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A century-old San Francisco power plant is being proposed as the site of a sprawling 2,600-home metropolis to quell the city's housing shortage. Here's what it will look like.

A century-old San Francisco power plant is being proposed as the site of a sprawling 2,600-home metropolis to quell the city's housing shortage. Here's what it will look like.

The former power plant sits four miles south of San Francisco's Financial District.

From 1901 to 2010, the Nrg (pronounced like "energy") Potrero Generating Station operated here.

Until its closure, the fossil fuel power plant generated roughly one-third of the city's power.

Over time, San Francisco adopted more efficient and environmentally-healthy practices and technologies. Residents decried the plant as an environmental hazard and fought for it to be closed, so Gov. Gavin Newsom shut it down in 2010.

Source: Curbed SF

Associate Capital purchased the site in 2016 and set forth pushing its grand plans through the city's approval process.

Source: Curbed SF

The project would be mainly residential, but there would also be space for retail, office, research, and development, and would include a 250-room hotel.

Source: CBS San Francisco and San Francisco Chronicle

The skeleton structures of the power station will be reworked into the development, with a former control room being considered as the site of a future bar.

Source: CBS San Francisco

Of the 2,600 proposed homes, 30% will be allocated for lower-income residents.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

There are a few of these kinds of time-intensive, mixed-use waterfront projects slated to be developed in this part of the city.

Another is planned for the nearby Pier 70. The development is in the works and is expected to add up to 3,000 housing units, 30% of which would be allocated for lower-income residents.

To the south is a development project for Hunter's Point, the San Francisco shipyard that was once home to secret nuclear radiation testing. There's some debate around if contaminants remain even after a cleanup was conducted. Homes have been built and more have been approved by the city, but falsified soil samples and pending litigation have stalled the project, which also includes the nearby Candlestick Point, the former home stadium of the San Francisco 49ers.

This sliver of waterfront property — and views — has been somewhat disconnected from the public. The Potrero Power Station project is just one seeking to fix that.

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