Take a look inside the former radioactive-waste site off the coast of San Francisco that's turning into a $5 billion housing development

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

Welcome to Treasure Island.

Treasure Island, a man-made island off the coast of San Francisco, looks more like a postapocalyptic wasteland than a Bay Area suburb.

But as demand for housing in the tech capital continues to climb, developers have turned to Treasure Island in hopes of creating the next big real-estate destination.

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In 2011, the city of San Francisco approved a proposal to add 8,000 homes, 500 hotel rooms, 300 acres of parks, 140,000 square feet of retail, and 100,000 square feet of office space to the island over 15 years. It comes with a price tag of $5 billion.

With construction on infrastructure underway, we decided to spend the day exploring Treasure Island - and learned there's more to this former toxic-waste site than meets the eye.