San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell has discussed his visions to reinvigorate the city’s downtown in a press conference this week.
“I’m setting a goal today to cut our commercial vacancy in half during my first term in office,” Farrell said.
Compared to other major U.S. cities, San Francisco’s downtown has struggled significantly to bounce back from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.
“Over 50 major businesses have abandoned their headquarters in San Francisco since COVID-19. Commercial vacancy rates are at an all-time high in San Francisco,” Farrell said during Wednesday press conference.
Farrell announced a 20-year strategy to set downtown on the path to recovery if elected mayor.
He plans to build tens of thousands of new housing units in the downtown core, the Financial District and the South of Market and Mission Bay neighborhoods by providing tax increment financing to allow conversion of buildings to mixed-use for both commercial and residential.
To complement a residential population downtown, Farrell wants to create a “world-class, family-friendly park” where Embarcadero Plaza currently sits at the foot of Market Street in front of the Ferry Building.
Many offices and commercial buildings that were once occupied by employees of various companies are still empty despite pandemic lockdowns being over. Even with businesses that have stayed in downtown, many employees don’t come into the office every day of the work week and instead follow a hybrid schedule.
Farrell would introduce tax incentives for employers that are willing to work in-person at the office at least four days a week. However, he did not comment on how this could be enforced.
Part of his strategy to make the streets safer for everyone is to expand police staffing and add more officers on foot patrols downtown. Farrell pointed to public safety issues as a primary reason for why companies don’t think it’s worth it to stay.
“Businesses and conventions will not come back unless we bring public safety and clean streets back to the San Francisco downtown area.”
Dozens of blue-collar workers and union laborers stood behind Farrell to demonstrate their support for the candidate.
Greg Hardeman is a representative of International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 8 and a trustee with the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council.
He said that Farrell’s plan would help alleviate the office vacancies downtown and thus bring back jobs that blue-collar workers rely on.
“We’ve had members out of work, 300-plus, from the various crafts, from the electricians, the plumbers, the sheet metal. The lack of tenants and record commercial vacancy in downtown has affected all of us,” Hardeman said.
X relocation: A ‘missed opportunity’
Farrell blamed Mayor London Breed for not doing enough to make downtown an appealing and safe place for companies and conventions to operate.
“There’s no mayor in our city’s history that has presided over San Francisco and overseen a steeper decline in the safety and condition of our streets that has a direct impact in our business community, our local economy and the vibrancy of our neighborhoods,” he said.
Yesterday, tech mogul Elon Musk said in a post on his social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, that X’s headquarters will be departing from downtown to move to Texas.
“Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building,” Musk said on X.
Farrell was disappointed to see yet another large company deciding to leave the city.
“To me, losing one of our major tenants, one of our major employers San Francisco is a missed opportunity.” Farrell said. “As mayor, I will focus on bringing our economy back downtown and be focused on policies not that drive our businesses away but that attract businesses back to our downtown core.”