waterfront - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Dave Eggers to Open 100,000 Square Foot Art and Community Space at Pier 29 This Fall

Leanne Maxwell — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:43:58 GMT

Renowned Bay Area writer Dave Eggers is opening a huge new art and education center, Art + Water, this fall at Pier 29, aimed at keeping artists in SF. The space will also include galleries and a sprawling cafe with an Old World, art salon aesthetic, meant to spark revolutionary ideas.

Art + Water, a new 100,000-square-foot arts space planned for Pier 29 by beloved local writer Dave Eggers and esteemed Bay Area artist and educator JD Beltran, is built around a tuition-free apprenticeship model aimed at keeping artists in San Francisco. As the New York Times reports, Eggers wants to make art accessible again.

“Economically accessible, demystifying, and welcoming — like, ‘Here, this is how we do this. You can do it, too,’” he said.

In a recent McSweeney’s post, Eggers said Art + Water is designed as a working studio-school hybrid, with free studio access, daily instruction from practicing artists, and shared workspaces that encourage mentorship.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Art + Water (@artpluswater)

The program will host 30 local artists at a time, including 10 established artists and 20 emerging artists selected through an application process. All participants will receive free studio space for a year, with the established artists mentoring the newer cohort in a hands-on, atelier-style setup that emphasizes technique and day-to-day collaboration.

The Times reports that plans for the building also include a large exhibition hall curated by René de Guzman, with the first show centered on filmmaker and musician Boots Riley, along with regular talks, classes, family programming, and retail pop-ups.

Organizers say the exhibition hall is intended to double as a gallery hub for artists and groups priced out of traditional venues, with participating artists including Paul Madonna and Taraneh Hemani.

As Eater reported in October, Art + Water will include a sprawling cafe, overseen by local Yemeni coffee pioneer Mokhtar Alkhanshali. The cafe, which will reportedly take up a large portion of Art + Water’s space, will also host events and exhibitions. Alkhanshali said he’s envisioning an 18th or 19th century aesthetic, reminiscent of salon-style cafes in cities like Sana’a, Cairo, or old Boston, where cafes were hubs for revolution.

“[Eggers] noticed there was no coffee in that entire area,” Alkhanshali said. “He could have had 1,000 people open a cafe there. But what he wants to build, it’s going to be its own world.”

The cafe will also be home to Alkhanshali's new luxury coffee brand, which he said will be the first of its kind. Food will be included on the cafe’s menu, along with drink pairings inspired by high tea or omakase-style service, per Eater.

“This was like Willy Wonka showing you the plans to the factory before you built it,” Alhanshali said.

Eggers said he first noticed the vacant Pier 29 warehouse while biking along the Embarcadero in 2022. Originally built around 1915, the structure was damaged in a 2012 fire and rebuilt the following year for the America’s Cup, but has largely sat underused since, serving mostly as a parking garage, according to the Times.

The project comes as San Francisco’s traditional art school pipeline continues to shrink with San Francisco Art Institute closing in 2022, and California College of the Arts set to shut down next year, its campus slated to be taken over by Vanderbilt University.

In his McSweeney's post, Eggers points to skyrocketing tuition — often exceeding $100,000 a year, along with programs focused more on theory than hands-on skills. He says this has priced out many aspiring artists and left graduates with heavy debt, while offering limited practical training.

Drawing on his own experience as a painter, Eggers designed Art + Water to prioritize direct, hands-on learning with basic tools and shared studio space, aiming to make art education “accessible on every level.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Art + Water (@artpluswater)

Art + Water is leasing Pier 29 through Community Arts Stabilization Trust, which develops and manages affordable space for artists and has backed similar projects, including the Warfield Commons on SF’s Mid-Market. While final terms are still being worked out, the nonprofit expects to pay roughly 10 cents per square foot — far below the typical industrial rate of about $2 — with the building split between Art + Water’s programming and CAST’s own cultural uses, per the Times.

The project will also rely on donations and has reportedly not yet secured the full seven-figure funding needed to build out and run the space, though organizers say commitments are in place. Some revenue is expected through on-site programming and retail-style components, similar to Eggers's 826 Valencia project.

