Small Business — Manny for Supervisor

Vacant storefront POLICY

A Plan to Fill Every Vacant Storefront in District 8

Over the last eight months, I’ve held 131 house parties and knocked [exact number] doors. Door after door and house party after house party one issue continues to come up when I ask the people of District 8 what they want:

Fill the damn vacant storefronts!

From Le Petit Laurent in Glen Park to Fresca in Noe Valley to Pottery Barn in the Castro, people in the neighborhoods continue to walk by boarded-up and empty storefronts, asking the same two questions: “Why?” and “How much longer?”

As the owner of Manny’s, a restaurant and civic events space, and as the former President of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, I’ve seen firsthand how vacant storefronts impact our communities. They lead to a general feel of neglect, lower foot traffic, and less opportunity to grow. They also create a sense of sadness knowing that these empty storefronts are keeping our neighborhoods from reaching their full potential.

We know that full storefronts signify health, energy, vitality, and positive street conditions. We’ve seen this happen in other neighborhoods around the City and we want it for ours. So what do we do? We need to flip the script and take a comprehensive approach to solving this problem.

This is how we get there

GOAL #1

Work with Each Landlord to Create an Action Plan

Some landlords truly want to fill their vacant storefronts and some don’t seem to care. Either way starting day one we will meet with each and every landlord of a vacant storefront. The outcome of that meeting will be a tailored action plan to get that storefront filled fast. Each landlord has a set of reasons for that vacancy. We will give them a solution. No excuses.

If the landlord needs help finding a tenant: we’ll matchmake their space with the right potential tenants until they say yes.
If the City is making unreasonable demands on the landlord: we’ll work with the City to get them waivers or take advantage of grant programs to fix up their spaces.
If the Landlord has a bad leasing agent: we’ll help them get a new one.
If the Landlord is willing to take on a pop-up while they find a more permanent tenant: we’ll make it happen.
If the Landlord doesn’t actually want to rent their space: we’ll strengthen the existing vacancy tax to increase fines, make them apply faster, and put liens on property kept vacant for more than five years.

GOAL #2

Transform Castro and Market Street

Castro and Market is the beating heart of District 8 but sometimes it can feel like she’s on life support.

Two gas stations, a forever vacant Pottery Barn space, a dingy Castro Muni Station, and a cracked and broken Jane Warner plaza all together paint a picture of neglect. Let’s turn that around. We deserve better and we’re going to get it. Castro and Market are full of potential. Taking advantage of the energy of the new Castro Theater we will turn this intersection into a true destination that will emanate from the center outwards, attracting more prospective small businesses into the freshly beating heart.

Incentivize the owners of both gas stations to turn them into housing with hundreds of new residents.
Develop the Pottery Barn space into new dense housing with the potential for a thriving restaurant, drag emporium, discotheque, and/or bathhouse on the ground floor/lower level.
Complete the renovation of Harvey Milk plaza and turn the space into a world-class destination to both honor Harvey’s legacy and encourage visitors from around the globe to come visit the Castro
Completely renovate Jane Warner Plaza to serve as the terminus to a new 17th street greenway and lateral park with lush greenery and gathering spaces - our very own town square.

GOAL #3

Make District 8 the Most Attractive Place to Start a Business in the City

In addition to working landlord by landlord and transforming the economic center of the district we need to compete for customers against every other district in the City. To win this competition we intend to make District 8 the most attractive place in San Francisco to start, build, and keep a small business. We’ll make this happen through a combination of new grant programs, eliminating red tape, leaning into our nightlife roots, and keeping the streets sparkling clean and vibrant. The goal? Small business owners will be lining up to open in District 8.

Launch a new $50k-$100k unrestricted opportunities grant program for prospective small businesses to use as start-up funding to open their businesses on Upper Market and the center of the Castro where a majority of the vacancies exist.
Remove all zoning restrictions for new small businesses for four years in the District. If you want to start a business, the answer is yes. If it’s a customer-serving business, you are automatically approved.
Create the City’s first full neighborhood entertainment zone in the Castro, allowing bars to sell to-go whenever they want.
Make the Castro a truly 24-hour neighborhood with 4 am bar closing time, 24-hour Muni service, and tax incentives for restaurants that stay open until midnight.
Allow for a few name-brand stores (e.g. apple store/sephora) to fill the larger storefronts
Ensure that the zone is the cleanest, safest, and most activated in the City with daily street cleaning, zero tolerance for drug dealing and use, massively expanded lighting displays, more public art, and regular night markets in each of the district’s neighborhoods.

Let’s get to business!

What do you think?

This is a campaign built on listening and action. Let us know what you think of the plan.