Three Houses Under One Roof
City College of San Francisco broke ground on the Diego Rivera Performing Arts Center on 22 January 2026. The building anchors a new academic precinct along Frida Kahlo Avenue. It runs 77,000 square feet and targets LEED New Construction Gold.
A planner should read the room count before the square footage. The design team's record carries three performance venues: a 600-seat multi-purpose performance hall, a 150-seat studio theatre and a 100-seat recital hall, in three distinct concrete volumes joined by a mural lobby.
What the Building Adds to the City Inventory
One address carries a 600-seat hall and two smaller rooms for a planner who needs a breakout, a workshop or a ceremony.
The building becomes the permanent home of Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity mural, and it houses the college's music and drama departments alongside the halls.
The money is public. The Guardsman, the college's student newspaper, reports a $181 million budget from a 2020 bond measure. The construction contract went to Rudolph and Sletten, a Tutor Perini subsidiary, at $155 million, in a release dated 17 December 2025. Ask the facilities office which board action sets the rental terms, and request that document.
The Seat Bands a Planner Can Quote
600 is the ceiling for one performance or one general session. The 150-seat studio and the 100-seat recital hall carry a breakout, a workshop, a small ceremony or a rehearsal.
Carry the design team's programme into a contract only after the issued drawings confirm it. The architect's record and the construction release were drawn at different stages of the project.
Load-In and Access
The contractor's scope lists a scene shop, rehearsal spaces, and costume and music classrooms alongside the halls. The record publishes none of the touring detail: door width at the load-in, dock height, truck standing space, the route from the street to the stage, or the house crew call. Request the loading plan as a documented exhibit, so the detail survives staff changes.
Campus Scheduling Runs on a Term Calendar
An academic building answers to an academic calendar. Instruction, production seasons and commencement hold the weeks a commercial venue would sell.
Ask for the college calendar for the event year. Ask which weeks the halls are committed before asking for a date. Construction is expected to finish in 2028, per The Guardsman and the contractor's release. The site is a construction zone until then.
The Questions the File Does Not Answer
No public document carries a rental rate, a booking policy, an external-use agreement, an insurance requirement, a catering rule, a parking allocation or a contact for group bookings.
Put eight questions to the facilities office. May outside groups book the halls? What is the rate by room and by day? What is the earliest date a hold can be placed? What deposit and cancellation terms apply? What load-in and load-out window comes with the room? Does the college supply technicians, or does the client hire them? What audiovisual inventory is in each hall? Can the mural lobby be licensed for a reception?
What a Planner Can Put in a Contract Now
Four clauses carry a programme sold against a building that does not yet exist. Name the room and the seat count in an appendix. Make the access time a dated obligation. Separate the room rate from the construction programme, so a schedule slip does not arrive as a price change. Add a remedy that applies if substantial completion runs past 2028.
How Early the Conversation Belongs to Start
Open the file now for a 2029 date. The design is fixed and published. The operating policy is not, and the first clients to reach the facilities office will set terms the rest of the market then works within.
The halls are designed. The terms that govern them are not written yet.