Housing, retail slated for Candlestick Point

Now that demolition of Candlestick Park has begun with the removal of the stadium’s seats, it’s becoming clearer what will replace it. Candlestick Point will now become home to a half-million-square-foot “urban outlet” shopping center, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That shopping center will also encompass 6,000 homes and create more than 3,000 jobs. It is spearheaded by homebuilder Lennar Corp. and retail developer Macerich.

“It’s a very urban kind of concept – rather different from a typical outlet center,” Lennar San Francisco division president Kofi Bonner told the Chron. Lennar is also finishing construction on the first 88 units at Hunters Point; these are collectiveliy called the Shipyard. That project will eventually include 1,400 homes in its first phase as well as 16 pocket parks and 25 acres of open space. An estimated one-third of the housing in Candlestick and Hunters Point Shipyard will be set at below market rate.

Macerich executive vice president of real estate Randy Brant told the newspaper that Candlestick Point is “a prime location in one of the strongest regional economies.”

“Macerich has a rich history of developing and operating high-quality retail environments in urban centers, not to mention the company’s strong track record in the outlet space,” Bonner said. “We’re delighted to have them as a partner. We think this will create one of the Bay Area’s great destinations.”

Demolition crews are slated to begin demolishing Candlestick Park this winter, and that is expected to take three months. The eventual $1 billion investment over four years includes basic infrastructure and community sites such as police and fire stations. Lennar currently doing infrastructure work to completely rebuild the nearby Alice Griffith affordable-housing community, which will begin construction next year.

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