Plan is to create to downtown, has excellent transit access, and a sustainable neighborhood by 2040, where the contains numerous undeveloped or underdeveloped needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own sites, such as surface parking lots and single-story needs. The Central SoMa Plan seeks to achieve commercial buildings. As such, the neighborhood sustainability in each of its aspects – social, is well positioned to accommodate needed economic, and environmental. Additionally, employment and housing in the core of the city achieving sustainability in Central SoMa should and Bay Area region. It is also a neighborhood with complement movements towards sustainability in an incredible history and a rich, ongoing, cultural the city, region, nation, and planet. heritage. As it grows and evolves over the next 25 years, Central SoMa has the opportunity to become PLAN PHILOSOPHY, STRATEGY, AND GOALS a complete, sustainable, and vital neighborhood The Plan’s philosophy for achieving neighborhood without losing what makes it special and unique sustainability is to maintain what is already today. The Central SoMa Plan contains the goals, successful about the neighborhood, and improving objectives, and policies to guide this growth and what is not. Doing so requires implementing the evolution such that the results serve the best following three strategies: interests of San Francisco – in the present and the future. ● Accommodate growth ● Provide public benefits PLAN AREA BOUNDARY ● Respect and enhance neighborhood character The Central SoMa Plan Area runs from 2nd Street to 6th Street, Market Street to Townsend Street, Implementing the Plan’s strategy will require exclusive of those areas that are part of the addressing all the facets of a sustainable Downtown Plan (see Figure A in the Plan) which neighborhood. Doing so can be accomplished by comprise much of the area north of Folsom Street. meeting all of the Plan’s eight goals to achieve the It is an “Eastern Neighborhoods Plan” comprised following results: entirely of areas formerly part of the East SoMa ● Accommodate a Substantial Amount of Jobs and Plan Area and Western SoMa Plan Area, whose Housing boundaries has been adjusted accordingly. The Central SoMa Plan Area boundaries were created to ● Maintain the Diversity of Residents include areas within easy walking distance (i.e., two ● Facilitate an Economically Diversified and Lively blocks) of the Central Subway’s 4th Street alignment. Jobs Center Cover Photo by Daniel Austin Hoherd, Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). ● Provide Safe and Convenient Transportation that ● Affordable Housing: 33 percent of total units Prioritizes Walking, Bicycling, and Transit produced after Plan adoption; ● Offer an Abundance of Parks and Recreational ● Transit: $500 million investment in both near and Opportunities long term service and capacity enhancements to both local and regional transit; ● Create an Environmentally Sustainable and Resilient Neighborhood ● Parks and Recreation: Transformative investments in new facilities and enhancements to existing ones ● Preserve and Celebrate the Neighborhood’s (e.g. parks, recreation centers, privately-owned Cultural Heritage public open spaces (POPOS)); ● Ensure that New Buildings Enhance the Character ● Complete Streets: Safe and comfortable of the Neighborhood and the City conditions for people walking and biking on 100 percent of all major streets in the Plan Area; EXPECTED RESULTS ● Production, Distribution, and Repair (including Under existing City rules, there is potential to build Arts): No net loss of space due to Plan; space for approximately 10,000 jobs and 2,500 housing units. With adoption of the Central SoMa ● Environmental Sustainability: Investment towards Plan, there would be potential to build space for becoming a sustainable, healthy, and resilient approximately to 32,000 jobs and 8,800 housing neighborhood; units - more than triple of today’s development ● Cultural Preservation & Community Services: capacity. Funding towards preservation of the area’s historic buildings (including the Old Mint) and funding for Increasing the population of the neighborhood services and communty facilities, such as health requires significant investments in infrastructure. clinics and job training