(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare REAL ESTATE 2012, March 22^nd in Los Angeles).

SAN FRANCISCO-The city is poised to spend roughly $92 million on the renovation of its Port of San Francisco James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27, which recently broke ground. The key Port infrastructure project is allowing the city to host the 34^th America’s Cup in August that is expected to “bring thousands of new jobs and approximately a billion dollars in economic impact” to the Bay area, according to Mayor Edwin M. Lee.

When completed by mid-2013, the renovated terminal will serve to relieve some of the pressure on the Moscone Center, which is now the main venue for conventions, large parties and major corporate events in the area, Lee says.

KMD Architects in a joint venture with Pfau Long Architects designed the new terminal, an 88,000-square-foot, two-level facility slated to achieve LEED silver certification. The Department of Public Works will manage the project’s construction, with Turner as the contractor.

“The building is designed with an eye to a multi-use approach,” David Hobstetter, principal of KMD Architects, tells GlobeSt.com. “When a convention comes in and needs additional space for events, it could rent this facility. It’s got wonderful view aspects since it looks out on the bay. There’s a little bit of a grandstand effect.”

Hobstetter continues that the existing Pier 27 building will be torn down to open up a huge amount of real estate. The cruise terminal will take up about half of that footprint; near it will be a 2.5-acre waterfront multi-use park slated for a variety of recreational uses, in addition to promenades and walkways along the waterfront. Certain regions will be closed off to the public on cruise days for security purposes, but public access will be maintained on non-cruise days. The area will also be available for events such as farmer’s markets and skateboarding contests.

The style of the building’s first story will be congruent with the “Embarcadero’s working waterfront character.” The second story will be glassy and open with a wavy-shaped roof that is a metaphor for the water and movement, according to Hobstetter.

Studies have put the economic impact to San Francisco from the 34^th America’s Cup events in 2012 and 2013 at more than $1 billion, including spending and jobs across the visitor, hospitality, construction and transportation industries, according to an economic analysis.

“There will be a direct benefit to building a better cruise terminal in that there will be better throughput to passengers,” Gerry Roybal, maritime marketing manager for the Port of San Francisco, tells GlobeSt.com. “A more efficiently designed cruise terminal will be able to give us bigger ships, so instead of seeing a 2,000-passenger ship, we’ll be seeing a 2,600 to 3,000-passenger ship.” More passengers means more potential revenue to the Port of San Francisco and the creation of more jobs to service the extra tourists.

Jane Sullivan, spokesperson for the City of San Francisco, says the terminal will be the site of the America’s Cup village in 2013 and ground zero for all activities surrounding America’s Cup. As part of the project, Piers 30 and 32 will be completely rebuilt underneath and will be the site of team bases in 2013.

“The City is putting tens of millions of dollars into infrastructure improvements along the waterfront,” says Sullivan. “These are going through the final stages of legislative approval, and I don’t know what that will look like when it comes out at the other end.”

Instant Insights /

$92M Cruise Terminal Breaks Ground, Relieves Pressure

Related Stories

Recommended For You