City officials and developers lay out combined Candlestick Point–Hunters Point plan with parks, housing and transit

Michael Cohen, director at the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, told the Planning Commission the city is advancing a combined Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard land plan aimed at creating jobs, parks and significant affordable housing in Southeast San Francisco. The presentation framed the site — roughly seven hundred and seventy acres of waterfront land and former shipyard — as a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to deliver public benefits without displacing existing residents.

Cohen said the conceptual framework adopted last spring set three core objectives: jobs and economic development, hundreds of acres of publicly accessible parks, and large amounts of housing, including a targeted replacement of the aging Alice Griffith public housing “on a 1‑for‑1 basis” and “in a way that there would be no displacement.” He called the sites “locked up” public benefits that a public‑private approach could unlock.

Kofi Bonner of Lennar Bay Area Urban Division and David Tom, an architect with IBI, presented the preliminary land‑plan visuals. The plan shows a mix of character areas — a high‑density Candlestick North focused around an urban open space, a lower‑density Candlestick South adjacent to the new State Park, and mixed‑use Hunters Point centers with an arts district and maritime heritage park. Tom emphasized open space, stating the plan would create roughly 400 acres of new parkland and complete a large piece of the Bay Trail.

Transportation improvements discussed included a new Hunters Point intermodal terminal with ferry access, bus rapid transit (BRT) lines linking to Balboa BART and downtown, extensions of Muni routes and major interchange improvements along U.S. 101. The presenters said they would reduce automobile dependence through transportation demand management and by concentrating density within walking distance of transit.

On financing, Cohen and Bonner described a public‑private partnership model that leverages entitlement land value, private capital, tax‑exempt financing tools such as Mello‑Roos style mechanisms and tax increment approaches. Cohen said an initiative on the ballot would check charter questions about use of Rec & Park land; if successful, the city would return with a term sheet and development plan for review by policy bodies later in the year. Cohen also described a roughly 18‑ to 22‑month sequence from initial approvals to a term sheet and then a year or more of negotiating legally binding development agreements.

Public comment during the presentation was strongly supportive from many Bayview Hunters Point residents and business owners, who urged prompt implementation and local hiring commitments. Commissioners asked detailed questions about phasing, cleanup and financing; Cohen said a recent federal allocation of $82 million should clear roughly the next 100 acres of remediation and that the Navy‑conveyance schedule is being staged to match development readiness.

The commission did not take a formal action on the informational presentation; staff said a draft final environmental impact report was planned for public circulation in the spring and that outreach and community workshops would continue before policy approvals.