The View From A Rooftop Park

Envisioning, building, and programming an elevated park in downtown San Francisco

By Ashley Langworthy
Photos: Biederman Redevelopment Ventures

San Francisco is known for its beautiful parks and landscapes. A few that come to mind for both residents and visitors are the Presidio, Crissy Field, Golden Gate Park, Dolores Park, and McLaren Park. But until recent years, there have been fewer celebrated parks in the most urban and downtown districts of the city, namely the Financial District and the South of Market Area. 

Salesforce Park changes that, providing a sizable, well-maintained, highly programmed, and gardenesque park in the heart of the most urban district of the city. 

The park, which obtains its name from the naming-rights deal with the company headquartered next door, is public property and is owned and operated by Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), a government agency created in 2001 to deliver the new Salesforce Transit Center and rooftop Park in downtown San Francisco while revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood. Through its asset manager, Lincoln Property Company, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures (BRV) was brought onboard in 2017 to manage and run the abundant, free programming, which occurs daily at the public park.

Salesforce Park is a gathering place and a centerpiece for the fast-growing East Cut neighborhood. This distinctive part of San Francisco has experienced significant redevelopment and growth in the past few decades, including the removal of the Embarcadero Freeway after the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and the completion of the Salesforce Transit Center and rooftop Park, which replaced the damaged 1939 Transbay Terminal in its place, and which will eventually house Caltrain and high-speed rail. It has the densest concentration of new home and office construction in the Bay Area. 

Design Details 

Perched above the transit center 70 feet in the air, the park affords unusual views of the surrounding buildings and neighborhood. While strolling along the paths, one can enjoy views of the street corridors below and see directly into the inner workings of adjacent buildings, a vantage point not seen from street level or higher up in one of the surrounding towers. 

The 5.4-acre park includes rolling hills, a half-mile walking loop, and 13 distinct gardens. These gardens represent the wide variety of plants that grow in California’s Mediterranean climate, as well as the diversity of ecosystems of the same climate from around the world. These include the South African garden, the Chilean garden, and the Redwood Forest, to name a few. 

Peter Walker Partners (PWP) in Berkeley, Calif., designed the park. PWP carefully constructed the landscape to offer both a highly activated park and garden to immerse oneself in nature—and allow the user both experiences in one visit. 

Pertinent Placemaking 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, urban parks have become even more vital. What was once a “nice to have” is now a “need to have.” As a result, Salesforce Park’s importance has grown in the last two years. The surrounding area, thought of as an office district and the center of tech, is also the center of a growing, dense residential community because of the Transbay Program delivered by the TJPA. When the nearby offices closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the park stayed open and became an important refuge of green space for residents of the district, and for those office workers who remained in the mostly vacated office towers. 

Public programming paused for a few months due to the pandemic but restarted in April 2021. Because of the pandemic, the programming had to adapt to the current needs of the community, and open in a way that was safe, conscientious, and responsible. Fitness classes, bird walks, and a photography class were the first activities to return, with knitting classes and a garden-education series following soon after. Class participants were separated and masks were required. The community responded with delight, happy to have safe, outdoor activities again.

Salesforce Park is at the forefront of several significant placemaking and community building efforts in the district. The programming has helped create kinship for an area of the city that can feel disjointed. Biederman Redevelopment Ventures has collaborated with community partners to create a robust weekly calendar of recurring free programs. The programs aim to activate the park on a daily basis and at off-peak times build regular “visitorship,” provide a free public amenity, and highlight local talent and culture. 

The idea has always been to focus on everyday activities and weekly programs, rather than large events. Large events are important on occasion to reach new users who may not otherwise frequent the park, but the daily and weekly programs are the ones that keep the space active and vibrant, and help build a sense of community and neighborhood ownership of the park. 

Public Programming 

Programming is carefully curated to draw different users to the park during times of the day and week that the park might otherwise be quiet. For example, the park is normally quiet on a weekday mid-morning, but 80 or so young children and their caregivers join the immensely popular weekly Toddler Tuesday program at 10 a.m. The district is not considered a neighborhood with an abundance of children, but the Toddler Tuesday program has confirmed there is a need for young children’s activities, and if the program is provided, the children and their caregivers will enthusiastically join with reliable attendance. 

All programs are free. The funding is divided between the TJPA and the East Cut Community Benefit District, a non-profit that was formed by property owners to advance the neighborhood’s quality of life and enhance its public realm. 

The park has formed partnerships by way of local small businesses, non-profits, and organizations. Between two and four programs occur every day, and most recur weekly over the course of a season. The park’s programming currently has two seasons, one from May through October, and the other from November through April. Programming is refreshed each season to bring in new partners and for the activities to stay current and respond to the needs and desires of the public.

The current calendar includes diverse programs such as tree tours, a photography class, a craft class, a birding walk, live music, trivia, silent discos, a toddler music class, and various fitness classes. An amenity cart, filled with art supplies, books, and board games, is available during many of the park’s open hours. A foosball table receives near constant use. 

Although other parks in San Francisco and up and down the West Coast occasionally offer live music, movie screenings, and holiday events, Salesforce Park is highly unusual in terms of the abundance of its free programs. With 15 to 20 regular programs a week, the park is a rarity, and serves as a model for other urban parks in the country, and the benefits of doing so. Using community partners to provide programming content makes for an affordable cost for the TJPA in managing the public park. 

Urban parks and public spaces are having a moment, as people and communities are valuing parks more than ever. Regular programming that focuses on smaller, everyday events allows a park to serve its constituents, be a communal gathering space, and boost public health and well-being. Salesforce Park has done just that. In offering a variety of activities and constantly adapting and responding to the community, it has become a central gathering place and a model of what a vibrant urban park can do for a city. 

Ashley Langworthy is the Director, Western Region, of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures
https://www.brvcorp.com/, which manages and programs TJPA’s Salesforce Park in San Francisco. BRV specializes in creating programming, conceiving self-sustaining budgets, and building management teams for urban parks and public spaces in 32 states and six countries.