Prologis Plans San Francisco Caltrain Station Overhaul

San Francisco’s Caltrain station in Mission Bay could become the nucleus of a new development of housing, offices, restaurants and retail.

Prologis is looking to file plans in the coming months for a 7-million-square-foot redevelopment of the Caltrain railyards at 4th and King Streets that could add between 1,500 and 4,000 homes to SoMa, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

If completed in several years, the project would be among the largest housing additions near a major transit hub in San Francisco history. It would be the second-densest transit-focused development after the Transbay Transit Center a few blocks to the northwest. A San Francisco Planning Department timeline estimates approvals could be secured in 2027 with construction beginning the following year.

Prologis grabbed the site in 2005 through a nearly $5 billion deal to acquire Catellus Development, the largest landowner in Mission Bay at the time.

“This is a vision for the future of San Francisco,” Prologis vice president Genevieve Cadwalader told commissioners June 12, per the Business Times. “We want to ensure there is a vibrancy.”

The centerpiece of the development would be an 850-foot tower on the 20-acre property, along with other lower high-rises below. Plans also include office space, parks, restaurants and a new train station. Affordable housing units are planned, though the level of affordability remains up in the air.

The development would span the blocks between 4th, 7th, Townsend and King streets. The location would allow residents to take advantage of Caltrain service to the Peninsula and Silicon Valley and various Muni lines, as well as a planned $8.3 billion rail extension linking directly to the Transbay Transit Center.

It remains to be seen whether San Francisco-based Prologis, the world’s largest industrial and logistics developer, will seek a joint venture partner or eventually sell the land.

“As you can imagine, it’s early in the process,” Mattie Sorrentino, a spokesperson for the company, told the Business Times. “Right now, we’re focused on community engagement and the entitlement process.”

Meanwhile, in Bayview, Prologis is working to make another redevelopment project a reality: S.F. Gateway, a new logistics hub in the south of the city that would replace existing warehouses and revitalize surrounding blocks.

— Chris Malone Méndez