{"id":49063,"date":"2026-07-08T13:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49063"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:22:15","slug":"can-san-francisco-fill-vacant-storefronts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/can-san-francisco-fill-vacant-storefronts\/","title":{"rendered":"Can San Francisco Fill Vacant Storefronts?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0July 6, 2026 (BeyondChron.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Mid-Market housing above vacant retail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress Made But More Help Needed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco\u2019s Storefront Opportunity Grant program has made grants of $50,000-100,000 to 39 businesses which have opened or will do so by 2027. Restaurant and small business permits are being expedited. Entertainment zones<\/a> facilitate outdoor drinking. San Francisco\u2019s vacancy tax has had a positive impact<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But San Francisco still has far more vacant storefronts than before Covid. Is there more the city can do? Or has online purchasing permanently reduced the city\u2019s retail demand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Vacancies in \u201cRing\u201d Neighborhoods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco\u2019s retail vacancies primarily impact the Mission, Castro, SOMA, Mid-Market, downtown, Cathedral Hill, lower Polk, lower Nob Hill and the Tenderloin. These were once known as the \u201cring\u201d neighborhoods as they collectively form a ring spreading out from downtown,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four factors have driven this retail decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there are fewer daily customers coming into San Francisco. Blame the steep reduction in BART ridership into the city and the huge rise in working at home. Downtown office space is still 29.7% vacant<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, these areas still suffer from the post-Covid boost in sidewalk drug activities. Negative perceptions remain even where sidewalk drug use has declined. As I have written about the Tenderloin<\/a>, neighborhood improvements are not seen by those who have given up on area businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past and present drug activity discourages opening businesses. Labor and business costs are the same in Noe Valley or the Marina. Why would investors choose a more troubled neighborhood? Particularly when rents are not that much lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, some landlords benefiting from rising apartment rents feel no pressure to rent their retail spaces. They keep them vacant until someone meets their unrealistic price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth, changes in consumption practices have hurt restaurants and bars. The younger generation has reduced alcohol consumption. The widespread use of Ozempic\u2014which reduces spending on food between 5-8%-<\/a>\u2013has people ordering less food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tenderloin bars were once recession-proof. But since Covid even historic Tenderloin bars have closed. Their spaces are either still vacant or have been converted to the now pervasive mini-markets. Several of which have been sued by the City Attorney\u2019s office for being fronts for the drug trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What More Can City Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

City Hall\u2019s targeted, well-funded efforts to revive Union Square and Downtown should expand. For example, Mid-Market desperately needs help filling its ground floor retail. The retail situation is so bad that two major new housing developments at 50 Jones and 1028 Market (the Prism) haven\u2019t even built out their retail spaces years after opening (see photo above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Market Street between 7th<\/sup> and 5th<\/sup> streets is desolate due to the lack of retail.  IKEA\u2019s purchase in 2020 of the long vacant 250,000-square-foot building at 945 Market Street has not galvanized the area. Its Saluhall food hall has had a complete turnover of businesses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closure of the former Westfield Centre sharply reduced foot traffic on that stretch of Market Street. No destination business in the area now exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Lurie\u2019s San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation<\/a> has yet to make the major investment that the core of Mid-Market  needs. Plans to label Mid-Market the \u201cTheater District\u201d will help but a lot more is needed to return retail customers to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some trumpet the city\u2019s renting more office space at 1455 Market as a boost for Mid-Market. But Market and 11th<\/sup> Street has not been a challenging area. \u201cMid-Market is customarily seen as between Ninth and Fifth Streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where investment in Mid-Market also benefits SOMA and the Tenderloin. And where City Hall and its donor allies should invest a lot more time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Upzoning Revive Retail?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 I wrote \u201cCure for Vacant Storefronts? Build Housing<\/a>.\u201d But the hundreds of new housing units that opened in Mid-Market after Covid have not produced successful retail. Building six to eight story buildings under the Family Zoning Plan or state law will fill vacant storefronts in neighborhoods where retail already thrives. That\u2019s where upzoning will most likely encourage housing to actually be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling Tenderloin Vacancies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have spent years trying fill Tenderloin retail vacancies. We had great success leading up to Covid. It\u2019s a challenge in 2026 for the reasons stated above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tenderloin has very few blocks with continuous retail. Little Saigon has long been the Tenderloin\u2019s core commercial district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2023<\/a> I counted eighteen vacant storefronts in the two-block stretch of Larkin between Eddy and O\u2019Farrell. There were still eighteen<\/a> in February 2026. And the same number last week. It\u2019s hard to attract businesses when Larkin between O\u2019Farrell and Geary still has ongoing day and night sidewalk drug activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses that have received city grants for Larkin Street on blocks without drug activities have still not opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the situation could soon dramatically improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Larsen has donated $5 million to revive Larkin Street and Little Saigon. This sends a clear message that the area is set for revival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tenderloin has many landlords eager to give good rent deals to fill retail spaces. But Little Saigon has some owners uninterested in renting storefronts. They don\u2019t post \u201cFor Rent\u201d signs. They allow their spaces to physically deteriorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco enacted a vacancy tax to pressure such landlords. One idea that has been floated<\/a> by a close Lurie ally is to strengthen the tax by increasing fines and have them kick in faster. The city would also get the power to put liens on buildings with longterm vacancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Areas like Little Saigon need enhanced penalties. Owners should not be able to hold once thriving retail districts hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has Online Shopping Forever Reduced Demand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some believe online shopping has permanently reduced in store demand. Yet that doesn\u2019t explain why retail is booming in the city\u2019s more affluent neighborhoods. After all, those customers also buy online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online shopping also doesn\u2019t explain vacant dining spaces. Prior to Covid, restaurants, bars and cafes filled many of the now vacant storefronts in the ring neighborhoods. The city must focus on bringing these dining spots back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So can San Francisco fill vacant storefronts? Yes the City Can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Posts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0July 6, 2026 (BeyondChron.org) New Mid-Market housing above vacant retail Progress Made But More Help Needed San Francisco\u2019s Storefront Opportunity Grant program has made grants of $50,000-100,000 to 39 businesses which have opened or will do so by 2027. Restaurant and small business permits are being expedited. Entertainment zones facilitate outdoor… Continue reading → <\/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":[1878,2165],"tags":[2166],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49063"}],"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=49063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49064,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49063\/revisions\/49064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}