Eric Dasmalchi was an urban design graduate student at UC Berkeley in 2016 when a guest lecturer showed up to talk about the future development of Treasure Island.
He was intrigued as he learned about the vision of a dense community of 8,000 homes in high-rises and town houses, served by high-speed ferries and surrounded by 290 acres of parks and the bay.
“It seemed they were trying to build something that was more ambitious, sustainable and just really different from anything we have seen in California,” he said.
What Dasmalchi could never have imagined at the time was that eight years later he would become the first tenant to move into the first high-rise completed on the island, the 22-story Isle House apartment tower on the western edge of the rapidly developing 425-acre community that will eventually have six high-rises and several mid-rises.
In September, Dasmalchi — who is 28 and works for the state as a transportation planner — relocated from Los Angeles to Isle House. He sold his car and has been getting around by ferry and bike. One day a week, he bikes to the Amtrak station in Emeryville in order to commute to Sacramento.
From his apartment he watches the ferries, cruise boats and cargo ships criss-cross the bay. On some mornings, the fog shrouds the Golden Gate Bridge. On other days it’s sharp against the water and sky. While a few other residents have now moved in, the first night it was just him and a building manager.
“It was strange but not too creepy. There was construction staff going in and out so I didn’t feel too alone,” he said. “It was just really quiet.”
Living there teaches you to “notice the weather, the wind and fog, throughout the day,” he said.
“In the morning I check to see how much of the downtown skyline I can see, whether the Golden Gate Bridge is visible,” he said. “In the evening the wind whips up the water and there is a sense of drama.”
Isle House, which former Chronicle urban design critic John King called “evocative of the stylish vintage airplane hangars along nearby Clipper Cove,” opened in September after two years of construction.
It has all the fancy stuff you would expect in a deluxe urban building, including a lobby lounge with “modern Shou Sugi Ban-style walls, white oak millwork banquette seating” and private co-working suites. The glass-clad recessed seventh floor has 7,000 square feet of decks and gardens; fitness and yoga studio overlooking the bay; a fireside hangout area, library, den, bar area, grills and al fresco dining spaces.
Studios start around $3,000 with one-bedroom units from $3,400 and two-bedroom units from about $5,000. There are townhomes that rent for more than $6,500 and three-bedroom penthouses that go for more than $8,000. About 20 leases have been signed so far, although the building has been open less than a month.
Developer Chris Meany said the design by San Francisco architect David Baker is meant to take maximum advantage of the bay: There are serrated bay windows at every level of the building, which includes a black brick base, a variety of gray tiles, plaster and glass. The hallways have full glass windows on both ends.
“The idea is that Isle House is an absolute expression of San Francisco but it’s super dialed into being part of the bay,” Meany said. “That killer view of Golden Gate Bridge — anybody who gets off of the elevator, that is yours.”
With the opening of Isle House, Treasure Island now has about 1,000 housing units either open or under construction. There is the affordable 105-unit Maceo May building, and the 124-unit Bristol on the connected Yerba Buena Island. Under construction near Isle House is the 148-condo project 490 Avenue of the Palms, and another 178 apartments in a building called Hawkins.
In total, the first phase of Treasure Island includes 1,900 units as well as multiple parks, including a soon-to-be-finished Crissy Field-like promenade that will stretch in from of Isle House, along the island’s western shore.
For the restaurateurs who made early bets on the promise of Treasure Island, it has been a tough road. But there is suddenly reason for optimism.
A decade ago Linda Edson opened Aracely, the island’s first full-service restaurant.
“It was a huge gamble,” she said. “When we were under construction we literally had days when not single car or person would walk by.”
Now Edson gets groups of dog walkers from the Bristol stopping in for brunch, and she is catering a Blue Angels watch party at Isle House this coming week.
“It’s been amazing to watch this little city grow,” she said. “Every time a building goes up, the landscaping goes in. I’m excited to be an established business because the only thing that can happen is it can get better.”
Eight years ago, MeeSun Boice and executive chef Parke Ulrich opened Mersea, which means “Island Oasis” in old English.
“A lot of people thought I was crazy. We were trying to get investors. They were like ‘no way we are going to Treasure Island. They have been talking about development there for 30 years. It’s never going to happen.’”
Boice recently catered the event at which Bay FC, the professional women’s soccer franchise, announced it would build its practice facility on Treasure Island. She said she would like to move into Isle House but she first has to sell or lease her San Francisco loft.
“My dream is to wake up and see that view,” she said. “They brought the elegance of the San Francisco fancy high-rise experience to the island.”
Residents at the Isle House are given a ferry pass that is good for a year. Robert Moore, a 29-year-old sales consultant who works in Salesforce Tower, was the second resident to move into Isle House. He said he had been living in the South Bay when his employer “called us back to the office.”
While most of his friends were moving to Dogpatch, he decided Treasure Island was more his speed and also a quicker commute. It was also a better deal than the building he was looking at.
“I’ve got the full Bay Bridge on the left. I’ve got the full city in front of me. And it’s foggy today but on a good day you see Alcatraz, Sausalito, Angel Island,” he said. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
Baker, the project architect, said he hears the same questions about the viability of Treasure Island that he once heard about other undeveloped parts of the city.
“People are questioning T.I. but they question Mission Bay a lot,” he said. “Now you go to Mission Bay and it’s starting to be a place.”
View the full article: Treasure Island’s promised wave of tenants is beginning to trickle in, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 6, 2024.