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Mission Bay, San Francisco: Condos, UCSF & Real Estate Guide

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Mission Bay is the 303-acre redevelopment district on former rail yards and bay fill between Townsend Street and Mariposa Street, from Interstate 280 and Seventh Street east to Third Street and the Bay. It is subdistrict 9D of District 9, and almost all of its homes are condominium units in buildings completed since 2000; the 2025 roll records no single-family houses.

The city’s redevelopment successor agency, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), oversees the area under the Mission Bay North and South Redevelopment Plans. That structure, rather than the ordinary Planning Code zoning map, is the first thing to understand about owning here. South Beach lies across Mission Creek and China Basin to the north, and Dogpatch begins south of Mariposa.

Mission Bay homes for sale

Mission Bay market report

Marsh, fill and rail yards

Before the city grew around it, this was a salt marsh and lagoon of more than 500 acres. From the mid-1800s it took in building refuse, later including debris from the 1906 earthquake, and the filled land became an industrial district of shipyards, canneries, a sugar refinery, warehouses and, above all, a Southern Pacific rail yard.

The rail land passed to Catellus Development Corporation. In November 1998 the Board of Supervisors established the Mission Bay North and South Redevelopment Project Areas, construction began in 2000, and OCII describes a build-out of 20 to 30 years led by the original master developer, now FOCIL-MB LLC.

What the redevelopment plans allow

OCII’s program summary sets the scale of the finished district:

Component	Planned at build-out (OCII program summary)
Housing	Up to 6,404 units, 1,806 of them (about 30%) affordable
Office and lab space	4.4 million square feet
Retail	419,000 square feet
UCSF research campus	2.65 million square feet on 43 acres, plus a 550-bed medical center
Public open space	41 acres, plus 8 acres inside the UCSF campus
Other	A 250-room hotel, an 18,000-seat event center, a 500-student public school, a library and a public safety building

OCII’s most recent status figures on that page date to January 2017, when 5,096 housing units, 848 of them affordable, had been built. Treat its progress numbers as historical and check current project status with OCII.

Zoning works differently here

Planning’s zoning layer labels the district MB-RA, Mission Bay Redevelopment, and a point check near the center of the district returns no ordinary Planning Code zoning or height district at all. What governs a building is the redevelopment plan for its half of the district, the matching Design for Development document and the owner participation agreements, with design review handled through OCII.

The Assessor’s roll reflects this, showing no zoning code for Mission Bay parcels. Planning’s special use district map does name a separate Mission Rock SUD for the development of that name near China Basin. This is general information, not legal advice; for any change to a building or lot, start with OCII and the governing plan documents.

The condominium and rental buildings

The 2025 roll lists about 2,220 market-rate condominium units and about 155 below-market-rate (BMR) condominium units in 9D, plus 19 apartment buildings of 15 or more units and a handful of townhouses. The median condo unit was built in 2009.

Wikipedia’s Mission Bay article names several of the larger buildings:

The Beacon: 595 condominium units on a full city block.
Madrone: two towers with 329 residences.
Arterra: 268 condos, described as the city’s first LEED-certified market-rate condo building.
Park Terrace and Radiance: 110 and 99 homes.
Berry Street mid-rises at 235 and 255 Berry Street, between the street and Mission Creek.

BMR units are resold under the city’s below-market-rate program rules rather than freely on the open market; our BMR homes guide explains how they are sold. For market-rate units, our San Francisco condo guide and luxury condo guide cover the building documents to read first.

UCSF, Chase Center and the job base

UCSF’s 43-acre campus anchors the district. Its hospital for children, women and cancer patients opened in February 2015, with 289 beds according to Wikipedia, as the first phase of the 550-bed medical center in OCII’s program. The Gladstone Institutes and Kaiser Permanente medical offices are also in the district.

Chase Center, the 18,000-seat event center in OCII’s plan, opened in 2019 and is home to the Golden State Warriors and the Golden State Valkyries. Uber’s headquarters is at 1725 Third Street next to it, and Visa’s is at 300 Toni Stone Crossing in the Mission Rock development, where China Basin Park opened in 2024.

