Mira, a 400-foot mixed-use tower with a wave-like design, welcomed five retail tenants in recent months, a sign that commercial activity could be on the upswing in San Francisco’s pandemic-battered downtown.
Looksie Optometry, Saint Frank Coffee and Mili Wine Bar signed leases on the ground floor of Mira in recent weeks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The building, at 280 Spear Street in the Transbay area anchored by the Salesforce Tower, leased space to healthy eatery Sweetgreen and wellness center StretchLab last year.
More people have been moving downtown as employers commit to returning some of their staff to office. More than 80 percent of Mira’s almost 400 condos have been sold. Tishman Speyer, owner of the building, said new residents have led to the opening of several stores in Transbay. The founder of Mili Wine Bar lives in Mira and opened the store to connect with other residents.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship,” Carl Shannon, senior managing director at Tishman Speyer, told the publication. “We see Folsom Street as a retail service backbone of this immediate neighborhood.”
Downtown workers are trickling back into San Francisco offices at a slower rate than the rest of the country. Just 29 percent of offices were occupied as of mid-March, fewer than any metros tracked by security company Kastle. A Bay Area Council survey found that while 70 percent of about 200 employers planned to bring workers back to the office, just 15 percent expected to be in the office five days a week.
Several residential buildings in Mid-Market have also had an increase in leasing, despite quality of life issues that include open air drug-dealing.
[San Francisco Chronicle] — Gabriel Poblete
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