This Week's Top Stories

education

Mission Bay Elementary Opens Its Doors — SF's First New Public School in 20 Years

The long-awaited Mission Bay School welcomed its first students on August 17, fulfilling a promise made to the neighborhood nearly three decades ago.

Nearly 200 students filed into the brand-new Mission Bay School on Monday, August 17, marking a milestone that residents and city officials have anticipated since the neighborhood's 1998 redevelopment plan first set aside land for a public elementary campus. The school — the first new SFUSD building in approximately 20 years — serves pre-kindergarten through kindergarten in its inaugural 2026–27 year, with plans to expand one grade at a time until it reaches fifth grade and an enrollment of more than 400 students.

parks

$62 Million Gene Friend Recreation Center Reopens in SoMa After Two-Year Rebuild

The newly reconstructed facility at 77 Harriet Street opened August 13 with two full-size basketball courts, a weight room, and expanded community space — more than doubling the footprint of the old gym.

South of Market's only indoor public recreational facility threw open its doors on Thursday, August 13, after two years of demolition and construction that transformed a cramped 1990-era concrete bunker into a sleek, glass-walled community hub. The new Gene Friend Recreation Center, addressed at 77 Harriet Street (with the former project address at 270 Sixth Street), replaces a single-court gymnasium with a 25,000-square-foot facility featuring two full-length basketball courts flooded with natural light through expansive windows, a modern exercise area, a yoga studio, multipurpose rooms connected to a new exterior…

development

JPMorgan Commits $200M to Potrero Power Station, Accelerating Dogpatch Waterfront Redevelopment

The nation's largest bank is financing 342 apartments on the Dogpatch waterfront and seeding a new fund for middle-income housing at the long-anticipated Power Station site.

JPMorgan Chase announced early this month that it is committing nearly $200 million in financing to a 342-unit apartment project at the former Potrero Power Station on the Dogpatch waterfront, and separately staking up to $15 million in a new fund aimed at building middle-income housing in San Francisco. The move represents one of the largest single private investments in the Central Waterfront redevelopment to date and signals renewed confidence in a project that has progressed slowly since its 2020 planning approval.

Upcoming Events

Through early 2027 (opened Aug. 22)

Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc at SFMOMA

📍 SFMOMA Roberts Family Gallery, 151 Third St, SoMa · 10:00 AM–5:00 PM

Through Sunday, Aug. 30

Pokémon World Championships & PokémonXP Fan Convention

📍 Moscone Center, 747 Howard St, SoMa; Finals at Chase Center, Mission Bay · 10:00 AM–5:00 PM daily

Thursday, Aug. 27

SOMA Nights Block Party & Night Market

📍 Folsom Street, between 6th and 12th Streets, SoMa · 5:00 PM–9:00 PM

Wednesday, Aug. 26

Hopped Up Trivia at 7 PM — Weekly Wednesday

📍 Ritual Hot Yoga / community venues; check host listing · 7:00 PM

Thursday, Sep. 3

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival: Los Calderones

📍 Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission St between 3rd and 4th, SoMa · 6:00 PM–7:30 PM

More from the Neighborhood

Port of San Francisco Orders Demolition Plan for Historic Pier 68–70 Drydocks

The Port of San Francisco has directed global engineering firm GHD to draft a demolition plan for the Eureka Drydock (570 feet) and Drydock Number Two (900 feet) at Piers 68–70 in…

Ruth Asawa Gallery Now Open at Minnesota Street Project in Dogpatch

Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. opened a permanent gallery at Minnesota Street Project (1275 Minnesota St.) in Dogpatch in May, dedicating the 1,714-square-foot space to regular public access to Asawa's looped-wire sculptures, prints…

Potrero Annex Demolition Underway After Decades of Delays

Demolition of the Potrero Hill Terrace and Annex public housing complex is underway after years of repeated delays, with excavators working through 23 World War II-era buildings on Turner Terrace, Watchman Way…