centers; and, As such, the City places requirements on new ● Schools and Children: Funding to support the development to help ameliorate and mitigate its expanding population. impacts. As well, various land use controls are also put in place to ensure that new development in Central SoMa reflects the characteristics of the neighborhood and achieves the ideals put forward by the Plan. These requirements and controls would result in up to $2 billion in public benefits to serve the neighborhood – compared to the $300 million that would occur without the Plan. The public benefits expected in Central SoMa include: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Central SoMa Plan is the result of eight years of intensive public engagement, involving over a thousand people and an untold number of conversations. We appreciate all the input we received and everyone’s willingness to share their concerns, insights, and dreams. The goal of this Plan is to reflect the collective wisdom of the community at this time in a way that sustains it far into the future. We want to acknowledge the contributions of the late Mayor Edwin Lee, Mayor London Breed, and Supervisor Jane Kim, who provided leadership and guidance through the entire planning process. We would also like to thank all of the City departments who participated in its development to make sure that the City family will speak with one voice from the adoption to the implementation of this Plan. And most of all we would like to thank every member of the community who participated in the creation of this. This Plan would not be possible without the many days and evenings you spent coming to our community open houses, hosting us at your community groups, sending emails, making phone calls, answering surveys, and otherwise making sure your ideas were heard. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: CENTRAL SOMA PLAN Overview: Central SoMa, a Sustainable Neighborhood Goal 1: Accommodate a Substantial Amount of Jobs and Housing Goal 2: Maintain the Diversity of Residents Goal 3: Facilitate an Economically Diversified and Lively Jobs Center Goal 4: Provide Safe and Convenient Transportation that Prioritizes Walking, Bicycling, and Transit Goal 5: Offer an Abundance of Parks and Recreational Opportunities Goal 6: Create an Environmentally Sustainable and Resilient Neighborhood Goal 7: Preserve and Celebrate the Neighborhood’s Cultural Heritage Goal 8: Ensure that New Buildings Enhance the Character of the Neighborhood and the City PART II: CENTRAL SOMA IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY A. Implementation Matrix B. Public Benefits Package C. Guide to Urban Design D. Key Development Site Guidelines E. Key Streets Guidance Note: This document reflects the adopted policies and implementation measures at the time of the Plan’s adoption in December 2018, and is provided for reference only. For the most current policies, please refer to the online General Plan, the Planning Code, and related materials. PPAARRTT II:: CCEENNTTRRAALL SSOOMMAA PPLLAANN Photo by SF Planning. OVERVIEW CENTRAL SOMA a sustainable N EIGH B OR HO OD PLAN PURPOSE Central SoMa is a 230-acre area that sits adjacent to downtown, has excellent transit access, and contains a substantial amount of developable land. As such, the neighborhood is well positioned to accommodate needed employment, housing, and visitor facilities in the core of the city and Bay Area region. It is also a neighborhood with an incredible history and a rich, ongoing, cultural heritage. As it grows and evolves over the next 25 years, Central SoMa has the opportunity to become a complete, sustainable, and vital neighborhood without losing what makes it special and unique today. The Central SoMa Plan contains the goals, objectives, and policies to guide this growth and evolution such that the results serve the best interests of San Francisco – in the present and the future. 