
Hayes Davidson
Luxury condos, some priced at $3 million, are planned as part of a multi-billion-dollar redevelopment of Yerba Buena Island and the neighboring Treasure Island.
Yerba Buena is a naturally formed island that sits in the bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It's known for its brimming ecosystem of protected wildlife, its sweeping views of the water and the city, and for being a crossing point on the Bay Bridge.
But soon, the island will feature 266 luxury homes as part of a multi-billion-dollar redevelopment project that also includes Yerba Buena's neighbor, the man-made landmass Treasure Island.
There are three clusters of housing developments planned for Yerba Buena with condos, townhomes, and flats included in the offerings.
Led by developer Wilson Meany, construction on Yerba Buena broke ground in mid-2019. Since Yerba Buena has a protected wildlife ecosystem, most of the new housing will be built on Treasure Island with 75% of Yerba Buena remaining untouched as open space. But the Yerba Buena construction has already begun, making it the first step of the master plan to transform the two islands into a new neighborhood.
Treasure Island has a long history, including its time spent as a US Navy base and a Cold War-era nuclear-training site, which resulted in residual contamination on the island and a necessitated clean-up. Hundreds of residents have already lived on Treasure Island in the past two decades, and in late January, dozens of residents filed a class-action lawsuit against several defendants - including the San Francisco Health Department, the Treasure Island Development Authority, and engineering firm Tetra Tech - saying that officials lied to them for years regarding the full scope of the contamination on the landmass and their subsequent exposure to it.
Some of the named defendants pushed back on those claims in statements made to The San Francisco Chronicle, such as a spokesperson for the city attorney who reiterated that the island was indeed safe and denied the allegation that city officials weren't transparent about the state of the island. The lawsuit is asking for $2 billion to be paid in damages and for the redevelopment on the island to halt until all toxic substances are confirmed to have been removed.
But unlike its neighbor, Yerba Buena is free of a radioactive history. Asking prices for luxury homes at The Bristol, one of the condo complexes planned for the island, were recently announced. Studios will be priced at $800,000, one-bedrooms at $1 million, two-bedrooms at $1.7 million, and three-bedrooms at $3 million. They all face the East Bay while other homes face the city.
Here's what the finished Yerba Buena Island project will look like.
The website boasts that "Yerba Buena Island is the best of San Francisco" — it's the city "as it was meant to be lived."
Yerba Buena was San Francisco's original name from 1835 to 1847.
Source: Yerba Buena Island
The island is a naturally-formed landmass that sits between Oakland and San Francisco. The Bay Bridge crosses through it.
It's neighbors with Treasure Island, a man-made landmass that will see the bulk of the 8,000 new housing units that are included in the project.
Both islands have jointly housed residents before the redevelopment began, including formerly homeless residents and others in need of supportive housing on Treasure Island.
About 40 households were living on Yerba Buena Island until they were evicted in 2015 for the incoming redevelopment, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Some of those residents took a cash payment and moved elsewhere, but most relocated to apartments on Treasure Island. They'll eventually be housed in new buildings that are slated to be built on Treasure Island, as will most of the residents living there.
There will be 266 homes built on Yerba Buena Island.
The prices of the 124 units at The Bristol were the first to be announced. Studios are listed for $800,000, one-bedrooms at $1 million, two-bedrooms at $1.7 million, and three-bedrooms at $3 million.
Source: Curbed SF
The sales at The Bristol will kick off this spring and move-ins are expected to start in mid-2021.
Source: Curbed SF
The Bristol will be a five-story apartment building, but the townhome will be another type of housing unit offered on the island.
The townhomes will have a single-family home feel to them and are multi-story.
Source: SF Gate
One collection of them will face the city of San Francisco.
Source: Yerba Buena Island
The Flats include a single-story housing model, with fewer than 10 units in each building.
Source: SF Gate
Prices for the Flats and Townhomes units aren't available yet.
But 27% of the housing units on both Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island will be affordable, or below-market-rate.
Source: SF Gate
A 14,000-square-foot private Island Club will be available to residents.
It will offer amenities like a sauna, a massage room, an outdoor lap pool, and a dining room.
There will be a hilltop park near the Island Club at a central location on the island.
There will also be five miles of hiking and biking paths.
Future residents will also eventually have access to a ferry terminal that is planned to be built on the neighboring Treasure Island.
Source: Yerba Buena Island