Downtown San Francisco continues rocky road to recovery
San Francisco has been having a rough time adjusting to its post-pandemic reality. The rise of remote and hybrid work has emptied out parts of downtown, and it's having a ripple effect across the city.
Mayor London Breed was at the state capitol Monday, along with mayors from other major California cities touting recovery efforts and advocating for a number of bills that she says will be key to San Francisco's downtown revitalization.
In the meantime, business as usual just isn't cutting it for small businesses downtown.
Sajj Mediterranean has been at the corner of Pine and Belden in the Financial District since 2018. Manager Nancy Madrigal says when they first snagged this location, they were ecstatic.
"This was store number four, so it was pretty busy," said Madrigal.
Nancy said they would have lines out the door during the weekday lunch rush. But then, of course, the pandemic hit.
"It's definitely not the same as before," said Madrigal.
Even all these years later since the peak of COVID the crowds just aren't coming back.
"Out of the five days we might have two good days," said Madrigal.
Sajj isn't alone. Many businesses continue to struggle, especially those downtown. The trend towards remote work has gutted many high-rises in the area, taking away a huge chunk of these restaurants' clientele.
That is why Mayor Breed and several other city officials are pushing the state to pass laws that will make it easier to turn those vacant spaces into housing, or other mix-use venues.
President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Rodney Fong says he's fully on board with the mayor's vision.
"I think COVID taught us not to necessarily put all of our eggs in one basket and San Francisco the luxury of being able to try to diversify itself which I think the mayor by going to Sacramento is trying to do. To expedite and create incentives for people to take chances and be creative in this great downtown," said Fong.
Back at Sajj, Nancy said she likes the idea of getting more people back into downtown - she just hopes those people will visit her restaurant as much as those did before.
"Improving either housing or more work offices around the area will improve our business a lot," said Madrigal.
