{"id":39035,"date":"2025-01-25T13:07:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T21:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=39035"},"modified":"2025-01-25T13:07:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T21:07:04","slug":"in-two-year-first-more-sf-retail-spots-filled-than-vacated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/in-two-year-first-more-sf-retail-spots-filled-than-vacated\/","title":{"rendered":"In two-year first, more SF retail spots filled than vacated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Patrick_Hoge\">By Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jan 23, 2025\u00a0Updated\u00a021 hrs ago (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/8\/dd\/8ddcca9c-a6cd-11ef-b367-abc3e7486623\/673d1e650998e.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Vacant storefront on Powell Street near Union Square\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">New data show retail-leasing activity increased in The City in the fourth quarter of 2024.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco saw more retail properties occupied than vacated for the first time in years during the latter portion of 2024, according to multiple real-estate firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before news broke Tuesday that Macy\u2019s would&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/business\/bloomingdales-closing-embattled-downtown-sf-mall-store\/article_9cfe8eb0-d847-11ef-b633-2bc1af66938c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">close its downtown Bloomingdale\u2019s<\/a>&nbsp;department store, analysts were compiling numbers showing that San Francisco\u2019s retail-vacancy rate had fallen in the fourth quarter of 2024 following a record-setting third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City\u2019s steadily increasing retail-vacancy rate had hit a record 7.9% in the third quarter, but it dropped to 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the real estate firm Cushman &amp; Wakefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kidder Mathews, another company, similarly recorded a slight drop in retail vacancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trend indicated \u201cnascent signs of recovery,\u201d with positive net absorption of 65,700 square feet \u2014 meaning more space was occupied than vacated during the quarter for the first time in two years, Cushman &amp; Wakefield said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The numbers for the Union Square-Post Street area remained comparatively bleak, with the overall vacancy rate rising slightly to 22.1% in the fourth quarter, compared to 22.0% in the third quarter, the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Colliers, another real-estate company, meanwhile produced a winter retail report that said pockets of The City are thriving, notably Jackson Square. Sales-tax data show that some neighborhoods such as the Inner Richmond, Mission Bay, and Japantown have surpassed pre-pandemic levels of commercial activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gary Baragona, director of research for Kidder Mathews, said the positive numbers his company had logged made him \u201ccautiously optimistic,\u201d though he said he believes it will take multiple years for commercial real-estate markets to recover in San Francisco with so many offices still vacant and so many workers \u2014 the lifeblood for many downtown businesses \u2014 working remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City\u2019s office market in the fourth quarter had an overall vacancy rate of 36.5%, down from a record high 36.9% for the third quarter in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/downtown-sf-ready-to-turn-the-page-after-difficult-year\/article_b79b0744-c23a-11ef-b3f9-039a681fe536.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a sign of a recovery starting<\/a>, according to real-estate company CBRE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen some positive news,\u201d Baragona said. \u201cWe just want to see that continue and [be] sustained and carry quarter over quarter, year after year, so that we can feel more comfortable that recovery is sticking and solid, and we have yet to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Colliers report also said that flat return-to-office numbers still \u201cpresent challenges\u201d to The City, and it highlighted the potential for new Mayor Daniel Lurie to help chart a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA new administration prioritizing the city\u2019s recovery through quality-of-life improvements, retail theft reduction, and business growth is set to transform San Francisco,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lauren Biggs, a senior client-services coordinator with Colliers, said the Bloomingdale\u2019s news \u201churt my soul,\u201d and that she hoped the store would relocate closer to Union Square and be closer to other luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Biggs said the recent retail-leasing activity pointed to better days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think,\u201d she said, \u2019while the change in this moment is small, it will have a snowball effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest Union Square numbers from Cushman &amp; Wakefield did not reflect Macy\u2019s Tuesday announcement that it would close its more than 330,000-square-foot, five-story department store on Market Street at the edge of Union Square in the huge, largely empty San Francisco Centre mall. Its previous operators walked away from the mall in June 2023 when they stopped paying debt service on a $558 million loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bloomingdale\u2019s news came immediately on the heels of luxury-accessories and fashion purveyor Mchael Kors also closing its shop in the mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dragos Pop said he had not visited the mall for several years before coming on Tuesday looking for sports apparel, and he was shocked by the many store vacancies he saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt couldn\u2019t be more different. It\u2019s a ghost town,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Pop said he was \u201cpretty bullish on The City with the new mayor,\u201d he wondered whether the condition of the mall was a \u201ctrailing indicator\u201d of San Francisco\u2019s recently troubled economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to steer a ship, right?\u201d Pop said. \u201cAnd so it takes a bit [of time] to see that correction. We already maybe bottomed out. But gosh, this doesn\u2019t feel like San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kazuko Morgan, an executive vice chairman at Cushman &amp; Wakefield, said the leasing numbers likely don\u2019t tell the whole story and might lag reality on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Morgan cited as evidence of positive momentum the recent openings of a string of luxury retail stores near Union Square, including Rolex and Patek Philippe boutiques next to a new Breitling watch shop and relocated MaxMara and Burberry shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 200 block of Post Street used to be almost half vacant but now is comparatively full with tenants, she said. Morgan also said \u201ca couple\u201d of big announcements are in the works, though she would not provide details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think having stores opened is very meaningful,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cAnd so I think those are the things we continue to feel good about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Morgan said the Bloomingdale\u2019s announcement was \u201cnot good news,\u201d but, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s so devastating, because there\u2019s always going to be somebody else that comes in eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leasing activity in the Union Square-Post Street area had started to rebound in the fourth quarter as several retailers inked deals for both short term pop-ups and long-term leases, Cushman &amp; Wakefield reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Noteworthy openings it cited included ABSteak, a Korean steakhouse by Michelin-starred chef Akira Back, in the lower level of Hotel Fusion at 124 Ellis St.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other openings around The City included Bon Delire at Pier 3, Embarc Wines at 2 Embarcadero Center, Caf\u00e9 Sebastian and MadLab Kakigori (desserts) by the Transamerica Pyramid, Modi at Salesforce Transit Center, Verjus (reopening) in Jackson Square and Morella and Milos Meze in the Marina. Two fitness studios also opened in that district: Hot 8 Yoga and Solidcore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, Round1 Bowling &amp; Arcade, a Japanese entertainment facility, opened its San Francisco location at Stonestown Galleria, occupying an approximately 50,000-square-foot space in the former Nordstrom\u2019s basement space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco saw more retail properties occupied than vacated for the first time in years during the latter portion of 2024, according to multiple real-estate firms. Before news broke Tuesday that Macy\u2019s would&nbsp;close its downtown Bloomingdale\u2019s&nbsp;department store, analysts were compiling numbers showing that San Francisco\u2019s retail-vacancy rate had fallen in&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/in-two-year-first-more-sf-retail-spots-filled-than-vacated\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39039,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39035\/revisions\/39039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}