Pier 5 is one of many bulkhead buildings that were built in preparation for the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition. With the decline of San Francisco’s port, new uses are being sought to reuse these former warehouse buildings. Studies explored potential new buildings containing retail and commercial spaces on the finger piers. At this time the Embarcadero Freeway was still intact disfiguring the waterfront until its welcome demise with the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.