{"id":240750,"date":"2026-03-28T12:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/240750\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:19:15","slug":"why-a-13500-square-foot-building-sits-vacant-in-a-popular-sf-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/240750\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a 13,500-square-foot building sits vacant in a popular SF park"},"content":{"rendered":"

As far as vacant buildings go, the Kneass Building, located at 671 Illinois St. in San Francisco\u2019s Dogpatch<\/a> neighborhood, isn\u2019t exceptionally ugly. Its wooden facade runs up against the sidewalk, where joggers bound by in the afternoon sun. In its fenced-in back lot, grass grows in cracks in the concrete next to a cluster of small trash bags. At points, the building has been covered in graffiti; now, its corrugated metal walls are painted over in a patchwork of grays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The building has a few broken windows, but there are structures in worse disrepair in the neighborhood. With some substantial repairs, one could imagine it thriving as an office space, a restaurant or a community center.<\/p>\n

Instead, for Adam Zolot, it\u2019s the \u201cbiggest blight\u201d along the redeveloped stretch of the Dogpatch\u2019s waterfront, an area that includes Pier 70<\/a>, the Chase Center<\/a> and the Power Station.<\/a><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s because it sits in the middle of Crane Cove Park<\/a>, the waterfront park beloved by the neighborhood\u2019s kayakers, families and dog owners.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People make use of Crane Cove Park in San Francisco amid the heat wave in California on March 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

On a recent Monday afternoon, a tween swung from the playground\u2019s rope structure as her mother watched, and a few picnickers laid out on the beach. Against this backdrop, the Kneass Building is a tall gray dead spot, partially blocking the view of the water. Visitors push their strollers past it without looking at it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a sore thumb, and it stands out amongst everything else that is in here,\u201d Zolot, who owns Dogpatch Paddle, a kayak and stand-up paddleboard rental business in Crane Cove Park, told\u00a0SFGATE.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Not all of the Dogpatch residents\u00a0SFGATE interviewed thought that the vacant building was a problem. But they were all perplexed by its disuse. The Dogpatch, once a primarily industrial neighborhood, is hot real estate in San Francisco, as it\u2019s the site of several luxury high rises and the\u00a0Y Combinator headquarters. On weekends, Crane Cove Park draws hundreds of visitors in a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI bring people to the park, and it\u2019s so fantastic,\u201d Susan Eslick, the treasurer for the Dogpatch Art & Business Association, said. \u201cAnd then somebody will say, \u2018Well what\u2019s happening here?\u2019 And it\u2019s always sort of like, \u2018Well that\u2019s a good question.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The simple answer seems to be that the Kneass Building is a relatively low priority.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man on a scooter rides past 671 Illinois St. in San Francisco\u2019s Dogpatch neighborhood on March 17, 2026. Scaffolding temporarily obscured the front of the building as a contractor dealt with peeling lead paint.<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

The Port of San Francisco owns and operates Crane Cove Park, including the two buildings inside its perimeter: the Kneass Building and Building 49. While Building 49 is now home to the YMCA of Greater San Francisco and Zolot\u2019s business, the Kneass Building sits empty.<\/p>\n

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It took nearly a decade<\/a> to build Crane Cove Park. The port began accepting proposals back in 2011; when the park opened to the public in 2020, some of its elements had not yet been built. The port finished a dog run and playground just last year<\/a>. Both additions were delayed by the implosion of the nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance<\/a>, which misused millions of dollars of donations<\/a> meant to go toward the park.<\/p>\n

For Dogpatch locals, the park is a blessing. RJ Andrews, who lives two blocks away, is grateful that he can take his kids to the beach on an ordinary weeknight. \u201cIt\u2019s an insane luxury and a privilege,\u201d he told SFGATE.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eslick, who\u2019s lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, agreed. Crane Cove Park opened up a previously inaccessible stretch of waterfront: \u201cI mean, when I moved here, if you had told me I live near the water, I would have been like, where?\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, the port began searching for tenants for the two buildings. They would be responsible for improving them; the port\u2019s Request for Proposals notes that the Kneass Building is \u201clong-vacant\u201d and \u201cin poor and deteriorating condition.\u201d Its second story was originally built without a permit. An ideal tenant for the Kneass Building, according to the RFP, would host programming for the community and pay respect to the building\u2019s historic character.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n

A broken window is seen along the side of 671 Illinois St. in San Francisco\u2019s Dogpatch neighborhood on March 17, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Dogpatch Paddle won its bid for Building 49 \u201chandily,\u201d Zolot said. But the port rejected the two proposals it received for the Kneass Building. Eric Young, a spokesperson for the port, told SFGATE that one proposal did not appear to be financially viable, while the other didn\u2019t provide enough benefits to the community.<\/p>\n

According to a port document reviewed by SFGATE, the port began improving Building 49 in 2020. The YMCA finished the process, spending $7.6 million to renovate the structure, and completed work in January 2025. The port offset that sum by offering $150,000 in rent credits to the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

After the Dogpatch Paddle and YMCA moved into the newly rehabilitated Building 49, the port\u2019s search for tenants for the Kneass Building seems to have been left on pause, to the confusion of some locals.<\/p>\n

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\u201cReal estate in San Francisco is valuable, is it not?\u201d Andrews said. \u201cIs this not a building on the water with perfect weather 325 days a year?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the port said it continues to maintain the building. When an SFGATE photographer shot its exterior last week, scaffolding covered its facade; in an email, Young said that a contractor was dealing with its peeling lead paint.<\/p>\n

In an email to SFGATE, Messiah Foster, the communications manager at the port, noted that part of the reason the port hasn\u2019t opened another RFP for the Kneass Building is because it has trained its attention on other \u201chigh priority development projects.\u201d There\u2019s also the expense of repairing the building, which has been red-tagged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Port recognizes the limited access to capital coming out of the pandemic and have prioritized seeking partners for properties that require less capital investment,\u201d she wrote. \u201cAs the economy picks up and access to capital becomes easier, the Port will reassess the timing of releasing another RFP.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Scaffolding<\/p>\n

Scaffolding is seen along the front of 671 Illinois St. in San Francisco\u2019s Dogpatch neighborhood on March 17, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Also, any potential repair plans could be complicated by historical preservation considerations, Foster said. In a 2001 assessment, the city\u2019s planning department identified the Kneass Building as a historic resource. It was once the home of Kneass Boatworks, a prolific boatbuilder, which operated from 1878 to 1970. The RFP notes that part of the building may date back to 1878, although this claim has not been confirmed. This history is briefly described on an information board posted on the building\u2019s facade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To Zolot, the building\u2019s disuse is a waste. It leaves an otherwise pristine park with 15,600 square feet of dead space. (The 13,500-square-foot building is surrounded by a 2,100-square-foot fenced-in area.) And he believes it could have been filled by a willing tenant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s frustrating is that the money was there and there were two interested developers, and the port walked away from them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Eslick doesn\u2019t mind the building. She has watched the Dogpatch transform from an industrial area to a mixed-use neighborhood. For her, seeing an empty building in the middle of a pristine development isn\u2019t strange at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like it\u2019s completely derelict,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many other things that just shine. It\u2019s not the hero at the park, but it is curious.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As far as vacant buildings go, the Kneass Building, located at 671 Illinois St. in San Francisco\u2019s Dogpatch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105,923,1693],"class_list":{"0":"post-240750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news","14":"tag-sfgculture","15":"tag-sfglocal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}