Nelson Rising, developer who realized the potential of Mission Bay, dies at 81

Nelson Rising, who envisioned and then oversaw the transformation of Mission Bay from 300 acres of decrepit old railyards into a vibrant hub for San Francisco’s biotech industry, has died at 81.

Rising died Thursday at his home in Pasadena from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his family told the Los Angeles Times.

Rising had completed several major development projects in Los Angeles when he was recruited in 1994 to become CEO of Catellus Corp., a development spinoff for the moribund real estate assets of Southern Pacific Railroad. Most notable among them in northern California was its large and by-then disused property at Mission Bay. Rising correctly saw that the land, sitting near the fringes of downtown San Francisco, could be redeveloped as a new neighborhood.

His efforts got their biggest break in the late 1990s, when the University of California, San Francisco, chose Mission Bay as the site of a new campus. In a deal brokered by former Mayor Willie Brown, Catellus donated 30 acres and San Francisco added 13 more to create a new base for the science-focused university. It broke ground in 1999.

The campus, the nucleus of a UCSF Mission Bay footprint that would grow to 4 million square feet over the years, became a springboard for dramatic expansion of the biotech industry in San Francisco. Startups and pharmaceutical giants like Bayer and Bristol Myers Squibb alike chose to locate near UCSF to move scientific breakthroughs from the lab to commercialization. 

Fueled by this interplay of education, science and industry — and by the concurrent opening of the San Francisco Giants' new ballpark on its doorstep — Mission Bay grew rapidly. Housing development joined the party, with thousands of units since developed there, and later tech, with development spilling over into neighboring areas like Dogpatch.

Rising was recognized in 2005 as Dealmaker of the Year in the Business Times’ annual Real Estate Deals of the Year and Nelson Rising Lane, which runs through the heart of Mission Bay, is named in his honor.

Rising also served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, including three years as its chairman.

Catellus sold off its Mission Bay assets in 2005 to Farallon Capital Management, the hedge fund started by San Francisco financier Tom Steyer, and Rising left to start a new real estate business with his son.

Attending UCLA on a football scholarship, Rising graduated from its law school and went to work at influential Los Angeles law firm O’Melveny and Myers, where Warren Christopher, a future U.S. Secretary of State, became his mentor. Rising ran three campaigns for former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and dabbled in Hollywood as a producer before turning his attentions to real estate.