Federal coworking: San Francisco

Federal office building

50 United Nations Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94102

50 United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, California is home to one of GSA’s developmental coworking sites where you will have access to an open and shared workspace in a collaborative setting.

The workspace

Outfitted with workstations and collaborative areas.
Docking stations allow for connectivity to external keyboards, monitors, and mouse devices.
Coworking space utilizes Wi-Fi for internet connectivity. Ensure your agency allows for connection to guest Wi-Fi networks and you are familiar with any VPN requirements your agency may have.
- Contact your agency’s IT support service ahead of time to learn more about connectivity in a shared environment.

Facility amenities

Focus rooms are available for short term use and are non-reservable.
There is a small pantry available with a refrigerator, sink, and microwave available for coworkers to use. Please be mindful that this is a shared space.
Meeting rooms are found throughout the space. These are drop in areas; however, usage is limited to one hour.
The supply station is equipped with pens, pencils, scissors, tape, staplers and extra paper.
Sanitizing wipes are located at the supply stations and along the walls of the building. Please be sure to clean and clear the workstation at the end of your workday.
If you need to contact WPS for an issue, please include the area information (workstation number).

Coworking best practices

Open workspace means shared workspace.
Please be mindful of those around you. Make sure to limit the volume of your voice and sensitive phone calls by taking these in an enclosed meeting space. Take your lunch away from the pantry area to be courteous to those sensitive to smell.

Shared workspace also means being mindful of basic security protocol.
It’s a general best practice to lock or secure your government devices when leaving the workstation, even for a short time.

Workstations are to be cleared daily.

Items left behind are picked up daily by the WPS staff and placed in lost and found. Contact WPS to retrieve items.

Please wipe down the workstation at the end of the day.

The essentials

Items to bring with you

HSPD-12 PIV Card
Laptop
Mobile phone
Headphones
Power cord(s) and chargers
USB thumb drive (Required for printing)
Any other accessories you need to work comfortably in a shared workspace

Do not forget to check in by scanning the QR code upon arrival.
This gives us valuable information on how the coworking space is being used.
Wi-Fi via GSA Guest Network
The Wi-Fi password is available via scanned QR code, which is posted at the entrance and throughout the coworking space.
Printing
All files you require to print must be saved to a USB drive and plugged into the printer device.
- Scan documents to your USB drive using the multi-function unit. Follow the menu directions.
- Multi-function units have outgoing fax capabilities but cannot receive faxes.
Lockers are available for day-use only. Lockers can be set with a 4 digit numeric code of your choosing on a daily basis.
- Enter your own personal four-digit code. This locks the lock. The same code is entered once only to open the lock before being erased and ready for the next new user.
To use the docking stations, first turn on Belkin switch on desk to access power. Please turn off Belkin switch when you leave.
- Plug docking station connector into laptop via USB cables. This connects all peripherals including monitors, mouse, and keyboard. Please do not unplug cabling found at workstations.
- If you do not have your laptop charger, there is a laptop charger with adaptors that can be accessed by lifting the docking station lid.

Our coworking spaces

Our other spaces

Conference rooms

Garden Room reservation protocol (designed for large group gatherings).
Focus/ huddle room time max.
Meeting rooms requiring reservations are available by coordinating your needs ahead of time. Please work with Region 9’s Workplace Services team (R9WPS@gsa.gov), to ensure you have the resources you need for your work day.

Privacy rooms

Team rooms 5550, 5551, 5678, 5679

All team rooms all contain a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Team room time max is 60 minutes.
Phone booth - an easy access to quiet space to make a private calls.

Building amenities and neighborhood

50 United Nations Plaza is in San Francisco’s Civic Center District. There is a cafe in the building as well as a cafeteria in the Phillip Burton federal building at 450 Golden Gate. There are also shops and restaurants nearby.
Every Wednesday, the plaza hosts the largest farmers’ market food assistance program in the nation. The farmer’s market attracts 20,000 customers who shop for fresh produce from 55 farmer’s booths.
For your safety, the city provides members of the public free safety escorts. To schedule a “Community Ambassador” call 311 on your cell phone.
The building’s central courtyard can be accessed through the doors adjacent to the 1st floor elevator lobby.
Mailroom (in basement, room#0548) Open Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm, for sending mail, returning packages, etc.
- Send: UPS/USPS for shipping/returning mail or packages with pre-paid shipping labels only.
- Receive: FedEX/UPS/USPS accepted. Please put “ your-name c / o GSA, room #0548” on the address.
Gym (in basement, room#0421) paid membership required.
Parking: private sector/public parking garages at Civic Center Plaza and UC Law SF.
Mass Transit: BART and MUNI via the Civic Center stop is easily accessible within UN Plaza.
The building’s central courtyard can be accessed through the doors adjacent to the 1st floor elevator lobby.

Getting here

Transportation and Neighborhood

Muni Bus: The area is served by several Muni bus lines, including the 5, 19, 38, and 38R lines, which stop near the United Nations Plaza.
Bay Area Rapid Transit: The Civic Center/UN Plaza BART station is nearby, providing access to rapid transit throughout the Bay Area. Take exit A3. Once you come up the escalators to street level, you will see the front door of 50 UN Plaza to your right, approx 48 steps away.
Streetcar: The F Market & Wharves historic streetcar line runs along Market Street and stops near the United Nations Plaza.
Cable car: The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason cable car lines also run along nearby Powell Street, offering a historic and scenic transit option.
Free safety escorts: For a safer journey, take advantage of San Francisco’s complimentary safety escorts. Simply dial 311 from your cell phone to arrange for a safety escort with one of their Community Ambassadors, identifiable by their distinctive green-camo “Urban Alchemy” jackets. Visit the San Francisco safety escort website for further information.

Accessing the building

To access our federal coworking space, present your government HSPD-12 ID to the guards at the lobby. Once through, follow the signage to the coworking space on the 5th floor.

Non HSPD-12 ID holders may visit the building. However, they must fill out a Building Visitor Form in advance. Upon arrival, they will be screened and met by an HSPD-12 ID holder who will escort them while onsite.

We are here to help

Our Workplace Services Team is here to help once you’ve arrived in the co-working space.

Contact Workplace Services:

415-436-8708
R9WPS@gsa.gov

Workplace Services provides services for:

Monitor and docking station troubleshooting
Building issues reporting; temperature adjustments, spills, leaks, etc.
Lost and found items
Problems with workstation (desktop, locker, drawers, locks)

In case of emergency

AEDs are located on the 2nd floor, room 222 and the 5th floor, room 514.
Building wide emergencies and drills, please follow the instructions on the building public address system. Occupant Emergency Procedure information is posted on site, please be sure to review.
Medical emergencies that are building related (slip and fall, pantry burn, etc.), notify WPS with details of the incident.
For medical emergencies, dial 911.