According to the Times, the two-year lease was arranged with the Port of San Francisco, which connected the groups as part of its broader push to activate underused waterfront space. Officials say the project aligns with the city’s current focus on revitalization efforts backed by Mayor Daniel Lurie with the aim of “bringing new activity and energy to our historic piers.”

Image: Art + Water/Instagram

Notable Humans: Record-Breaking Bay FC Women’s Soccer Star Empowers Zambian Youth

Leanne Maxwell — Sun, 11 May 2025 06:30:10 GMT

Now on Saturdays! Racheal Kundananji uplifts Zambian youth through sport; historian and retired librarian Dorothy Lazard inspires the community to preserve Oakland's past; and Sven Jobe and Mallie Testerman transform Pier 70 into an artists' hub.

Zambian footballer Racheal Kundananji may have made headlines as the world’s most highly paid women’s player when she signed with National Women's Soccer League’s Bay Football Club in early 2024, but it’s her off-the-pitch legacy that she’s most focused on building. After rising from playing soccer in secret as a girl in Lusaka to Olympic stardom and European success, Kundananji launched the Racheal Kundananji Legacy Foundation to address critical issues facing youth in Zambia—addiction, HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancy.

Through school supplies, mentorship, and visits to places like Lusaka’s Sanity House rehab center, she’s connecting directly with young people, offering not just inspiration but tangible support. As a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Kundananji now uses her platform to champion education, prevention, and empowerment, particularly for girls. With every goal she scores in the NWSL, she’s giving kids back home another reason to believe in something bigger.

Catch Kundananji and the Bay FC team at Oracle Park on August 23 competing against Washington Spirit.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc)

Dorothy Lazard doesn’t just remember Oakland — she helped archive it. As head of the Oakland History Center for over a decade, the retired librarian made local history accessible, personal, and urgent. Her lived experience—growing up during white flight, the rise of Black Power, and redevelopment—made her a uniquely trusted guide.

Lazard’s memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, recounts her early years after moving from St. Louis to San Francisco, and then Oakland. It’s a story about libraries as refuge, and knowledge as power. “History keepers hold the future in their hands.”

Her work helped countless people understand how Oakland came to be — and how the community might move forward. Along the way, she became something rare: a librarian with a fan club. She made local history legible and deeply human, especially for those who didn’t think of themselves as historians.

In retirement, Lazard is still writing, still remembering. The History Center is now in good hands, she says, but her legacy — of rigor, humor, and deep care — remains shelved in the stories she helped others discover.

Ceramicists Sven Jobe and Mallie Testerman are bringing new life—and ancient craft—to San Francisco’s Pier 70, transforming a former WWII shipbuilding site into a hub of contemporary artistry. Their studio, Sven Ceramics, makes elegant, gold-accented tableware for Michelin-starred restaurants, but it’s more than just beautiful design: it’s family history in full circle. Jobe’s grandmother welded ships here; Testerman’s grandfather engineered them. Now the couple fires plates, mugs, and bowls just yards from where their ancestors once built battleships.

After a decade working from a backyard studio, they’ve moved into the revitalized Building 12 with a showroom, teaching space, and a 2,300-pound kiln that barely fit in the elevator. The couple—who pivoted from careers in construction and education—designs ceramics that honor the Bay Area’s natural and built landscapes. “We’re still making stuff,” Jobe says, “just in a totally different way.” Their story is one of lineage, craftsmanship, and the slow, hot work of building something lasting.

Image: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: Racheal Kundananji #8 of Bay FC controls the ball during a game between Racing Louisville FC and Bay FC at PayPal Park on March 22, 2025, in San Jose, California. (Photo by Elysia Su/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Previously: Notable Humans: Berkeley Teen Takes On World’s Toughest Swims To Raise Money For Pediatric Cancer

Firm To Purchase SF Piers For $82.5M On Behalf Of Unnamed Offshore Client

Jack Morse — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 10:45:52 GMT

An Atlanta company has made moves to purchase prime San Francisco commercial real estate on behalf of an unnamed, offshore individual or company. So reports The Registry, which notes that Invesco Real Estate is under contract to purchase Piers 1.5, 3, and 5 for a total of $82.5 million.

