On the last day before Election Day, SF Mayor London Breed held a press conference in Embarcadero Plaza, announcing a public-private partnership that, if approved by the Supes, intends to entirely remake the plaza along with the adjacent Sue Bierman Park.

The plan has been in the works for several months, and we first heard about it in July. But it's now up for a funding vote at the Board of Supervisors, and Mayor London Breed took the opportunity Monday to bolster the project and add one more item to her credits list ahead of the election, vis a vis downtown revitalization.

Embarcadero Plaza, with its brick pavers and general uselessness, would be transformed into a grassy park, and combined with Sue Bierman Park next door, would feature a new playground, entertainment areas, a designated marketplace zone, and more. Conceptual renderings released this summer also included a new water feature outside the Hyatt Regency, and large-scale public art.

One piece of large-scale public art, the much reviled Villaincourt Fountain, would likely disappear for good, though the Arts Commission will get the final word on that.

The creation of this new park is currently estimated to cost $25 million, and would be funded by a public-private partnership that includes the city, Downtown SF Partnership (the area's community benefit district), and BXP, the development firm formerly known as Boston Properties, which owns Embarcedero Center and part of Salesforce Tower. Rec and Parks and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development are agreeing under the plan to put up $15 million of the project's cost, and (at least) $10 million more would be privately funded. BXP is agreeing to pay for the design plans, to the tune of $2.5 million.

Funding may also come from the Proposition B downtown infrastructure bond, assuming it passes.

"The Embarcadero is the gateway to Downtown, a place where residents, visitors, and workers should be able to experience the best of what’s possible in our City," said Mayor Breed in a statement. "Transforming this Plaza into a vibrant park and gathering space will help us usher in a new era Downtown as a vibrant, 24/7 neighborhood and destination for everyone. I’m excited to work with BXP and Downtown Partnership to realize this vision because when we all work together, we can bring joy and excitement to the future of San Francisco."

Rec and Parks General Manager Phil Ginsburg added, in a statement, "With the Ferry Building just across the street and the Bay Bridge in the backdrop, Embarcadero Plaza’s strategic position between Downtown and the iconic waterfront has always been its greatest asset. Now, thanks [to] this public-private partnership, we have the opportunity to revive this unique space and transform it into the vibrant community hub it’s always been meant to be."

Rendering by HOK via BXP

BXP has already engaged HOK Architecture to draw up conceptual designs. HOK designed Oracle Park, as well as 535 Mission Street, and this curvilinear office park in Sunnyvale.

At the press event on Monday, per the Chronicle, Breed spoke about how the plaza — formerly known as Justin Herman Plaza — was originally created as a buffer zone between the foot of Market Street and the Embarcadero Freeway, which used to loom over the area, and which was demolished after suffering damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. For 35 years, the plaza has essentially been overlooked and obsolete, just a brick-paved stretch you have to walk over to get to the Ferry Building.

Since last November, it has been home to two new temporary padel courts, and in July, the plaza was the site of a free concert/rave put on by Another Planet Entertainment, featuring DJs from the Dirtybird collective.

Estimates are that this new, as yet unnamed park, would be completed in about three years.

Previously: City Looks at Total Reimagining of Embarcadero Plaza