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Downtown San Francisco’s office buildings have been quieted by some of the highest vacancy rates and slowest return-to-office trends in the country. But when walking around the area, what makes it feel still so uninhabited is a different but related phenomenon downstairs from all those empty offices: the vacant ground floor.
It’s the windows with their shades tightly drawn, the phantom deli counters visible through dusty glass, the lingering signage for a Verizon store that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s the glum handwritten notes — “this location is closed” — and the brokerage signs trying to be cheery. Around nearly every corner, they’re seeking someone to lease 822 square feet of former coffee shop, or 5,446 square feet of empty bakery, or 12,632 square feet of what was once a Walgreens.
Like much of the office space above it, the ground floor will probably have to be reimagined in San Francisco’s business district and other downtowns that have long taken for granted a captive audience of commuting consumers. In fact, it will be hard to solve the problem upstairs without also solving this one. Because who wants to return downtown when its most visible spaces have been darkened, boarded up and papered over?
“There’s nothing worse than the butcher paper,” said Conrad Kickert, an urban design scholar at the University at Buffalo who studies storefronts and street life. “And only one step above that are these sad stickers with happy smiling people on them.”
Updates Based on Data
According to recent data, downtown San Francisco is experiencing some of the highest vacancy rates and slowest return-to-office trends in the country. The ground floor of many office buildings in the area is now vacant, with windows covered, deli counters gone, and signs seeking new leaseholders. This phenomenon is not only affecting San Francisco but also other downtown areas that relied on a captive audience of commuting consumers. Solving the vacancy problem on the upper floors requires reimagining and revitalizing the ground floor spaces that have become dark and uninviting.
Report on Urban Centers Decline
The vacant ground floor spaces in urban centers have a significant impact on the overall perception of the area. These spaces, which are highly visible and easily accessed by pedestrians, contribute to the feeling of an uninhabited and desolate environment. Architectural scholar Conrad Kickert notes that the sight of butcher paper-covered windows and cheerless stickers creates a negative impression. The ground floor is where people form their perception of safety and vibrancy in a street. It is where the diversity and vitality of the city come to life. To address the decline of urban centers, the ground floor needs to be reimagined and activated.
New Findings and Potential Solutions
To fill the empty ground-floor spaces, cities and property owners will need to think beyond traditional retail. Alternative uses like health clinics, day care centers, university classrooms, live/work spaces, and fabrication shops could be considered. Some experts suggest filling vacant spaces with small-scale manufacturing that pays more than retail and requires less reliance on foot traffic. Others propose creating public spaces, cultural programming areas, or artist studios in empty storefronts. Lively street-level interaction should be prioritized over purely transactional spaces. Developers and building owners may need to shift their mindset and view the ground floor as a value-adding space rather than a profit generator. Overall, a reimagined and activated ground floor will contribute to the revitalization of urban centers.