If finalized, the purchase of the San Francisco-based Pacific Waterfront Partners-owned property would make that commercial real estate the most expensive in the city at $1,000 per square foot. The total square footage involved is 82,526, with, according to the property's website, 60,000 of that being commercial office space.

The sale has not yet closed, and none of the parties involved responded to The Registry's request for comment.

The piers, near the Ferry Building, are home to numerous public-facing businesses as well as the more prosaic upstairs office space. The James Beard Award-nominated Spanish restaurant Coqueta, for example, is inside of Pier 5. It is unknown how, if at all, a purchase would impact the restaurant or other businesses.

San Francisco Mocked For Once Again Limiting Housing Development

Jay Barmann — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 10:05:52 GMT

This is the headline from a Washington Post blog yesterday: "Voters in one of America’s most expensive cities just came up with another way to block new housing."

As you may or may not be aware, local Proposition B passed on Tuesday with a nice majority of 59%, thanks to the coalition of activists led by former mayor Art Agnos who also succeeded in killing Props B and C back in November. And while the ideals behind Prop B preserving waterfront views for all and not allowing developers to easily circumvent existing height restrictions to create a "Gold Coast" of luxury high-rises like they have in Chicago and Miami might be sound, the effect may be stifling during boom times such as these. And from the perspective of outsiders and people like Scott Wiener, it's just another example of San Francisco being too anti-capitalist for its own good. We are, after all, in a bit of a housing crisis. Time magazine, in a piece preceding Tuesday's vote, quotes Michael Theriault of the SF Building Trades Council, which opposed Prop B, as saying that "literally thousands of units of housing [are] at stake" with the vote, and he's likely referring to the vast Pier 70 project from Forest City, which is now going to require voters to vote on its height-limit exemptions in November. The Giants' plan to build a neighborhood behind AT&T Park will also be impacted.

Now, Agnos had good points to make, and certainly most housing that would be built along Port properties on our 7.5 miles of bayside shoreline would be high-end and unaffordable. But still, the height limits haven't changed, developers would still have to go through a public planning process to get height limits changed, and that process would likely prevent any egregious or out-of-place architectural atrocities from soiling the waterfront. And many would argue that while the 8 Washington project that was killed in the November vote was not great architecture, it was hardly the "wall on the waterfront" that critics were calling it. It was 12 stories tall, and far shorter than the apartment towers that sit right behind it in the 40-year-old Gateway complex (many residents of which objected to the project because it was going to block their views). And it should be noted that a large portion of the funding behind November's No on B & C campaigns, and the recent Yes on B campaign, came from the same couple, Richard and Barbara Stewart, two "wealthy neighborhood NIMBYs" as C.W. Nevius has called them.

But, as many intelligent folks have pointed out, this creates a "planning at the ballot box" situation in which we need to take a vote every time someone wants to build anything denser and taller than what the existing code allows. From the Washington Post piece:

In theory, this takes power from generally unpopular developers and places it in the hands of the public instead. In reality, however, it yanks influence from a very different group: city professionals whose full-time job it is to weigh the insanely intricate implications of new development for affordable housing, property-tax coffers, economic development, public benefits, transportation infrastructure and more. It's the job of professional planners, in other words, to assess projects for the benefit of the entire city, from the perspective of many competing interests. It's hard to expect or even ask voters to do that.

The Yes on B victory was pretty predictable given the strategy of its proponents they had money to drum up support, and a very active base in a town where "developer" equals "evil", and almost no one going to the polls (about 57,000 voters voted Yes on B, or 7% of the population). Get ready to vote on each and every development that comes on the docket on the array of development parcels that exist along the waterfront. Wiener points out to Time that "parts of the waterfront are literally crumbling" and it's only private developers with big plans who will be able to foot the bill to fix that.

And George Lucas.

