Transbay Transit Center grand vision includes thriving retail hub

J.K. Dinee, San Francisco Chronicle

An ambitious retail and restaurant plan set to be revealed Thursday for the new Transbay Transit Center on Mission Street is intended to make the transportation depot a thriving hub for eating, drinking and shopping.

Before the end of the year, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority will solicit proposals for a private retail development and leasing group to build out, lease and manage 100,000 square feet of restaurants and shops at the center. In comparison, San Franciscos Ferry Building has 65,000 square feet of retail, and New Yorks Grand Central Terminal has 135,000 square feet.

The retail is a very important and exciting part of the Transbay program, said Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, who heads up the authority, which is managing construction of the transit center. When we open the station and the park at the end of 2017, we want to have the active retail component up and running.

Retail will eventually sprout on three levels, with a 15,000-square-foot food court modeled after Mario Batalis highly successful Eataly in New York, on the second level. There will also be three or four full-service restaurants, including one on the 5.4-acre rooftop park, and smaller coffee bars, newsstands, a gym, and shops selling everything from electronics to clothing to eyeglasses.

And an additional 60,000 square feet of retail could be added to a lower level when or if high-speed rail and Caltrain are added to the transit center.

Rooftop amphitheater

The group picked for developing and managing the stations retail will also be responsible for programming both the 1,000-seat rooftop amphitheater and the stations grand hall, which will also be used as a performance space.

The mix of retail, dining and performance space might help temper the criticism that the $4.5 billion transit center project is the worlds most expensive bus station.

The Transbay retail is quite important for three reasons, said Gabriel Metcalf, the executive director of SPUR, a San Francisco urban think tank. Its an amenity for transit riders, its a source of revenue for the TJPA, and its an amenity for the neighborhood.

Read more:
Transbay Transit Center grand vision includes thriving retail hub