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Central Market updates

Another tech tenant signs on, SF Camerawork opens,

Stores respond to the car ban, David Addington's problem,

Office buildings sold, Apartment construction starts

CLICK on pictures to enlarge

• Central Market St stores between Ffth and Eighth Streets responded to a one question survey conducted by ObserveSF.com about the effect on their business caused by the ban on cars on Central Market Street.

Date of

survey:

Third week of September

Number of stores which made a response in person or by email:

26

1011

Market

Street

SF Camerawork is now on the second floor of 1011 Market Street, near 6th Street and next door to The Luggage Store Gallery. Jensen Architects did the design and supplied this art.  Website HERE.

Construction

resumes at 1401 Market with a new design

There are plans for 35 stories, 750 rental apartments, 338 studios, the remainder 1 BR, in two towers. Designed by Glenn Rescalvo of Handel Architects - at the corner of Ninth St.

The building at the center (former AAA offices) will get a new facade for 400 apartments.

The four story building has a new restaurant and a hip lounge.

The tall building was built a few years ago as condos just as the market fell through. Now it is fully rented. 

In the block to the east, a new residential tower has been approved by the planning department.

ACT

opens

at 1117

American Conservatory Theater opened a new performance space on the first floor of The Costume Shop building on October 13. Beginning this season, The Costume Shop, a new, versatile downtown venue located across Market Street from Civic Center's UN Plaza, will be home to an eclectic lineup of out-of-the-box A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program productions, from student-devised work to interdisciplinary collaborations with local artists.

More information HERE

Market

Street

rebuild

• Most important to Central Market’s future is the planned rebuilding of the Street proposed for 2015. Years of torn up streets and sidewalks will stress stores and businesses in the area.

An ObserveSF suggested plan is HERE.

The official planning site is HERE.

• At long last, another tenant has signed a lease to move into 1355 Market St, the location where the new home office of Twitter is being constructed. CallSocket, which is an international call center services company, has leased 30,000 square feet.

• 1355 Market, the former wholesale furniture showroom has been chosen by Twitter for a 200,000-square-foot lease for six years - as long as a special city tax exemption lasts. They have an option to double that space.

• A figure of 1,200 new employees to start has been mentioned. In August, Twitter announced an infusion of new funds. Website HERE.

•  Shorenstein Properties purchased the building and promised $80 million in updates. The first step, now underway,  is demolishion of the top floor (which was added in the 1940's) for a roof deck garden.

•  Meanwhile Twitter has leased 30,000 sf at 201 Third St for a year, when 1355 will be completed.

•  A related Shorenstein company owns the Orpheum and Golden Gate Theaters on near-by Central Market blocks.

Museum

for rent

• The International Art Museum of America, located at 1031 Market Street, is offering two floors of their new building for rent. First Two Floors, Total Space Available: 25,000, SF Rental Rate: $2.50 /SF/Month. Information HERE.

•  Several Central Market office buildings have been sold. 989 Market St was sold in July for $26 million. 1145 Market, between Seventh and Eighth sold in September for $27 million. This is the San Francisco Public Utilities (140,000 sf) building. It will be vacated as they move to 525 Golden Gate Ave. 1275 Market St, the State Compensation Insurance Fund building, was sold in October for $44 million. The 350,000 sf - plus large garage - building is soon-to-be-vacant. This is good news - these mid-century buildings were considered difficult to convert into tech space or residential. Now they have enthusiastic and imagative owners.

•  The 28 story 100 Van Ness will be converted to 400 apartment with new windows and an exterior redesign. The same owner has filed plans for a 13 story building of 175 apartments on what is now a parking lot at 101 Polk St. Emerald Fund and National Real Estate Advisors recently added the nearby 101 Hayes St. parking lot to their Central Market holdings, no immediate plans ready yet.

•  The fates of two older landmark office buildings are less clear. The office building above the Golden Gate Theater was cleared of arts and community organizations at the beginning of the dot-com boom and now sits empty. It is owned by the Shorenstein family. A related company is rebuilding 1355 Market for Twitter. 995 Market Street, where Burning Man (website HERE) has moved in, is nearly half empty and was recently offered for sale.

