By Susie Cagle A fair bit has changed on mid-Market since I began reporting this story back in September. One of the biggest changes has been Pearl Paint's closing just a couple weeks ago at 969 Market Street. Pearl had been there for years, a bright spot of retail on a block that is heavily boarded up and abandoned. Now the successful chain Blick Art Supplies is moving in at 989 Market, just a couple storefronts south. There's also been some other tenancy flux throughout the area, but the vacancy rate still hovers around 30 percent.
One of the things I noticed the most walking up and down Market Street for a few hours this week was the flow of the area and its functions, and how these will play into its revitalization. Though they're currently boarded up, and have been for years, retail in the 900-block buildings between 5th and 6th has much more of a chance at succeeding if the neighborhood can erase the invisible line that cuts Market at 5th, just south of the Westfield Plaza and the heavily trafficked cable car turn-around shopping area. On the southern end of the neighborhood, where there are more SROs and bigger, emptier office buildings, Trinity and Crescent Heights will someday dominate with new condos (and hopefully at least some affordable housing). There are also other empty lots down here that, I think, are likely to see new construction and development within the next 20 years or so, such as the condemned Strand theater and its adjoining lot.
I think all these particularities of the place will be even easier to see on the interactive map we'll be publishing on Monday with the article. I'm really excited about this, it's not something I've ever done before and I think it will complement the story well.
And again, thank you so much to everyone who has donated for far!
(Pictured: St. Francis Theaters, the Art in Storefronts project and the future site of CityPlace. Photo credit David Cohn.)
