FAQs

The SF Railyards is a 20-acre site located along Townsend Street between 4th and 7th streets. The site is owned by Prologis (a real estate company), and is currently being used as a railyard and train station by Caltrain, who has a permanent easement for rail operations on the site. Conceptual changes are envisioned for the rail facilities, which have the potential to modernize the station and create the opportunity for the site to be developed into a mixed-use neighborhood.

The SF Railyards project is a public-private collaboration between Caltrain and Prologis in coordination with the City and County of San Francisco. The team also coordinates with SF City Planning, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), California High Speed Rail, Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), and San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) to work toward creating a seamless, multimodal transit experience and a vibrant, well-planned neighborhood.

The SF Railyards site is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape this site to the benefit of the Central South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood, San Francisco, and the Bay Area as a whole. The land is currently used for rail operations, represents a less-than-ideal environment for pedestrians and transit riders, and has the potential to connect the urban fabric between the SOMA, Mission Bay and Showplace Square neighborhoods. This project imagines that it could be transformed into a world-class transit station surrounded by a dynamic neighborhood with jobs, housing, and a vibrant public life, right on top of transit.

The site will be comprised mostly of office and housing (including affordable housing), with supporting retail and possibly a hotel. The proportion of each use is yet to be determined. The project will pursue flexible entitlements, so that the mix of uses could be responsive to future market conditions, similar to other large redevelopment projects in San Francisco.

It is great time to be planning for the future of the site, the future of transit, and of the City of San Francisco. Prologis and Caltrain have spent the past three years analyzing how to meet Caltrain’s future goals and allow for a mixed-use development and we now have a path forward. Adjacent projects such as the Portal are proceeding with design and it is a key moment to coordinate with these efforts. This is an opportunity to have a positive impact on the City of San Francisco, transit riders, and the community. We are entitling the project now because we want to be positioned to meet the market as we emerge from the impacts of the pandemic and be ready to develop a forward-looking world-class transit-oriented development.

This project is a public-private partnership with a significant infrastructure component. We anticipate that a combination of public and private funding and financing sources—including local, regional, and federal grants—will be needed to make it a reality.

Caltrain and Prologis have recently completed their evaluation of various potential rail and development scenarios through what is called a “Preliminary Business Case” (PBC). The PBC process is an evidence-based decision-making framework to evaluate the trade-offs and performance of development concepts. This process helped to optimize rail operational needs while supporting feasible mixed-use development.

Now that the PBC is in its final stages, we are in a major community engagement and outreach phase to develop the vision for how the site can be transformed. We are looking to hear from you and your community as we develop plans for the site. Sign up for project updates below, and return to this page for updates on upcoming engagement events.

The first thing to do is to sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of this page! Secondly, come participate in events such as workshops, developer office hours, and site tours to share your perspective as the plan develops. You can see all of our events at lu.ma/sfrailyards. Lastly, please share information about the project and events with your networks! If you would like us to come share information about the Railyards with your community group, please reach out to info@railyards-sf.com.