Retail-to-Childcare Conversion Proposed for 3 Embarcadero Center ...

Boston Properties has filed plans to convert two vacant retail spaces in 3 Embarcadero Center into a childcare facility. The move comes as San Francisco’s Financial District will undergo a revitalization project drafted by the Mayor earlier this year and shows how property owners are getting involved. Studio MLA Architects is responsible for the design.

The new children’s facility will be located along the promenade level at 3 Embarcadero. The space will include 6,570 square feet of interiors and 5,470 square feet for a landscaped outdoor play area. According to the project plans, “there will be one infant, one toddler, and one two’s, prekindergarten, and kindergarten prep play area. The play areas will have artificial turf and poured-in play rubber safety surfacing. Each area will have play equipment and shade structures.” Once complete, it will have a capacity for around 146 children and 15 staff members.

While most small-scale projects would usually not be of interest, this new child-care facility in one of the city’s most iconic urban developments represents how the city is evolving to remain dynamic and relevant to reuse its excess retail space and encourage employees to return to the office. Among the many strategies laid out by Mayor London Breed earlier this year, the city is looking to make it easier for property owners to “facilitate new uses and flexibility in buildings” and make it easier for individuals to start a business.

Statewide, childcare facilities have struggled through the pandemic, with “nearly 8,500 childcare centers shutter within the last two years, a higher rate than the nationwide average,” as reported by Susana Guerrero for SF Gate in 2022. A major issue described across the board is the price of getting the facility started, an issue that property owner Boston Properties can easily overcome.

The Embarcadero Center is a four-block urban complex built by Trammell Crow and David Rockefeller between 1971 and 1982, designed by John Portman & Associates. Boston Properties purchased the center, totaling 8.4 acres with 3.6 million square feet of offices and 354,000 square feet of retail, in February 1999. During YIMBY’s 2021 tall building countdown, One Embarcedero and Four Embarcadero were listed as the 19th and 18th tallest towers planned or built in the Bay Area. The new additions to the city’s pipeline, which include 50 Main Street, 620 Folsom Street, and 2700 Sloat Boulevard, have pushed them down to being the 21st and 22nd tallest.

Construction for the childcare facility is expected to last three months and cost less than $1 million.