New public space to open outside Park Tower

As the East Cut braces for gaggles of Facebook employees to descend upon the nascent neighborhood, a small privately-owned public open space (aka POPOS) will open next door to the social media mammoth’s latest hive.

The new public sitting area, scheduled to open by the end of June, features four grassy knolls, at least six benches, and a staggering 20 lamp posts.

Although the hours noted on the sign say the public park will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, the developer says that the hours shown are wrong and will be updated in the near future.

The new sitting area will be a nice, albeit much smaller, substitute for the 5.4-acre Salesforce Park, located on the roof of the temporarily shuttered Transbay Transit Terminal, which proved popular with the lunchtime crowd.

No word yet when Salesforce Park or Transbay Transit Terminal will reopen.

POPOS have been a development requirement since the passage of the 1985 Downtown Plan in San Francisco. There are dozens of POPOS around the city, primarily in the downtown and Financial District areas

Also of note: The nearby Temporary Transbay Terminal will, ultimately, turn into a one-acre park tentatively called Transbay Park. Residents and workers in the area who want to chime in on the park’s design can take a survey here.