By Christin Evans, HANC Board

At our December meeting, we will discuss the state of storefront vacancies on Haight Street.  In 2016, when the Haight Ashbury Merchants Association (HAMA) started counting vacancies, Haight Street had 9 vacant storefronts, about 6% of the 150 storefronts in the neighborhood.  In February 2020, the number of vacancies had risen to 21 or about 15%.  And, no surprise, since March 2020, another 10 vacancies have been announced bringing the current vacancy total to 31 or 21%.  With the economic recovery far from certain in 2021, we might expect that number to rise further -- could we see as many as 1 in 4 or 1 in 3 storefronts vacant before we reach bottom? 

OEWD (San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development) has conducted a study of the shopping needs of the Haight Street Commercial Corridor which its consultant, Livable City, conducted in October and November this year. At our December meeting, we will look at the study’s findings. And, we will discuss the opportunities for the Community to participate in the economic recovery of our local shopping street.  With so many vacancies and with construction set to conclude in Spring 2021, we will discuss entrepreneur recruitment strategies -- and specifically talk about the businesses we’d like to attract to the corridor--including a pharmacy, shoe repair shop, etc.  One idea is to identify businesses compatible with a worker co-operative model which could also help ease local unemployment. Does it make sense to implement the Storefront Vacancy Tax which voters passed in 2019 or should its implementation be further delayed?  Will commercial landlords and local realtors benefit from a neighborhood marketing packet which the community helps develop? 

What are your thoughts and ideas on pitching in to help Haight Street recover?  Please join us in this important discussion.