San Francisco's BEST New & Upcoming Developments (End of 2025)

San Francisco's in the midst of a major transformation with AI leasing millions of square feet of office space and bringing a ton of new jobs to the city and billions of dollars being invested all across San Francisco in brand new communities. From massive infrastructure projects to brand new public spaces, the city's evolving at an unprecedented pace. This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent in San Francisco and Marin County. And in this video, I'm breaking down my favorite new developments that are going to completely reshape the city in the coming years. From a floating Olympic-sized pool and all new housing on San Francisco's waterfront, the first waterfront park at a naval station turned multi-billion dollar community, the redevelopment of a defunct medical center into new housing, a 58-story mega complex near downtown, and what would become the new tallest building on the entire West Coast right here in SF. Let's get right to it and start with the redevelopment of Piers 30 and 32 along San Francisco's waterfront on the Embarcadero. In 2020, the Port of San Francisco issued an RFP for the redevelopment of multiple lots totaling 15 acres between downtown and Oracle Park right on the waterfront, and Strata Investment Group, in partnership with Trammell Crowe Company answered that call. They put together a development plan that included 375,000 square feet of new office space, 70,000 square feet of new retail space, and over 700 residential units near the waterfront. And best part of it all, the amenities: a floating Olympic-sized pool right on the water, hot tub, a kayak and open swim launch point, and a dedicated pool for learning how to swim. Over the years, this project has become one of the most ambitious undertakings in the city because of the significant infrastructure work needed at the site for from combating against sea level rise to the level of seismic work needed on the site. Plus, they need to make sure the water is deep enough to service large cruise ships, military vessels, and other vessels coming to port there. There have been multiple iterations of these plans over the past several years since that initial RFP response, but there have been some really significant updates, in particular this summer, July of 2025, when I'm filming this video. Most notably, the Port Commission is allowing Strada to split the development up into pieces, put the office piece on hold while it can proceed with the housing element of the project. Mm-hmm. We all know San Francisco's office market took a major hit, especially starting at the time that Strada and TCC initially answered the RFP in 2020. It's had some recovery so far, and the trajectory looks good, but there's a long way to go for the recovery to get there. There are also funding gaps right now for some of the infrastructure improvement projects at the site. So rather than hold up the entire development until the office market recovers, until all of the infrastructure issues are resolved, the city is basically allowing Strada to build in pieces, and it can start on housing sooner than later. And those plans contemplate 713 residential units across 3 structures right across from the waterfront. Grimshaw is the project architect, and James Corner Field Operations is helming the landscape design. And I love them, they've done some awesome projects all over the city. 186 of those residential units will be deed-restricted below market rate housing, so there's definitely going to be affordable units there. No specific timing on final approvals. They're hoping to start demolition on the site and break ground there in 2027, but no firm timeline or budget yet. In my opinion, it's easily one of the most exciting projects happening along the waterfront. It's going completely transform how that area looks. Right now it's just a giant floating parking lot. So 100%, it can be better utilized, and if these plans come to fruition, it's going to be sick. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on progress and we'll make update videos along the way as major announcements come. So if you're interested in that development or any other development going on in San Francisco, or if you like San Francisco lifestyle, information about current events, or all things San Francisco real estate, subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. And if you're thinking about buying a place in the city and have questions about what all the changes we're seeing across the city mean for our local real estate market, reach out to me. I was a lawyer at one of the biggest law firms in the world before getting into real estate, and I've helped numerous people relocate here from all over the country. I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I'll put my contact info in the description below. Reach out anytime. And now back to some of the most exciting developments coming to San Francisco. And this next one is a mega project also from Strada Investment Group. They are really going all in on San Francisco right now. And this other project they're working on, it's massive. It would see the creation of 1,500 residential units in SoMa across a 51-story tower and a 58-story tower in SoMa. Alexandria Real Estate, ARE, purchased the entire block, the 88 blocks, um, where the Bay Club San Francisco Tennis Complex sit in 2017 for $140 million. The club ultimately closed in 2019, and ARE, in partnership with TMG Partners, had plans for a massive office complex there along with new tennis courts. But in 2020, as the office market slowed pretty rapidly with the changes that we were seeing at the onset of the pandemic, those plans started to shift. The 2.6-acre site was demolished in 2020. It's basically been underutilized ever since. It's partially used for parking right now. All the while, lawsuits and disputes were filed between the Bay Club and the developers over what was going to happen with the site. Grada eventually came into the