Previously: Election Winners (SF Propositions, Gavin Newsom) And Losers (287,000 Voters)
Lucas Museum Could Snag Piers Or Embarcadero Lot Warriors Gave Up

[Time]
[Washington Post]
[SF Business Times]

Warriors Arena Benched While Opponents Gather Momentum

Andrew Dalton — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:20:20 GMT

The Golden State Warriors are "calling a time-out" on the proposed waterfront arena on Piers 30-32. Nearly two years since the announcement that the team would be returning to the city in 2017, and the Chronicle's mustachioed duo Matier & Ross are reporting the Warriors will be taking a step back and delaying the project by at least a year.

In intervening years since Gavin Newsom stood on the crumbling pier and assured us Red's Java House would be saved, the Warriors and their design team from Snøhetta have submitted three different designs for the arena, the surrounding public green space and the even more contentious condos across the Embarcadero from the pier itself. It probably didn't help that costs to rehabilitate said piers nearly doubled last summer.

While the Warriors are facing reality and hammering out a deal to stay at Oracle Arena after the 2016-2017 season, opponents of tall things have been gathering signatures to potentially block the arena with a new ballot measure. The effort, which is backed by former mayor and friend of low buildings Art Agnos, won't immediately halt project but it did gather 15,000 in just three weeks and will put a new measure on the June ballot. If passed, the new measure would force anyone looking to build along the waterfront to get voter approval before exceeding current height limits, effectively putting the fate of the arena project in the hands of voters.

Previously: All Warriors Arena coverage on SFist
The War On The Waterfront: Development Foes Propose New Height-Limit Restrictions
[Matier & Ross]

Waiheke Island Yacht Club Unveils Fall Menu

Brock Keeling — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 15:23:52 GMT

While most of the pop-ups, khakis, and fancy portable toilets that dotted America's Cup festivities are long gone, Waiheke Island Yacht Club remains. Thankfully so. The temporary 100-seat waterfront restaurant, care of New Zealand restaurateur Tony Stewart, proved wildly popular during that boating extravaganza.

This week, Waiheke unveiled their fall menu, which, in part, boasts the following: Pacific Style Fish Ceviche (wasabi sorbet, cucumber, lime and coriander), Soy & Pomegranate Glazed Duck Breast (salted peanut, rutabaga, coconut, chard and shiso), Silere Merino Lamb Rump (parsnip, yoghurt, leek, cumin & charcoal), and more. Check out the entire menu here.

Waiheke Island Yacht Club: 1256 The Embarcadero (at Pier 29), SF, 415-956-1048

Best Bars Along The S.F. Waterfront

Brock Keeling — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:24:09 GMT

As (comparatively) warm weather approaches and the Giants head into a long summer stretch, isn't it time you checked out one of the many fine watering holes along the waterfront? We're not talking Fishermen's Wharf, but the spots locals flock to during weekends and after work. Here are our suggestions; we're certain you'll let us know yours in the comments.

BAY VIEW BOAT CLUB
It's friendly, cheap and right on the water. The catch? This old-school dockside bar is for members only, or friends of members. The other catch? To become a member you need to pay dues and own "one-quarter interest in a boat". No boat, no service. But you can get around this injunction by becoming friends with someone who's got a stake in the boat club, and when you do, this'll become your go-to spot for sunny Sundays by the water. The Bay View Boat Club has got it all, from maritime charm and no-nonsense service to friendly locals and a picturesque backyard garden that meanders along the bay's edge. Any members out there looking for new friends? Let us know!
489 Terry A Francois Boulevard

COQUETA
The newest spot on this list is Michael Chiarello's barely two-week-old Coqueta on Pier 5. They took the former Lafitte space, with its semi-enclosed outdoor seating area, and created an awesome glassed-in bar where the back of the bar is just water, Yerba Buena Island, and sky. It's a Spanish restaurant, and the bar dubbed Bar 5 serves just tapas and drinks, none of which are cheap but which are pretty high quality. And you should note that the bar is mostly first-come, first-serve, with some stools and a counter circling the glass perimeter. Go for one of the Spanish-style gin and tonic variations, flavored with various fruits and botanicals, or a nice glass of sangria on tap.
Pier 5, Embarcadero and Washington

Hi Dive (photo credit: Erik Wilson)

