As we first reported in June with respect to Shorenstein’s makeover of the Western Furniture Exchange & Merchandise Mart at 1355 Market Street, the 11-story Mid-Market building they’re re-branding along with 875 Stevenson Street as “Market Square,” the buildings will include nearly 100,000 square feet of retail.
A plugged-in tipster now delivers the latest floor plan for the first floor of 1355 Market Street and notes three new restaurant spaces, a coffee shop and a potential 18,265 square foot grocery planned for the corner of Market and 10th.
Yes! One more giant step towards the rebirth of Mid-Market! Love it!
This is more good news for Mid-Market, indeed. However, I’m afraid it must be bad news for somewhere else. As the [people] who currently occupy the Mid-Market area are forced out, where will they go?
oakland?
gmlight, about “.. the [people] who currently occupy the Mid-Market area ..”? SROs are not affected, shelters are not affected, and the city is not supposed to provide a hang-out area reserved to only one class of its citizen.
Or will they have to make an Environmental Review for Mid Market too, to make sure they’re not encroaching on any valuable protected blight?
The street people have already moved west along Market. Just west of Van Ness @Market seems to be a growing “hang out” area. I suspect that as Mid-Market develops they will be pushed west to Zuni and the Daly Dive.
I’ll add that Van Ness is seeming rather homelessy lately as well. Lots of vacant spots and do-nothing establishments (like Walgreens and Burger King) allowing them to get comfortable. Too bad CPMC is being delayed because it would have gone a long way. 100 Van Ness may help a little.
Go to market between Church and Castro after 1AM on a weekday and you’ll think you’ve landed in a zombie movie.
As the [people] who currently occupy the Mid-Market area are forced out, where will they go?
How about Antioch/Oakley/Stockton/Louisiana/Mississippi? This is a big state/country. LOTS of places for them too go.
Why does one persons antisocial way of inhabiting a public space take precedence over a legitimate use?
Who cares where they go! SF tolerates incredible amounts of anti social behavior from the point of view of “caring” for the down and out. The reality is that its just enablement.
Get the problem behaviors off the street and into shelters or some other assisted situation
Who cares where the homeless go? I mean, honestly. Are people actually saying that they have rights to specific areas of town? They’re detritus and there are plenty of places all over SF still happy to fill their stoops with SARS blankets and syringes.
A grocery store at 10th and Market will benefit the people who actually pay rent or have mortgages and pay property taxes and probably have jobs to boot.
Suck it up, SF. You can either keep smelling of urine and pretend that a city can survive as a haven for vagrants or grow up, put on some clean pants and take a shower.
Bums don’t add character, they need help.
“put on some clean pants and take a shower”
I think you’ve got your order of operations confused there. In some ways I agree with bob- the problem with the SF approach to homelessness is that it’s based on enablement instead of cure. Often times the roots of these problems are in addiction, and there is nothing in this universe you can do to an addict that is worse than simply enabling them to go about using. Shame on city hall for their faux “compassion” and failure to find real solutions. SF needs some tough love. Really, it’s the only kind.
As a Castro dweller this saddens me, but I have to think that the likely home for these freeloaders is further west on Market. It bothers me to no end that the Catholic church in our neighborhood allows 6-12 drunks and junkies to set up camp every night in front of their door. These are not down-on-their-luck types that are between jobs/housing, they are the type of people that wake up in the morning with a fix, which I have witnessed. Why they are permitted to camp in the middle of the city is a mystery to me. But I am glad that mid-Market is getting better. The less real estate for them the better.
There’s no real quick fix to chronic homelessness. It’s not as if there is a Return-To-Sender address for people in trouble.
But if it’s much harder to be homeless in the boonies than in SF, then no wonder we’re at the receiving end.
Give a prospectus at the exit of every arriving Greyhound coach saying “SF is an expensive city and not welcoming to everyone, contrary to what you heard. Please have your return ticket ready just in case. 60s are so over.”
The maybe a few will think twice before failing here after failing at home.
Gotta admit: this is going to be one heck of a change.
If there’s one thing I’m not particularly fond of, it’s the large amount of space devoted to hallways. Sure, you need a lobby, but what’s the sense of the large hallway in the middle, when every space is open to the street? It seems that in a lot of cases, these spaces end up being weird, deserted and unpleasant, even when they’re well-maintained.
I think my comments were largely misunderstood. Having my original, more descriptive word replaced by “[people]” undoubtedly contributed to this. It seems the word “homeless” has not been deleted in this thread, so I will use that word.
As the homeless are forced out of Mid-Market, that area will surely become nicer. Great for Mid-Market, but surely not so good for the adjacent areas. As a resident/homeowner/parent in an adjacent area (Hayes Valley), I’m concerned my neighborhood might see an influx of homeless.
@gmlight: all the more reason for Hayes Valley to get all those 40 year old vacant lots built up. Once the chain link fences and underutilized space go, a neighborhood is on the right track to police itself and use discretion when caring with its own population of long term homeless.
SF is one of the most compassionate and considerate cities for people who choose a lifestyle of vagrancy. These are transient people who are used to being shifted around as they wear out their welcome in an area.
I still wish they’d keep the historic window design with the low, stone window sills.