picture in 2024 and took over the project for ARE and has new plans to convert it into a massive residential project as opposed to a massive office project. In spring of this year, they submitted an application to overhaul the project from 775,000 square feet of office and ancillary retail and community space into a massive housing development spread across two towers, one 628 feet tall, the other 558 feet tall. The entire project would bring over 1.1 million square feet of apartments for rent, 2,300 square feet of retail, and enough parking for 468 cars and 468 bikes. And they're not giving up community space. In fact, the community space that was planned would double in size to about 77,000 square feet. And 10% of the new homes that were created would be dedicated to families making around 50% of area median income. SCB and Henning Larsen Austin are helming the design, and if it turns out anything like the renderings, I think it'll be a welcome addition to the skyline. The location's also super convenient, right next to the highway, right next to Caltrain, and it's walking distance to the commercial hubs of San Francisco. No firm timeline on the site, but it's good to see progress there after many years of basically nothing happening at the site. There are so many people moving into that area because it's close to where all the AI companies are setting up offices and bringing new jobs to the city, close to a lot of offices for big companies that are calling their employees back to the office. So there are a lot of people moving there. We definitely cannot get enough housing there soon enough. Next on my list is a project that, if built, would bring the single tallest building not just in San Francisco but on the entire West Coast. Texas-based developer Hines submitted an application to build a 1,225-foot-tall supertower at the old PG&E headquarters on Beale Street in SoMa. The current tallest building in the city is nearby at Salesforce Tower at 1,070 feet tall, so this one would be over 150 feet larger than the already largest tower in San Francisco. And the plan isn't limited to just that structure. The current proposal on the table is to restore two historic buildings at the site at 215 and 245 Market Street next door and convert another office building at 25 Beale Street into housing. The bulk of the project would become office space, about 1.6 million square feet of office space. It is a monster project, and there are plans for a new park at the site as well. This project is probably the least far along of any other project that I'm talking about in this video. They don't even have an architect of record yet for this project. Pickard Chilton was mentioned in some documents as an— the architect for the master plan for the area, so they might be the architect for this building. We'll see. Foster and Partners also has ties to another tower being built at the site, so they might be involved as well. That would be really awesome to see. Both of those companies have experience in San Francisco and would be great to see on this project. Foster and Partners was responsible for the redesign of the iconic Transamerica Pyramid, and they did a great job on that project. And that building has been wildly successful post-redesign, bringing in some really high-end tenants at crazy rents. Pickard Chilton is working on an over 800-foot-tall residential project project in SoMa, so also has good experience in the area. This project is going to have so many eyes on it, not just because of the sheer size of what's being proposed, but because the buildings that it's purporting to replace and renovate are historic buildings built about 100 years ago, designed by architects Bakewell and Brown. The building is so beautiful, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. That fact is going to create a lot of additional hurdles to see this project to completion. They're going to be a lot of restrictions on how much renovation versus restoration they can do to different pieces of the building. So we'll have a lot of eyes on it, and it's going to take extra time to get through those historic review processes. You might be wondering who in their right mind would be building that much office space in the current San Francisco office environment, but we've actually seen some great success with new high-end luxury amenitized office spaces in buildings all around even the downtown hubs of San Francisco, like Transamerica, for example, where they're commanding very high rents and have substantially lower vacancy rates than other buildings in the city. So there's definitely some risk involved, but it's a bet on the trajectory of the city, and I personally think it's a smart one. The next development update on my list is an even bigger project, but it's a complete 180 from a mega office complex. In fact, it's one of the largest redevelopment projects in San Francisco's history, and it's focused on residential and community spaces. It's the conversion of a former naval site into a multi-billion dollar mixed-use community right on San Francisco's waterfront at Treasure Island. I've got an entire video dedicated to what's going on at Treasure Island as well as the nearby Yerba Buena Island. I'll link those in the description below. Go check them out for overviews of these massive development projects. Also, in the last development update video that I did, I talked specifically about the first condo building coming to market on Treasure Island, 490 Avenue of the Palms. It's a really big deal because it's the first for sale building coming to the island. There's a stacked team of architects behind it. Incredible amenities like gym, outdoor kitchen, dining, fireside lounge, all of that. If you're interested in learning more about the timeline for that project and about the units and the team behind it, you can go check out that video. I'll link that in the description below as well. But for this video, I want to talk in particular about what I think is the single best amenity coming