One of SF's main, acclaimed, go-to croissant bakeries, Arsicault, is set to open a third location in San Francisco next year in one of the new developments on the former ballpark parking lot property in Mission Bay/Mission Rock.

2024 will bring a whole new segment alive in SF's newest neighborhood — a new sub-neighborhood within the Mission Bay neighborhood — with four new block-sized buildings designed by different architects heading for completion and move-in. The Chronicle reports that retail tenant commitments have already been signed for several of the ground-floor spaces, and those include a new, third location of Arsicault Bakery.

Ariscault gained wide acclaim when it was named Bon Appetit's Best New Bakery in the country in 2016, and since then it has expanded from its original Richmond District shop with a second on McAllister Street, next door to the Proper Hotel just off of mid-Market. Both shops keep just morning and early afternoon hours, opening at 8 a.m. and closing by 3 or 3:30 p.m., and they have become weekend destinations for croissant and kouign amman lovers all over town.

Owner Armando Lacayo named the bakery after his great-grandparents' business back in Corbeil-Essonnes, France, which was called Arsicault Boulangerie.

The building that the bakery is moving into is notable for being the second to be designed in San Francisco by noted Chicago architect Jeanne Gang. Her firm, Studio Gang, is responsible for one of the most architecturally innovative towers to rise in San Francisco in the last decade, the distinctive, twisty Mira building at Spear and Folsom.

This new, 23-story building, known currently as Building F, will become Mission Bay's second residential tower when it opens next year, and it's got a cool green facade and some similarly playful visual effects to Mira.

Rendering via Studio Gang

It's one of four new buildings that are part of a coordinated planning effort that was led by Studio Gang, with different architects responsible for the other three. These include another 23-story residential tower designed by Netherlands-based MVRDV, and two shorter office towers designed by WORKac and Henning Larsen. Also coming is a five-acre waterfront park that overlooks McCovey Cove, dubbed China Basin Park, designed by landscape firm Scape.

As Jeanne Gang explained to the Chronicle back in 2019, her firm put forward the idea to developer Tishman Speyer that the four building sites should be in conversation with each other, and not just disjointed pieces of design.

"We didn’t want this to be a neighborhood that feels like a petting zoo for different architects," Gang told the paper. "There already was a master plan. Our task was: How do you make this an exciting place to be?"

The new developments with MVRDV's The Canyon in the foreground. Photo via MVRDV
A rendering of China Basin Park, by Scape.

Also committed to other retail spaces in the buildings are Blades Co. Barbershop, Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, the gym LuxFit, and grab-and-go soup-and-sandwich spot Proper Foods.

There is also a space yet to be filled that is meant for a full-service restaurant, as the Chronicle reports, and some other vacancies, and all of these business are schedule to open along with the buildings by mid-2024.

In a statement to the Chronicle, Tishman Speyer managing director Maggie Kadin said that the "first set of eateries and shops — and the ones that follow — will serve as a celebration of San Francisco’s diverse and innovative community of local business owners."

Giants President and CEO Larry Baer also gave a statement saying, "From the beginning, our goal was for Mission Rock to become San Francisco’s next great neighborhood and one that reflects the values and distinct character of the Bay Area."

The two office buildings will be Visa's new headquarters, and a new life-sciences building.