HI DIVE
Located at Pier 28, Hi Dive looks like a dive bar from the outside, but has pretty nifty art deco interiors once inside. They've got a menu to satiate any booze-drinking (think: fried stuff, burgers) and million dollar views of the Bay. But the best part is the outside patio, perfect for getting lit before heading over to AT&T Park to catch a Giants game.
Pier 28 1/2, The Embarcadero at Bryant

Mission Rock Resort (photo credit: Joe M. /Yelp)

MISSION ROCK RESORT
A stark contrast from some of the more divey waterfront options around SoMa and Mission Bay, Mission Rock Resort classes things up with an overwater patio that wouldn't feel out of place on a lido deck. Come at dusk to slurp $0.99 oysters and $4 drafts during happy hour, or catch the morning sun over the Bay with Eggs Benedict and a couple mimosas at brunch.
817 Terry A Francois Blvd between Mariposa and 16th Street

Red's Java House (photo credit: Scott Beale)

RED'S JAVA HOUSE
Despite what Anthony Bourdain proclaimed on his food expedition to the Bay, the burgers at Red's are not the real draw here. (Although we do respect their strict "No lettuce and tomato" policy.) It's the plastic chairs, faded umbrellas and warped wooden tables set out on a crumbling city pier that make Red's the ideal waterfront dive. Garlic fries negate any fishy breezes coming off the waterfront and there's a full bar — if you consider a rack of mid-shelf bottles a full bar — but you'll want to order a bucket of something bottled, cold and domestic to stretch your a lunch well into the afternoon. (And get those drinks in quick, folks, the Golden State Warriors will be taking over Pier 30 by 2017. While they've promised to keep Red's intact, we just can't see it being quite the same.)
Pier 30, The Embarcadero at Bryant

The Ramp (photo credit: The Ramp's website)

THE RAMP
An institution since the 1950s, the Ramp remains one of the best spots in the city to recover from the night before with a hearty brunch. They serve lunch, brunch, late-night appetizers, and daily Happy Hour specials year-round (rain or shine!). And from May through October, you can dance outdoors to live Salsa and Brazilian Cumbia while enjoying the outdoor BBQ.
855 Terry A Francois Boulevard

The Slanted Door (photo credit: Wally Gobetz)

SLANTED DOOR
The restaurant anchor of the Ferry Building has what many consider one of the best cocktail programs in the city, spearheaded by bar manager Erik Adkins. Adkins is a devotee of the classics, and though Charles Phan's Vietnamese cuisine demands some tropical flair, Adkins is careful to keep the drinks, like his Singapore Sling, tasting fresh and balanced, as opposed to the over-sweet Tiki drinks they morphed into over the years. The place gets crowded with corporate types most evenings right after opening, right at 5:30, but if you can snag a seat at the long bar, with the Bay and the Bay Bridge just over your right shoulder, and order a few fried things to go with your cocktails, you'll feel like you've arrived.
1 Sausalito - San Francisco Ferry Bldg #3

Jay Barmann, Andrew Dalton, Rose Garrett and Brock Keeling contributed to this article.

Coqueta (photo credit: Christine C. / Yelp)

Sting Will Christen S.F.'s First Outdoor Waterfront Concert Venue

Andrew Dalton — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:38:30 GMT

Multiple Grammy-winning artist Sting is the first act booked to play a lavish, yet temporary, new waterfront concert venue at the America's Cup Pavilion on Pier 27/29. The 9,000 seat venue will be one of the largest in San Francisco and the biggest outdoor venue after AT&T and Golden Gate Park, and who better to open a yacht race-adjacent venue than a bescarfed old English guy?

Those Sting tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster.com on Friday, February 22nd, so prepare to get a nice "convenience charge" tacked on as part of your ticket price. So far no other acts are booked for the waterfront spot and details are scarce about the amphitheater's seating, and sound/video setup. America's Cup organizers do plan to use it for more than just concerts between when it opens in May and when it disappears again in October. According to the folks at Live Nation, the space will host a variety of "family shows, community and business events, comedy, as well as America's Cup race activities and viewing sessions." Live Nation will also be responsible for handling logistics like traffic, noise and cleanup after each event.