Parks run along Mission Creek and the bayfront. Planning’s open space layer includes UCSF’s Koret Quad (about 3.6 acres) and a series of numbered Mission Bay park parcels, the largest about 4.9 acres. The Mission Bay branch library opened on July 8, 2006, and Wikipedia reports that the neighborhood’s first public school building was finished in January 2026 and was scheduled to open in August 2026; confirm its current status with the San Francisco Unified School District.

Assessments and other carrying costs

Mission Bay’s streets, utilities and parks are being built by the master developer. OCII’s project page, whose status figures date to January 2017, says that more than $700 million in public infrastructure is financed through special assessments and increased property taxes. OCII also says it operates the park system with annual assessments on private property in the project area.

For a buyer, that means reading the property tax bill line by line alongside the HOA budget. Ask the seller for the most recent bill and for the HOA’s disclosure of any assessments and their remaining term, and compare total monthly cost, not just dues, when weighing a unit here against one in South Beach or South of Market.

Fill, liquefaction and flood zones

Fill is the main hazard. On Planning’s copy of the state seismic hazard map, essentially all of Mission Bay’s land from Townsend Street to Mariposa Street falls inside a mapped liquefaction zone that continues west across Showplace Square and north toward the waterfront.

FEMA’s flood map, effective March 23, 2021 and reproduced on Planning’s layer, puts a sample point in the middle of the district in a shaded Zone X, a moderate-risk area outside the Special Flood Hazard Area. The same layer also maps AE and VE zones within the Mission Bay area, so check the specific parcel. Our hazard maps guide explains both maps, and the Natural Hazard Disclosure report will state the zones for a given unit.

T Third, Caltrain and the N Judah

T Third: light rail on Third Street, with Mission Bay stations at Mission Rock, UCSF/Chase Center and UCSF Medical Center. Limited service began on January 13, 2007; since January 7, 2023 the line has run through the Central Subway between Chinatown and Sunnydale.
4th and King: the northern terminal of Caltrain, the N Judah’s eastern end and a T Third stop, on the district’s northern edge.
Buses: per published route lists, the 22 Fillmore ends at Mission Bay North and Third Street and the 55 Dogpatch ends at 20th and Third streets.
Freeway: Interstate 280 runs along the western edge.

Selling a condo in Mission Bay

Buyers here compare buildings first and units second. Building age, dues, reserve strength, parking, view exposure and whether a unit is BMR will sort the field before finishes matter.

Order the HOA package early: CC&Rs, current budget, reserve study, recent minutes and any pending special assessment or litigation.
Explain the tax bill: list each special assessment line so buyers can compare carrying costs.
Confirm BMR status and, if it applies, start the program’s resale process before you set a price.
Prepare the city requirements on our San Francisco selling requirements page, including the 3R report and transfer tax.

Diamond may refer you to partners we work with; you’re free to choose any provider. For current pricing data, see the Mission Bay market report on this page.

Questions people ask

Who controls development in Mission Bay?

OCII, the successor to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, under the Mission Bay North and South Redevelopment Plans and their Design for Development documents, rather than the ordinary Planning Code zoning map.

Are there houses for sale in Mission Bay?

Rarely. The 2025 roll shows no single-family houses in subdistrict 9D; nearly all homes are condominium units, with a small number of townhouses.

Is Mission Bay in a liquefaction zone?

Yes. Planning’s copy of the state map places essentially all of its land, built on bay fill, inside a mapped liquefaction zone.

Is Mission Bay in a FEMA flood zone?

It depends on the parcel. A sample point in the middle of the district is in a shaded Zone X, but AE and VE zones are also mapped within the area.

Do Mission Bay owners pay extra assessments?

OCII says infrastructure is financed through special assessments and increased property taxes and that the parks are funded by annual assessments on private property, so check each tax bill.

How do I get downtown from Mission Bay?

The T Third runs through the Central Subway to Chinatown, the N Judah starts at 4th and King, and Caltrain’s San Francisco terminal is there too.

If you own a Mission Bay condo and want to know how it compares with nearby buildings, we can review the HOA documents, the tax bill and recent sales with you. Contact us, compare Potrero Hill, or read the SF District 9 overview and our San Francisco market guide.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.