CLICK on pictures to enlarge

Artist Karen Cusolito's

salvaged steel sculpture,

Valiant Flower (left)

(artist website HERE)

and Art car (above)

Burning Man (website HERE)

CityPlace

bids are yet to

be revealed

• CityPlace, a five story building for big box stores proposed at Fifth and Market, remains Central Market's main problem. The properties which would make up the site of the new building were scheduled to be purchased from foreclosure by one of several Wall St speculative funds on August 9. However, CityPlace is a tiny part of the total loan for sale (one of 248). The new purchaser would sell off the pieces. Meanwhile, San Francisco Business Times reports “Until the loan portfolio is sold and unraveled, the local developers who put the deal together and got the property entitled -- David Rhoades and Martin Sawa of Urban Realty Co. -- remain in limbo. As does, of course, the redevelopment itself.” The 250,000-square-foot project couldn't get Target as a tenant. The Redevelopment Agency lured them to the Metreon.

• The main announced prospects, Marshall’s and Ross, are in buildings at Fifth and Fourth Streets operated by Rhoades and Sawa companies. Ross opened a remodeled and enlarged space at Fourth St in August.

• At the old Federal building at 50 UN Plaza, work continues on an update from basement to roof to improve energy efficiency. Construction, using $121 million of federal stimulus money, is scheduled to be completed in 2013. This, along with the now completed expansion of the Art Institute of California, will re-populate the Plaza.

• When 50 UN Plaza reopens, U S Homeland Security will patrol Market and Seventh Streets from the new Federal Building on Mission St to McAllister and Hyde.

•  David Addington, one of Central Market's largest owners and the most enthusiastic, has received a blow resulting from the banking debacle. The current mortgage owner of one of his properties, The Hollywood Billiards site, refuses to renegotiate. (The property is for sale, Broker: 415 625 2121)

•  The Warfield Theater building at Sixth St. was put up for sale in September. It is located in the tax break zone. There is nearly 40,000 sf of office space. The 2,500 seat theater is leased for three more years to Phillip Anschutz, former owner of the Examiner. Photos show the penthouse HERE. Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, which “brings together the best creative coders, data artists, designers, and makers to create experiments that build social consciousness through digital culture,” has moved into the large corner store space - website HERE.

• Show Dogs Restaurant, "an emporium of sausages and other fine foods," across Taylor Street, thrives at lunch time (website HERE).

• In July, the state of Porno on Central Market took a turn with the Planning Commission's approval of a new burlesque venue at Market and Seventh Streets. Fuel is operating (in an storefront in the Renoir Hotel at Seventh St) from 9:30pm to 2am on Saturdays, with plans to open 5 days a week from 5pm.

•  For a while, there were hopes for a plan to convert the porno Market St Cinema (near Seventh St.) into a legit multi-theater complex. But ACT did not participate, floating a proposal for a new building at Market and Mason. More on theaters HERE.

• Porno also remains at the Crazy Horse (between The Warfield Theater and the ACT site) These two live facilities are busiest at lunch time.

• The discrete storefront at Fuel is a better way to go than the emphatic sign at Market St Cinema.

•    Pearl’s Deluxe Burgers (at Sixth St) is now open! A grant from the SF Redevelopment Agency, funds from Urban Solutions and the building owner (John Gall) made it happen.

•    Next door is a new Happy Donuts and Fried Chicken.

•    Huckleberry Bicycles has opened a new store at 1073, near Seventh St, open all day - plus a free service Kiosk bike repair depot nearby, open from 7:30 to 9:30 weekday mornings. Website HERE. More pics in the Slide Show.

•   A new gym is pre-opening at Market and Grove Streets while construction happens on three floors. Bay 1 Fitness plans this as a base for a citywide venture.

•   Two new stores have arrived at 1400 Market at Polk. Little Griddle Traditional American Eatery offers their special “Donut Burger” starting at Breakfast - and more.

Ma’velous Cafe is a stylish coffee and wine bar with eco chic design and the finest roasted coffees and boutique wines from around the world, for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or in between.  Website HERE.

•   Little Joe’s restaurant moved to Market near Seventh from Fifth and Mission.

•   New and renovated stores are appearing along Central Market Street. See and read about it HERE