1 Union GOGLODLEDTNEU TNGRU AKGRT ASKETT SAETV AEVEJOJNEOSN ESST TSTAYTLAYOLR OSR T ST EDEDDYD YSEM T ALSMSELTAOLISNSL O SI NSTS S T TST O’POFOA’PFWROAERLWRLE E RLSLL ET LSL T LS T ST CenCternalt rSalu SbSSquwTSbaUuSOqyTwCanaOKuyriTCaoeKOrTnN e OSN T STGRGARNAT NAT VEGAVEGEAERAYPR O YSP ST OSTST TS ST SKUSETTKAUTERTAENTRYR NE SY R TS S T TST MBOUMNBSOTUGNHTSO G HMSOE T RMSYE TRSY T ST SASNASNOSMOE MSE T ST MARKET ST MARKET ST MARKET ST POWELL STATION MARKET ST MONTGOMERY STATION TS HT77TH STMMISISSISOIONN S TSNTATOMA STS HT6T6TH ST JSMETJSMISENETSIVSNNEISEEVANIN EE A SSS N T OSTSSTNOT TNS YRAM S TS YRAM TST MOTS HT5MiOln5TH STditlndt POWELL STATIONTS HT4 4TH STntral Subwayal Subway YeYGrebGarabrad arBed Buneeusnnesana TS DR3TS DR3SFSMFMOOMMAA MW MONTGOMERY STOONTGOMERY STNTGOMERY STATION NATOMA ST Centr NEW M HOWARD ST Ce NE T HOWARD ST S ET RReCFceGFrercGieenrerineaetneeentadniretodionn CCLELMEMENENTITNINAA S TST TETHEHAAMMAA S TST MCMoCeosnecstnocetonre enr e NROHTWAHS ENROHTWA TS DN2TS D FFOOLLSSOOMVMDMVMi DPcra i PSaatrcan SoavaTrtnakoverrTalikoesraliosaCenter SHSHIPIPLELEYY S TST CCLLAARRAA S STT RIRZIAZTS INILBAAM LTS INIBAM S TST TS UPAL UPALTS UPAL U H DODOWW P LPLN2 HARRISON ST PAL HARRISON ST TS SIRROMTS SIRR TS EVORG KAOTS EVORG K TS NILREMTS NILREM CENTRAL SOMA PEPRERRYR Y S TST SSTTILILLLMMAANN S STT BRYANT ST OM AO CENTRAL SOMA BRYANT ST TABER PL WELSH ST TABER PL WELSH ST T South Park S BBRRAANNNNAANN S STT FFRREEEELLOONN S STT wayy TS EOZTS EOZ HCTIRTS HCTIR VVAARRNNEEYY P PLSLouth Park TOWNSEND ST BBLLUUXXOOMMEE S STT Central SubCentral Subwa TS KSULTS KSUL LP ECNERALCLP ECNERALC TS DROFNATSTS DROFNATS TOWNSEND ST CALTRAIN CALTRAIN CALTRAIN SCTAALTTIORNAIN STATIONKING ST KING ST BERRY ST AT&T BERRY ST Park AT&T Park MISSION CREEK CHANNEL MISSION CREEK CHANNEL 2,000 Feet Figure A 2,000 Feet PLAN AREA BOUNDARY Central Subway uCnednert croanls Struucbtwiona, yexpected to open in 2019 BunAdRerT c/oMnsutrnuic Mtioent, eroxp Secutebdw toa oypen in 2019 BART/Muni Metro Subway Muni Metro (Surface) 2 Muni Metro (Surface) PLAN AREA BOUNDARY PLAN VISION The Central SoMa Plan Area runs from 2nd Street to The vision of the Central SoMa Plan is to create a 6th Street, Market Street to Townsend Street, exclusive sustainable neighborhood by 2040, where the needs of those areas that are part of the Downtown Plan (see of the present are met without compromising the Figure A) which comprise much of the area north of ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Folsom Street. It is an “Eastern Neighborhoods Plan” The Central SoMa Plan seeks to achieve sustainability comprised entirely of areas formerly part of the East in each of its aspects – social, economic, and SoMa Plan Area and Western SoMa Plan Area, whose environmental. Additionally, achieving sustainability boundaries has been adjusted accordingly. The Central in Central SoMa should complement movements SoMa Plan Area boundaries were created to include towards sustainability in the city, region, nation, and areas within easy walking distance (i.e., two blocks) of planet. the Central Subway’s 4th Street alignment. SOCIAL CENTRAL SOMA ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY a sustainable neighborhood Overview 3 PLAN PHILOSOPHY that make this a regional and worldwide destination. On the non-sustainable side of the ledger include an Achieving neighborhood sustainability requires equally impressive and daunting list of challenges: keeping what is already successful about the rents that are unaffordable to the vast majority of neighborhood, and improving what is not. On the residents and businesses; streets that are unsafe sustainable side of the ledger, assets include the and unpleasant for people walking and bicycling; a diversity of residents (in every sense), its central distinct lack of green coupled with an noisy and often location complemented by abundant regional and local transit, the unique character of the collection of polluted environment; and land that is not effectively buildings that constitute the neighborhood, its rich being utilized to provide space for jobs and housing economic heritage as an industrial center for a century in a fashion that can greatly reduce the emissions of and more recently a hub of innovation in media and greenhouse gases per person and add to the stock of technology, and the cultural and nightlife amenities space to help meet demand. neighborhood strengths Diversity of residents Transit-Served Diversity of Buildings Culture and and Jobs Central Location and Architecture Nightlife neighborhood challenges rents Conditions for People Lack of Parks and Inefficient walking and Biking Open Space Use of Land 4 CENTRAL SOMA PLAN