Will people flock to downtown San Francisco for a new skyscraper?

San Francisco may soon see a new skyscraper in the city's Financial District. The experts are saying this may be the turnaround the area has been looking for. The new tower is proposed to be built near the intersection of Beale and Market streets and supporters say it would be a game-changer for the area.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco may soon see a new skyscraper in the city's Financial District. The experts are saying this may be the turnaround the area has been looking for.

The new tower is proposed to be built near the intersection of Beale and Market streets and supporters say it would be a game-changer for the area.

A new SF skyscraper?

What we know:

This major addition to the skyline would be a tower on the site of the old PG&E headquarters with residential, retail, outdoor space and office space squeezed into a full city block.

San Francisco's Mayor, Daniel Lurie, said in an Instagram post that the plan would be good for the city.

"They want to develop a huge tower," said Mayor Lurie. "But more importantly, it is a signal that San Francisco is on the rise."

But looking around the area, you can still see empty storefronts, and vacant office space.

While some may question the need to add more office space, the owners of Coffee Bodega across the street say they'd welcome a new tower with offices and residences.

"Sounds amazing, yeah," said Carlos Hernandez. "Let's bring more people to the downtown. Sounds amazing. Not enough people coming in for work. So, we definitely need it."

Local perspective:

Billy Riggs is a professor at the University of San Francisco who studies urban development. He said the fact the developers are pressing ahead with plans for a major project is an indication that the city may have positioned itself for a comeback.

"There's a lot that an investor might look at that would make San Francisco an attractive bet post Covid. That would be, sort of, really attractive," said Riggs. "Also, I think they probably got a pretty good deal."

Is returning to work a factor?

The downtown, Riggs said, is already starting to see more people coming back to work. Riggs said a key component is the residential portion of the project.

The city needs more housing and the project will pull people into the area, creating a customer base for businesses.

The project could also convince other developers and businesses to buy into San Francisco's future. "There's always an opportunity when you see this kind of investment for a dividend effect, for seeing trailing investment happening on this kind of big investment," said Riggs.

San Franciscans say they're starting to see a difference too, and while the project sounds ambitious, it may be completed just in time for businesses to need all that space.

"It's more space, you know," said Howard Lin. "More office space. I know a lot of people are getting back into the whole five days return to office. So, maybe that might be helpful for that."

At this point, the project is still in the permitting process, and we don't have a completion date. But, to give a little perspective, it took about five years to build the Salesforce Tower once construction got under way.

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