The landscape of San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood is set to transform with the development of a new UCSF Cancer Center at the former Potrero Power Station site. Announced earlier, crews officially began construction on the eight-story life sciences building, which is expected to feature state-of-the-art research facilities and a basement-level proton therapy center. The project will include clinical spaces, research laboratories, and a mix of office and retail spaces, as reported by SF YIMBY.
Associate Capital, the force behind the development, has pushed the project forward despite broader development slowdowns in the city. Enrique Landa, Associate Capital's Managing Partner, shared a personal connection to the project, recounting the call about UCSF's interest coinciding with a family milestone in his wife's cancer treatment at UCSF. "If you're a developer who spends time working on complicated projects, and someone says to you — who just treated a member of your family successfully for cancer — ‘Help us, we can't solve this,’ how can you not roll up your sleeves and figure it out," Landa told the Business Times.
The new facility aimed to become a regional hub for proton therapy, a cutting-edge treatment that targets cancer cells precisely, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Dr. Catherine Park of UCSF highlighted the center’s potential impact, noting that fewer than 50 such centers are in the United States today. With a glaring gap between Seattle and Southern California centers, the Power Station project promises to be a pivotal addition to cancer care on the West Coast.
The design by Herzog & de Meuron incorporates a gridded steel facade and floor-to-ceiling windows. The construction spans 1.15 acres and sits opposite the Sophie Maxwell Building, an affordable housing project recently completed. It's part of a larger plan to repurpose the historic power plant site into a vibrant community hub. According to the plans published last September and presented by SF YIMBY, the development also includes a massive mix of residential, office, and laboratory spaces and a hotel, all connected to the iconic 300-foot brick smokestack.
With an estimated construction cost of $400 million, UCSF's investment in the project illustrates a commitment to advancing cancer treatment and research. The project was made possible, in part, by Associate Capital's strategizing with the city to create a tax increment financing district and financing mechanisms like the use of recycled bonds for the Sophie Maxwell project. Set to be completed by the end of 2028, the center will begin welcoming patients in the subsequent year.
