Bay Area/ San Francisco
Published on July 08, 2015
Urban School Breaks Ground On Oak Street ExpansionPhoto: Camden Avery/Hoodline

If you've been near Oak and Masonic lately, you've probably noticed that the massive Urban School expansion project has broken ground. After a lengthy process, which included conducting a traffic impact study and filing a conditional use permit—which required Urban to get feedback from the community before proceeding—the school finally got the go-ahead form the Planning Department in February. 

To refresh your memory, here's what the new space will look like (not pictured: traffic on Oak Street):

The little yellow single-family home on the left will actually be physically moved to the left to accommodate the 64,000-square-foot space, which will have 40 parking spaces underground to replace the 57 that were in the previously existing parking lot.

Image via HANC

A construction site overview map (below) shows the project's footprint, as well as the potential location of trailers, cranes, toilets and more. Right now, about half the parking spaces between Masonic and Ashbury on the south side of Oak are unavailable; the map shows a safe pedestrian walkway as well as the possible closure of one lane of Oak Street, as warranted.


A construction timeline shows the major phases of construction, with demolition expected to last through August of this year, concrete work lasting into January 2016, building enclosure and roofing expected mid-2016, and finishing work and sidewalks set to be completed in August, 2016. The timeline could mean that the Fall 2016 school year could kick off in the new building, but with construction delays a possibility for any project, that remains to be seen.