Original plans for the concert space called for a 4,000-seat venue, but according to the A-Cup Event Authority the larger plans didn't need a second approval by the city. Now that the ad hoc amphitheater has more than doubled in size, former Board of Supervisors President and protector of the Northeast Waterfront Aaron Peskin is holding it up as proof that the America's Cup can't deliver on its promise of economic stimulation. “Explain to me what Sting has to do with Larry Ellison’s yacht race,” Peskin told the Examiner. “This was supposed to be a boat race. Now it feels like a bait and switch.”

Meanwhile, the Sting concert is part of the artist's "Back to Bass" tour, which we assume means he'll get back to playing bass guitar and hopefully not some kind of dubstep-y thing. Anyhow, brace yourselves for some bass slappin', Embarcadero neighbors:

[A-Cup]
[SFEx]
[SFW]

Should the Public Vote On Boxy 8 Washington Condo Complex?

Brock Keeling — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:05:37 GMT

A minor debate is percolating over the 8 Washington condo complex set to rise at the waterfront. Said complex will renovation the existing Pacific Sports Resorts at the Gateway facilities and "transformation of a surface parking lot into a vibrant waterfront community of residential housing, neighborhood-serving retail, restaurants, underground public parking serving the Ferry Building Waterfront Area, recreation and public open space." The tony living arena, recently approved by the Board of Supervisors, would be for those who can afford the finer things in life, god bless them. But of course, some locals don't want the blocky thing built.

Echoing the sentiment of anti-8 Washington ilk, SF Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond explains:

I could tell you the story of why this project sucks, or you could just read it here. In my mind, it's simple: If we are using public land to build housing for the richest people in the country, allowing a developer to clear a couple hundred million dollars while offering the city only $11 million for affordable housing — nowhere near enough to equalize the housing imbalance inherent in this deal — then we're losing the city's future.

And with that, the highfalutin-living battle grew more tense after 8 Washington's developer, Simon Snellgrove, hired a crew to block signature gathering. The $20-an-hour paid employees attempted to drive away those who might sign a petition to put the project before voters. According to SFBG, "The team, usually made up of several people, typically surrounds the signature gatherer, waves signs talking about jobs and parks, and loudly seeks to disuade passers-by from signing the referendum petition."

Another argument against the 8 Washington is that it will basically be a 136 foot wall that blocks everything.

But here's our problem: 8 Washington smacks of intentional tepidity, appearance-wise. And that's too bad, especially for such a pristine area. It looks like something one might already find in Mission Bay along Berry Street. With all the money and vertical growth San Francisco has played host to over the last decade, we have yet to see developments that border on daring — like, pool-outside-your-motherfucking-highrise-window crazy. Granted, this is a city that prefers its artistic merits served safe and lukewarm (see: graffiti, jazz, yarn bombing, food); however, it would be refreshing to see a little Abu Dhabi mixed in with San Francisco's unyielding preference for meh. Form should always trump function.

Judge for yourself.

Photo Du Jour: Piers

Brock Keeling — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:58:55 GMT

"South Beach Piers" by Demetrios Lyras.

Photo Du Jour: Up, Up And Away

Brock Keeling — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:20:37 GMT

Untitled image shot at the Embarcadero by analogskirt.

Pier 38 Businesses, Possibly Pushed Out for America's Cup, Question City's Motives

Brock Keeling — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:45:05 GMT

Businesses at Pier 38, the most expensive waterfront Class-A office space in San Francisco, rushed to find new homes after the city red tagged the waterfront space. Notices appeared on Pier 38 businesses last week, claiming that the area was unsafe for operation. WordPress, blogging company Automattic Inc., Dogpatch Labs, 99 Designs, Maritime Recreation Center, and a slew of others have until September 30 to vacate. To make matters shadier, the city even built a fence around some of the boats so that people can't access them.

In an eyebrow-raising coincidence, the upcoming America's Cup plan on building a megayacht marina in the area, with rumors swirling that they might want the coveted Pier 38 space. Again, just rumors, folks.

