Vacant Storefronts — Manny for Supervisor

Vacant storefront POLICY

A Plan to Fill Every Vacant Storefront in District 8

We’ve had more than 126 house parties and knocked on more than 5,000 doors, and when I ask the people of District 8 what they want most, one issue continues to come up:

Fill the damn vacant storefronts!

There are 63 vacant storefronts in District 8.

We all walk past them. From Le Petit Laurent in Glen Park to Fresca in Noe Valley to the old Pottery Barn at Castro and Market, these vacancies are holding our neighborhoods back.

I’ve seen firsthand how vacant storefronts negatively impact our communities. As the owner of Manny’s, my small business, and as a former merchant association president, I've seen how vacancies lead to lower foot traffic, less growth, and a general feeling of neglect.

We know that full storefronts signify health, energy, vitality, and joy. We’ve seen this happen in other neighborhoods around the City and we deserve the same for ours.

So what do we do? How do we make it happen?

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. Starting day one we’re going to work with each and every landlord to come up with an action plan to get their storefronts filled. No excuses.

If the landlord needs help finding a tenant: We’ll matchmake their space with potential tenants until they find a good fit.
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 the intersection is on life support. Two gas stations, a forever vacant Pottery Barn space, and a cracked and broken Jane Warner plaza all together paint a picture of neglect. We deserve better and we’re going to get it.

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 D8 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 our customers back we intend to make District 8 the most attractive place in San Francisco to start, build, and run a small business.

Launch a new $50k-$100k unrestricted opportunities grant program for prospective small businesses to use as start-up funding on Upper Market and in the Castro.
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 bar closures pushed to 4 a.m., 24-hour Muni service, and tax incentives for restaurants that stay open until midnight.
Allow for a few name-brand stores (e.g. Apple/Sephora) to fill the larger storefronts.
Ensure that the Castro is the cleanest, safest, and most activated neighborhood in the City with daily street cleaning, massively expanded lighting displays, more public art, and regular night markets in each of the district’s neighborhoods.

What do you think?

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