Groups led by Bay Area billionaires are funding half the cost of the Embarcadero Plaza redesign, which likely doesn’t ease critics’ concerns that the revamp will lose sight of the plaza’s longheld tradition — to serve as a gathering spot for civic and artistic expression.
The Chronicle revealed Monday that two prominent billionaire-led civic groups are funding about half the cost of the estimated $40 million redesign of the Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park. Venture capitalist Michael Moritz’s philanthropic foundation, Crankstart, is reportedly contributing $10 million, and the Downtown Development Corp (DDC) has pledged to acquire additional donors to match the other $10 million.
Formed last summer, the DDC is a business-backed civic group aligned with the mayor’s downtown revitalization agenda that’s supported by major tech, real estate, and philanthropic donors including OpenAI, Salesforce, and Emerson Collective…