Automattic's CEO recently explained to SocketSite: "There might be perfectly good reasons why they’re doing this, but because they are not talking about it, there’s all kinds of conspiracy theories forming that they just want to give the pier to Larry Ellison for his America’s Cup thing."

In response to the red tagging evictions, a rally will be held in front of the Port of San Francisco offices (Pier 39) at 1:30 p.m. Some of the residents have also put together a petition. It states:

As residents of South Beach neighborhood and San Franciscan's we respectfully request that our Mayor, District Supervisor and Port Authority find resources and means to keep Pier 38 in operation. We fear that without such provisions for Pier 38,once closed, it will, like Pier 36, undergo a decade of decaying beyond the possibility of any repair. We understand that there are safety issues with Pier 38 that need to be addressed; and we believe in the ability of San Francisco to do the right thing for waterfront, South Beach and all San Franciscans.
It is key to keep the building in operation and generating revenue in tough economic times. It is a home for many profitable businesses that employee many San Franciscans. Also, Pier 38 serves as access to the water and could in the future, even better serve our boating community.

Closing Pier 38 would be a big loss for all of us.

What's more, the Mayor's Office was not informed about the Port issued evictions in advance. Ed Lee answered concerns of angry renters by having city officials inspect the area on Tuesday. Business Times reports:

Lee sent top city fire officials and building inspectors to survey Pier 38 on Tuesday along with Port engineers and inspectors. A meeting is scheduled for Friday at which city and Port officials plan to discuss their findings and other issues with pier occupants.

However, as Business Times goes on to point out, the Port red tagged businesses from Pier 38 after taking successful legal action against master lease holder Carl Ernst, "with whom the agency had long been embroiled in litigation over issues related to planned improvements and maintenance, among other things."

Who's Losing Space For Ellison's Boat Race?

Andrew Dalton — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:00:31 GMT

We've already celebrated the fact that our fair city was selected to host the 2013 America's Cup. (Lots of love to Lite Gov Newsom for successfully wooing Larry Ellison and his boating buddies.) Naturally, the next step is for San Francisco to find something else about the event to be properly outraged about. So, to that end, here is the Examiner's list of waterfront businesses that could be evicted by Mr. Ellison's regatta.

Some 80 businesses located between Piers 19 and 30-32 are on the list, including: cabaret attraction Teatro ZinZanni, antique car-based Mr. Toad's Tours and American Wine Distributors (whose 65 licenses to import and sell booze are tied to their current address). The Port is still trying to figure out which ones exactly will be forced to relocate, but the real cruel twist here is that so many of the waterfront businesses depend on tourist traffic. Companies like San Francisco Pedicab would stand to make some good money at their current location if they were allowed to keep operating during the event. (We didn't even know there were pedicabs, but paying someone else to pedal you around the Embarcadero does seem like an appropriate mode of transportation when one is making their way to a yacht race.)

A more thorough list of the business is over on the Examiner.

[SFExaminer]

Photo du Jour 714

Brock Keeling — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:35:00 GMT

"On the Waterfront" by Darwin Bell.

Body Found In Suitcase In The Bay

Brock Keeling — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:29:27 GMT

At around 9 a.m. this morning, a tourist walking along the waterfront with his niece found a suitcase holding a dead body. Margarito Real told KTVU, "There was a suitcase floating in the water; my niece saw it first ... We looked at it for a few minutes and then started walkingWe told one of the people who was working at the pier that there was a suitcase floating in the water It just looked suspicious to me."

Real then ran to a nearby fire station to report the mysterious suitcase. Then? Things took a turn to the macabre. Real goes on to explain:

"He (a firefighter) tried to pull it, but it was heavy .. He opened it and I think I saw a leg It made my skin crawl. They told me to take my niece awayIt was a horrible feeling.Fortunately, my niece did not see anything."

The mangled corpse was left in the suitcase as it was transferred to the medical examiner’s office. We'll update as soon as we know more about the victim’s possible age or gender.

UPDATE: The Chronicle reports: "The unidentified woman was white or a light-skinned Latina and appeared to be in her 30s." The suitcase was found near Folsom and Embarcadero, just across the street from Gap headquarters. Police are treating this case as a homicide, of course.