It’s a San Francisco show tune set on sad repeat: Once-vibrant Market Street is overrun by crime, blight, and public drug use. Ideas get floated for a revival. Investments get made. Attention shifts. Businesses and residents continue to struggle.
But Supervisor Bilal Mahmood says he’s got a new idea to resuscitate the blocks between 5th and 9th streets that make up the Mid-Market district: Recast the neighborhood’s historic theaters as the main character. On Thursday, Mahmood rolled out details for a plan to beautify the stretch, with an emphasis on raising the status of its theaters.
“The theater and the arts need to feel that love and bring in that same economic investment that we’re seeing in other parts of downtown,” said Mahmood, whose district includes the Tenderloin.
The biggest visual change he proposes would be the installation of LED screens — like those in New York City’s Times Square, but on a smaller scale — that would advertise theater shows.
Other ideas on the table include decorating the crosswalks with references from famous show, such as quotes from “Wicked” or “Hamilton”; installing public art, new lighting fixtures, planters and tables; and putting themed banners on lampposts to make that stretch of Market Street more inviting to attendees of the Orpheum, ACT Strand, the Warfield, the Golden Gate, and Bill Graham.
The American Conservatory Theater and other venues have struggled to survive since the pandemic. | Source: Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Mahmood isn’t the first politician to try to spruce up the area.
In the 2010s, under the late Mayor Ed Lee, Mid-Market saw a brief real estate boom as the city’s tech sector grew, fueled by a tax break that attracted Twitter and other companies. The area had struggled for decades to be recognized as a prime location for investment.
But just as it was getting back on its feet, the pandemic devastated it again. Today, more than 46% of neighborhood offices are empty, versus the citywide vacancy rate of 33%, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Prior to the pandemic, vacancy rates across the city were less than 6%.
The timing of Mahmood’s proposal comes as nearly two dozen Bay Area theaters have shuttered since 2020, including 15 in San Francisco. On Wednesday, The Standard reported on the struggles of the city’s theater business, as attendance has slowed since the pandemic, while production costs have risen.
How would the mostly cosmetic changes make any difference?
“Its a very reasonable question. The reason I feel optimistic is we have a case study,” said Mahmood, explaining that the reactivation of UN Plaza — which has a skate park and other amenities — serves as an example of how a previously dreary public space (opens in new tab) can become a draw.
A rendering of an LED screen that could be part of Mid-Market’s revamp. | Source: Department of Public Works
Mahmood intends to raise money for his project through a private-public partnership, similar to a model Mayor Daniel Lurie has used frequently throughout his first year, leveraging his connections to tech founders and philanthropists.
The city this month announced a $5 million donation from billionaire Chris Larsen (opens in new tab) to breathe new life into Larkin Street in the Tenderloin. With the city’s finances tight and a $936 million budget deficit expected over the next two years, private funding has taken a larger role in public projects.
Mahmood said he hopes to raise an amount similar to that of the Larkin project. He estimates that the initial pilot program for an intersection would cost $1 million, while the full scope of the plans would total $5 million. He said city leaders have focused on wooing Big Tech and office workers, but the arts are an “important part of the story” that often get overlooked.
In addition to the design changes, Mahmood’s plan has two other crucial components: public safety and reenergizing small businesses along the street.
He said his office has worked on getting more police foot patrols in the area, and the city’s Drug Market Agency Coordination Center is operating every day of the week.
Meanwhile, the Office of Economic Workforce and Development is helping businesses open along the street, which is pockmarked with vacant signs. On Tuesday, the department opened applications (opens in new tab) for grant funding of up to $100,000, and the corridor along Market from 5th to 9th is one of the eligible areas.
Fernando Pujals, executive director of the Mid-Market Business Association and Foundation, said signs of life are starting to crop up along the street, including last year’s sales of the Warfield (opens in new tab) and Odd Fellows Temple buildings. He supports Mahmood’s plan.
“We’re not reaching that potential,” he said of the area. “I think we’re leaving money on the table.”