to the island, a brand new waterfront park called Cityside Park. Overall, there are about 300 acres of parks and open spaces planned for the redeveloped Treasure Island, and one of the crown jewels of these new open spaces will be Cityside Park. It's a 3/4-mile-long stretch of open space right on the water with incredible views all the way from the Bay Bridge to San Francisco to the rest of the San Francisco Bay. CMG Landscape Architecture, who is responsible for the landscape architecture for the entire island, is behind the design for Cityside Park. There's going to be a stage for events there. There'll be multiple plazas with new planters, picnic areas, new beachfront, and all of this is connected to a waterfront path that'll wrap around the entire island. So all the spaces are going to be connected throughout the island. The San Francisco Arts Commission has been conducting a review process to choose different artists to feature in exhibitions at the space. It's going to be incredible when it's all done, and residents of 490 Avenue of the Palms will have basically front row seats to views for those parks. It's going to abut the park, have direct access to the entrance to the park and to that beachfront. There's a debut event for the park on September 23rd. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all done. The more time goes on and development goes on on Treasure Island, the more it starts to feel like a brand new community as opposed to an isolated part of the city. It's one of my favorite developments happening in San Francisco right now, and it is incredibly ambitious given the site conditions, but the payoff is going to be amazing. The views are incredible and the amenity spaces are going to be a plus. Definitely definitely worth keeping an eye on. And last but not least is a brand new housing development in an area that has traditionally resisted higher density new construction housing and is one of the most expensive places to live in the city. And this particular project is really exciting because it's taking over a defunct medical campus that isn't being used at all. It's basically been abandoned and it's turning it into much needed housing. Developer Prado Group purchased entitlements for the campus from TMG and Grosvenor in 2022 and has since been working on modifications to several medical buildings on California Street in in the Laurel Heights, Presidio Heights area. I talked a bit about this development in another development video that I did, but a major update for this project: the city has issued its final environmental impact report for this project. And great news for the overall project, that report indicates that subject to the mitigation measures outlined in that project, the revisions that were made to the project don't pose any new meaningful environmental impacts. In other words, the project can now move to the next phase of development, and that means we're one step closer to getting nearly 500 new housing units, a mix of multi- and single-family on the site, as well as a brand new assisted care facility. The site is slated for demolition in 2026, so these plans are actually moving forward. And what I like most about this project is that, at least based on the renderings, the final product isn't going to look like a lot of other new development going on in San Francisco right now. A lot of people complain about all the white boxes that are being created across the city, but as you can see in some of these renderings, there's some character to these buildings. They look a little bit more French style, château style. Really nice to see some new detail, new type of architecture being brought in new construction form in San Francisco. BDE Architecture and Handel Architects are working on the project together, but they've taken over designs that were initially created by Robert A.M. Stern, who is a prolific architect. So these are A-plus, like, all-star architects that are working on the project. Prado Group is also working on the conversion of the former UCSF campus at 333 California Street, a few blocks away. In total, they're working to bring well over 1,000 new residential units to an area that really doesn't get that much development. Definitely can't wait for this project to get going. It's estimated that's going to take at least 3 and a half 5 years to construct, and it's going to be done in phases. So the sooner they start, the better. Well, there you have it. Those are some of the latest developments that are going to completely reshape San Francisco. I'm really excited to see a lot of these new projects actually move forward in the process and hopefully come to fruition sooner than later. Let me know what you think about these projects in the comments. And remember, if you like videos about new developments, current events, the San Francisco lifestyle, or all things San Francisco real estate, make sure to subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. And if you're thinking about buying a place in the city and have questions about what the right neighborhood is for you or about how how the changes we're seeing in the city are impacting our local real estate market, reach out to me. I've lived in San Francisco for over a decade and have helped numerous people relocate here from all over the country. I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I'll put my contact info in the description below. Reach out anytime. And before you go, make sure to check out the other videos I've done on the developments going on at Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. They are some of my favorite projects happening in San Francisco right now, and they are massive in scale, totally reshaping how we use those spaces. It's awesome to see, and they're actually all moving forward. Boots on the ground, construction is actually happening. It's not a pie in the sky type of project. I'll link those in the description below. Go check them out. I hope you enjoyed the video, and I'll see you in the next one.