The Golden State Warriors, currently the team with the best record in the National Basketball Association, looks like it could finally get a new arena. And according the latest proposal being floated, that arena on 12 acres would be a centerpiece for the redevelopment of the south half of San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that David Manica of Kansas City-based Manica Architecture, the lead architect on this project, earlier this month presented to the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee what he admits is an incomplete design for what’s being called an “event center.”
His version—which when it was first revealed last September drew jibes that compared the arena’s shape to a toilet—is more conventional than what had been proposed for Piers 30 and 32 by the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta, whose cofounder Craig Dykers is identified the project’s senior design advisor.
Manica’s concept is circular and mostly flat. It would seat 18,000 people, and include a 24,000-sf public plaza on its southeast side and a 35,000-sf plaza on the Third Avenue side. The east edge of the site would be set up to accommodate food concessionaires and a smaller arena entrance.
This arena had been a political football for at least two years, but opposition appears to have evaporated for a plan that would make the arena a focal point of this community’s revitalization, the Chronicle reports.
Flanking its Third Street plaza would nearly 500,000 sf of office space. The plan also calls for nearly 100,000 sf of retail. “The arena project can shake things up—as a swirling silver counterpart to a static scene, and as an attraction that puts people on the streets during both day and night,” writes John King, the Chronicle’s urban design critic. “The segregation of Mission Bay into two halves, one residential and one commercial, starts to break down. There also will be a renewed emphasis on Third Street, which too much of Mission Bay treats as a back alley despite the presence of the light-rail line.”
“This should really enliven the area, and bring people from across the city and region,” adds Tiffany Bohee, executive director of the city’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure.
In addition to the arena plan, there are several housing projects under construction or just opened in Mission Bay. The University of California-San Francisco’s Mission Bay hospital complex opens its first phase in February.
Warriors’ management hopes to receive approvals by next fall, with construction to be complete in time for the 2018-19 basketball season.
Read more about the project at NBA.com and San Francisco Chronicle.
Related Stories
| Feb 13, 2014
Related Companies, LargaVista partner to develop mixed-use tower in SoHo
The site is located at the gateway to the booming SoHo retail market, where Class A office space is scarce yet highly in demand.
| Feb 12, 2014
First Look: Futuristic Silicon Valley campus designed to draw tech startups
The curved campus will consist of four different buildings, one exclusively for amenities like a coffee bar, bike shop, and bank.
| Feb 12, 2014
IIT's College of Architecture launches the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize
Awarded biennially with a $50,000 prize, the program will recognize the most distinguished architectural works built on the North and South American continents in the preceding two years.
| Feb 11, 2014
Adobe Photoshop update features new 3D printing capabilities
Available as part of an update to Photoshop Creative Cloud, the tool enables users to easily and reliably build, refine, preview, prepare, and print 3D designs.
| Feb 10, 2014
Proposed parking garage will sandwich vehicles between housing and retail space
Architecture firm Brisac Gonzalez says that the design "will introduce different activities after parking hours."
| Feb 10, 2014
Architecture Design Collaborative announces firm opening in Southern California
Today, Architecture Design Collaborative officially announces the launch of its firm providing a full range of architecture and interior design services nationwide. Architecture Design Collaborative offers architectural design services, comprehensive interior design services, developer collaboration, direct tenant improvement, repositioning and site planning.
| Feb 10, 2014
Ball State to host Geothermal Conference on design, drilling and equipment - April 10, 2014
To best serve the industry, Ball State University has organized a single day conference in which participants will be able to exchange technical notes, develop understandings and share experiences with design, drilling, and equipment issues related to geothermal ground source heat pump technology.
| Feb 7, 2014
DOE, Autodesk team to overhaul the EnergyPlus simulation program
The update will allow a larger ecosystem of developers to contribute updates to the code in order to improve performance and decrease the time required to run energy model simulations.
| Feb 7, 2014
Meet the new Fellows: AIA elevates 143 to College of Fellows
The AIA College of Fellows is an honor awarded to members who have made significant contributions to the architectural profession.
| Feb 7, 2014
Bernards announces executive leadership realignment
Changes reflect long-term growth plans as builder enters its fifth decade.