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Port staff present National Register nomination for Union Iron Works Historic District (Pier 70)
Summary
Port staff summarized the nomination of the 66‑acre Union Iron Works historic district at Pier 70 to the National Register of Historic Places, noting the site's shipbuilding history, 44 contributing resources, and the nomination's role in unlocking federal rehabilitation tax credits to support restoration and Crane Cove Park.
Port Planning and Development preservation specialist Mark Paez presented an informational overview of the Union Iron Works Historic District nomination for Pier 70. The nomination covers a 66‑acre waterfront shipyard (generally bounded by Illinois and 20th Streets and the Bay) and reflects the site’s significance in steel shipbuilding from the 1880s through 1945.
Paez reviewed the district’s components — 44 contributing resources including Building 113/114 (the oldest surviving building), Building 104 (former office/hospital), Building 102 (the powerhouse), slipways and crane remnants — and recounted the site’s national significance for naval and commercial shipbuilding (USS Olympia; USS Oregon) and innovations in fabrication and mechanization. The nomination supports continued ship‑repair uses, future rehabilitation, and the Crane Cove Park plan; it also enables access to federal rehabilitation tax credits for private development partners seeking to restore contributing buildings.
Paez said the nomination was prepared beginning in 2007, underwent technical review with the State Office of Historic Preservation and the National Park Service, and was under National Park Service review with an anticipated determination by May 1. Public commenters and port tenants, including Central Waterfront Advisory Group representatives and development partners, expressed strong support and highlighted the nomination’s importance to securing funding for rehabilitation.
Commissioners asked procedural questions about why the nomination was submitted now and whether partial designations were possible. Paez explained the nomination was delayed to align development partners and environmental work and that regulatory guidance supported a whole‑property district designation rather than a piecemeal approach.
Next steps: Port staff will monitor the National Park Service review and, if the district is listed, pursue federal rehabilitation tax-credit eligibility for qualified rehabilitation projects and integrate the designation into Pier 70’s master‑planning and funding strategies.
