Add The California Post on Google After years of false starts, empty land and grand plans that went nowhere, San Francisco’s long-dormant Candlestick Point is finally showing signs of life.
Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Wednesday that construction has officially begun on the first phase of the massive redevelopment project at the former site of Candlestick Park, the legendary stadium that once hosted the San Francisco 49ers and Giants.
“For years, San Franciscans have heard about what would someday rise at Candlestick,” Lurie wrote on Instagram. “The Bayview and Candlestick Point have waited long enough.”
The first phase isn’t exactly a skyline-changing spectacle just yet. Instead, developer FivePoint is spending roughly $130 million on the nuts and bolts needed to make the future neighborhood possible, including roads, utilities and other infrastructure across the sprawling site.
But for a property that has sat largely unused since Candlestick Park was demolished in 2015, even bulldozers moving dirt represent a major change.
Social media users were quick to celebrate the long-awaited progress.
“Finally! The Stick has been vacant for way too long!” one commenter wrote, adding hopes that the project would bring “(hopefully affordable) housing.”
Another simply declared: “looks like something is finally happening.”
The development, known as Candlestick, is planned for roughly 270 acres and is expected to eventually include as many as 7,200 homes, along with shops, offices, parks and other community amenities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The timing is particularly notable for a city struggling with a major housing shortage.
The San Francisco metropolitan area was short roughly 130,000 homes in 2024, according to Zillow. San Francisco also ranks among the US cities facing some of the country’s largest housing deficits.
The city’s housing crunch has become even more glaring as rents climb. Apartment rents have increased by more than 10% over the past year, while vacancy rates have fallen below 4%.
Those numbers could make new housing projects increasingly attractive to developers, but Candlestick still has a long road ahead.
FivePoint’s current vision is a far cry from what was originally envisioned for the property. About a decade ago, the developer planned a massive shopping mall for the site. That proposal ultimately fell apart as online shopping transformed the retail industry.
Emile Haddad, the chief executive officer of FivePoint, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2019 that even though the project had stalled they were working diligently.
“We have not slowed down,” said Haddad. “We have not stopped. Anything we can do right now, we are doing it.”
Then came another major obstacle — the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, FivePoint is betting that San Francisco’s economic recovery, including the city’s growing artificial-intelligence sector and signs of renewed office leasing, can help breathe life into the long-stalled development.
“It has been a long time, but I think this is Candlestick’s moment,” FivePoint Senior Vice President Suheil Totah told the Wall Street Journal.
Still, there are plenty of hurdles between today’s infrastructure work and a bustling new neighborhood.
The project requires enormous upfront investment before developers can see a return, former San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim told the outlet.
And market conditions could still reshape the plans.
While apartment demand has strengthened, San Francisco’s condominium market has been slower to recover, with prices remaining below their pandemic-era peaks. Candlestick’s location, about five miles south of the city’s traditional business center, also means developers will have to convince businesses and residents that the new neighborhood is worth the move.
For now, though, the long-empty site is finally getting a makeover.
Nearly a decade after the demolition of Candlestick Park, the first shovels are in the ground, and San Francisco is betting that this time, the Stick really is coming back.
