SF's struggling Mid-Market area showing few signs of life after X vacates headquarters

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) - It's been a week since X, formerly known as Twitter, officially vacated its headquarters in San Francisco.

This leaves many questioning the future of the Mid Market area, which has been struggling for decades.

The lobby, which was once bustling with Twitter employees, is now filled with a quiet desolation.

Now known as X, the company was once the second-largest tenant in the Mid-Market area, with more than 450,000 square feet of space.

Nobody misses their business more than Ferit Uyar, owner of Market Street Gyro.

"Of course when they left, they hurt us and the district. It gets worse," Uyar said.

X's move adds to a neighborhood in crisis. Many small businesses here have been forced to close because of rampant drug use and ongoing criminal activity.

"Last two months, they broke my window three times. They have stolen my stuff inside. The center has gone bad. Everything goes bad, you know," Uyar said.

There is a lack of foot traffic in the area too. Offices that used to be full of workers are now empty as remote work continues, which is hitting this particular neighborhood hard.

"The solution, we need more people coming to work office to fill up the empty office, you know. It's all empty," Uyar said.

The Mid-Market area has struggled for decades. When tech companies started filling the neighborhood, things improved.

But when work from home became the new norm, many companies seemed hesitant to bring employees back in person full-time for fear of losing them.

Salesforce recently announced that as of Oct. 1, its employees must be working on site, four to five times a week.

The hope is that other companies will follow their lead.

"I hope it does. We know that this new generation loves the work/life balance after the pandemic. So what we want to do is make sure that companies are doing their part for whatever days a week. We're hoping it's at least four," said San Francisco Mayor, London Breed.

When it moved here in 2012, Twitter was seen by many in the city as the fortress that would economically strengthen the area. For six years, the city gave it a tax break. $70 million in tax revenue was lost, and the revitalization plans never really took off as intended.

Last year, Ikea opened in the area. This year, SaluHall, a large food court, followed.

Still, the vacant spaces are proof that the neighborhood has yet to turn a corner.

Some mayoral candidates have proposed reopening Market Street to cars in order to help businesses.

In early 2020, the downtown area became a car-free corridor. Only public transportation and bicycles are currently allowed.

But, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency reports that the number of bicycles in the city has dropped.

In 2021, 4.7 million bicycles were counted throughout the city from a high of 10.8 million in 2019.

Using sensors embedded in the pavement, the agency can track bicycles. For example, there is one in front of the building that once housed X.

By 2:45 p.m. only 1,005 bicycles and electric scooters on that day had gone through the Mid-Market area.

Another plan that may help to revitalize the area is a recent law to convert empty office spaces into housing. The idea is to attract developers by offering tax incentives.

"That law was signed and will have, we think, an impact at least adjacent to Mid-Market in the downtown corridor of San Francisco," said Gov. Gavin Newsom.

But realistically that could take years.

But for many of the businesses who are trying to survive here, help can't come soon enough.

"I can't, of course, I can't anymore. That's what I say. It's hard to survive, really hard," Uyar said.