Diverse and dynamic are two words that describe the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood, which has grown into an incredibly vibrant district of residents, cultural organizations and businesses. It bustles with world-class museums, shopping, dining, convention space, hotels, housing and educational institutions, the most recent of which is Pacific’s new campus.
The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry is itself playing an important part in the continued development of the Fifth Street corridor in the western portion of SoMa. With the school’s nearly 1,000 students, faculty and staff, along with approximately 10,000 patients who will visit the school for care, SoMa is about to get a new infusion of people into its already dynamic streets.
5M Project
The proposed 5M Project (black markers on map above), a mixed use development project, will span a four-acre site roughly bounded by Mission, Fifth, Howard and Mary Streets. Once constructed, the 5M Project will include more than one million square feet of office space, 750 new dwelling units and 150,000 square feet of ground floor retail, educational and cultural uses.
New Yahoo! Offices on Fifth Street
In August, tech giant Yahoo! signed a deal to occupy 70,000 square feet of space for its new San Francisco offices. Yahoo!’s new space is located in the San Francisco Chronicle’s building directly across from the dental school.
The Old Mint Prepares for the Future
The Old Mint, a stunning national historic landmark, is located on Fifth Street between Mission and Market. The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society is undertaking the restoration of the Old Mint to house the future San Francisco Museum at the Mint. The society is currently raising funds for the second phase of the project. Once the funding is in place, construction will begin, culminating in the grand opening of the museum in three to five years.
New Apartments at Fifth and Folsom
A block and a half away from the dental school’s location, two apartment buildings are under construction. A 282-unit apartment building at 900 Folsom and a 181-unit apartment building at 260 Fifth Street. Both units will include street-level retail space to serve the neighborhood.
Technology, Commerce, Culture and Conventions
Further down Market Street in the mid-Market section between Fifth and Tenth Streets, companies such as Twitter, Dolby and Square have leased commercial office space or purchased buildings. On Market Street near Fifth, the 250,000-square-foot Market Street Place retail complex is currently under construction, as is a Nordstrom Rack store. The Moscone Center also has big plans in its future and will be adding more than 350,000 square feet of convention space during an expansion expected to begin in late 2014.
The Dugoni School of Dentistry is moving forward in getting to know the people, companies and organizations in its new neighborhood. In the spring of 2013, the school hosted a special reception for civic leaders and neighborhood business leaders. School representatives have joined key local business organizations and regularly attend meetings of the Yerba Buena Alliance, Yerba Buena Community Benefit District and San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
Map of SoMa area surrounding 155 Fifth Street. 
Cypress Equities and the Carlyle Group’s rendering of Market Street Place. 
Avant Housing’s project at 900 Folsom. 
Avant Housing’s project at 260 Fifth Street.