The concept design for San Francisco’s future 2.4-acre Under Ramp Park, which will run from the south side of Folsom Street to Howard, between First and Second and predominantly under the Fremont Street off-ramp and bus ramp serving the new Transbay/Salesforce Transit Center, has been refined by Conger Moss Guillard (CMG).

In addition to a beer garden, lounge space and game area adjacent to Clementina Street, at the center of the park, a now two-story pavilion structure is planned to rise at Folsom, with three food kiosks, a small indoor seating area, a multi-purpose community room and an adjacent plaza with outdoor seating and tables. And a formal dog park has been incorporated into the plans as well.

And assuming the refined plans are approved, the construction documents are expected to be finished in early 2020, the construction contract could be awarded and the ground broken by the end of 2020, and the new Under Ramp Park could open to the public in spring of 2022.

As always, we’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

26 thoughts on “Refined Plans and Timing for the Next Big Transbay District Park”
  1. “construction documents are expected to be finished in early 2020”

    Almost 18 mos to design – for want of a better term – what is for the most part a series of lawns and paths? Just…Wow.

    1. SF seems to draw things out longer and longer every year—the 2nd street redesign is coming up on its 7th or 8th year and won’t be finished for 2 more. What a failure.

    2. Another armchair engineer here, disregarding the facts of life (drainage, plant watering, sewer connections, electricity/lighting, weight of dirt + grass on the structure, local municipal codes, etc.)

      Just stick to whatever it is you do and leave the architecting to the architects, please. Good day.

  2. I had seen some earlier renderings incorporating slides coming down the steep embankment east of Essex St. from Guy Pl. Looks like they’ve been eliminated.

  3. This is as good a time as any to bring up my personal favorite example of petty corruption on the part of Gavin Newsom. You’ll note that the map does not acknowledge the existence of Ecker St between Clementina and Folsom. That’s because the building at 532 Folsom (the Mexican Consulate) threw up a gate on both sides of Ecker and illegally removed all the signs. The street was never de-mapped property with the city, nor does this property pay tax on the portion of Ecker they’ve closed. The assessor’s map continues to show, and always has shown, a 10-foot right-of-way for Ecker between these parcels.

    Why is this among Gavin’s innumerable petty issues? He was a 10% partner in Ecker-Folsom Properties, the developer of the parcel, a financial arrangement he repeatedly failed to disclose while a supervisor and while running for mayor the first time.

    Personally I would like to see Ecker re-opened to the public when the park is erected. And of course, I’d like to see 532 Folsom pay all those back taxes with penalties.

  4. Was that ever it’s official name? It seemed more like a working name based on its location. At any rate I wouldn’t worry: I’m sure it will be rechristened once the naming rights have been auctioned off…Uberplatz, anyone?

  5. Four years to build a park. What is wrong with this City??? Can’t imagine how long it will take to build the one on the site of the old Temporary Terminal.

  6. Some shrubs stuck under freeway overpasses do not a park make. The mendacity of SFGov knows no bounds.

  7. Hopefully it will be used as a deterrent for homeless so they end up here instead of the transbay terminal park.

  8. Has anyone involved in this ‘park’ design walked around this area? It is under an overpass that provides pretty heavy shade, so I can’t imagine any planted material living for very long under there, unless they are planning on adding a bunch of artificial lighting. Most of this has been previously used for parking, and frankly that seems like a decent enough purpose – maybe it might even help drive customers to the retail in the transbay center until caltrain comes along…

    1. Check out the park under 280 along Mission Creek – very similar with park space and sport courts, and plenty of plants that like shade. 🙂

  9. The dog park will be the most used aspect.

    Park an airplane fuselage in the food park and call it “Caribbean Zone Returns”

    1. I completely agree! This can work. Another example is Progress Park under 280 in Dogpatch. Great landscaping and good use among residents of the area, including a doggie park. It has not become a gathering place for the homeless and the plants are thriving. Let’s not be too quick to poo-poo land use concepts that have actually worked in other neighborhoods.

      1. You’re right that there’s nothing remarkable about parks under freeways – be they simple athletic facilities or landscaped areas – but the issue that’s of concern here is the (severely) linear nature of the layout, combined with the surrounding tall buildings, which tend to make this seem like a canyon; a covered canyon at that…so less “Phantom Ranch” and more Depression era Third Avenue.

  10. …and here come the shadow experts and shade fear-ists. In their minds, anything in the shade is a black hole, devoid of all light whatsoever. I remind them, please go stand in a shadow and if you can still see your legs, your points are moot. Shadows are not the end of the world, people.

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