$300M Cruise Terminal Needs Further Study

SAN FRANCISCO-The City of San Francisco has submitted a 14-year bid to build a new cruise terminal that would compete with similar facilities at other West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Seattle for the prosperous sea-travel tourist trade.

However, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will not give the project a green light until they are convinced that the project will be more environmentally feasible. At the board’s meeting yesterday, they requested a revised environmental impact report that thoroughly addresses potential problems that might be caused by cruise ships. The port agreed.

The proposal calls for a $300 million cruise terminal to be built at piers 30-32 on Brannan Street, near Pacific Bell Park and the Ferry Building. It would replace the current cruise ship terminal at pier 35, which is old and much smaller. Port officials hope that a more updated, larger terminal, which may be open by 2005, will significantly boost the city’s tourism industry.

The terminal is part of a larger development plan that includes about 400,000-sf of commercial and retail space. The developer, San Francisco Cruise Terminal LLC, a partnership headed by Lend Lease Development Inc. of Australia, is working with the port on presenting a full environmental impact report.