San Francisco’s Powell Street Positioned for Rebound

San Francisco’s beleaguered Powell Street retail corridor could be ready to rebound.

The street has seen a wave of new boutiques and major retailers that are helping bring it back to life, according to nearly two dozen building owners, tenants, leasing agents and other local stakeholders, the San Francisco Standard reported.

That is good news as “for lease” signs still plague large portions of the street. The retail vacancy rate on Powell is around 71 percent, according to JLL; by contrast, it’s 33 percent for Union Square and 8 percent citywide.

Ian Jacobs, an heir to the Reichmann real estate empire, for example, has been on a Powell Street shopping spree in recent months. In April, the former Warren Buffett associate bought 200-216 Powell Street for $7.4 million. He followed it up with the purchase of 111 Ellis Street, located on the corner of Powell, in June, and 35-41 Powell Street earlier this month for $7.1 million. The mixed-use properties were once home to businesses like Blondie’s Pizza.

Those purchases were made as part of his initiative dubbed Project Uris, which seeks to revive bargain-basement-priced buildings amid sagging economic conditions. Chinese retail giant Pop Mart, maker of the currently viral Labubu dolls, is setting up shop at the Jacobs-purchased 200 Powell Street.

Other retailers have been moving in this year. Zara is gearing up to open a flagship at Powell and Post Streets after shuttering its second downtown San Francisco location earlier this month. Nintendo opened its first West Coast outpost on Powell in May. And Shoe Palace took over a former Express location at Powell Street and Geary Street in February. The city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, launched by nonprofit SF New Deal in partnership with the city in 2023, could help speed along retailers’ return to the Powell corridor, as it subsidizes rent for local businesses and has plans for several new stores across the city by the end of this year. Nooworks, a boutique store in the Mission District, for example, opened a pop-up at 242 Powell Street in May.

— Chris Malone Méndez