Pier 70 sits in the Potrero Point neighborhood, where the Union Iron Works established its shipyard in the nineteenth century. Peter Donahue, the same industrialist memorialized by the Mechanics Monument on Market Street, founded the original ironworks. The yard grew to become one of the premier shipbuilding facilities in the country, producing naval vessels, commercial ships, and heavy industrial equipment. Bethlehem Shipbuilding took over the operations in the early twentieth century and expanded the yard during both world wars. At its peak, the facility employed over 18,000 workers and operated around the clock.

After World War II, the decline of American shipbuilding gradually emptied the yard. By the late twentieth century, the massive industrial buildings sat largely vacant, their steel frames rusting in the salt air. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing the architectural and historical significance of its industrial buildings. In the 2010s, a major redevelopment plan was approved that would transform the 28-acre site into a mixed-use neighborhood with housing, offices, retail, and parks, while preserving and adaptively reusing many of the historic shipyard buildings.

The Pier 70 redevelopment represents San Francisco's ongoing effort to reconnect with its industrial waterfront. The plan calls for approximately 2,000 housing units, significant commercial space, and nine acres of new parks and open spaces. Several of the historic buildings, including the massive craneway structure that once lifted ship components, are being incorporated into the new development as event spaces, restaurants, and cultural venues. The project aims to maintain the industrial character of the site while opening the waterfront to public access. Walking through Pier 70 today, you move between nineteenth-century ironwork and twenty-first-century construction, a palimpsest of the city's economic evolution.