San Francisco Mission Bay coffee shop deals with break-ins as it seeks to open

A coffee shop in San Francisco’s Mission Bay hasn’t even opened yet, but has dealt with at least two break-ins over a 24-hour span.

The owners though say it’s not going to deter them from opening their business and hopes their plan will help drive some of the crime away.

Owners of Silicon Valley Coffee got a taste of how businesses are struggling with crime in San Francisco. On Sunday, Matt Baker and Vance Bjorn came in to work on their new store but ended up finding two people on their property with needles scattered everywhere.

The owners called police, officers talked to the suspects, but didn’t make any arrests.

“Little disappointed, little shaken up,” Baker told CBS News Bay Area. “We went home and came back the next morning just to find that we were robbed and everything we had back there was gone. Including our, ironically enough, our brand new security system.”

The incident might have scared off other business owners but not these two.

“We want to work with the community, with the local representation and work with them to find solutions so that other businesses don’t have to go through this,” he said. “We’re putting a lot on the line out here to redo this space and that was a big setback for us.”

When Baker and Bjorn say they’re putting a lot on the line, they mean it. They are pouring in their money to open up this location on 4th Street, knowing that they will have to close when developers decide to break ground on a towering complex with about a thousand rental units. This maybe a temporary site for Silicon Valley Coffee but it’s a project the owners couldn’t say no to.

 “This is an incredible opportunity,” said Baker. “It’s not every day an entire coffee shop, a restaurant, a giant patio in a prime location just lands in your feet and they ask you, can you help to make it better.”

So not only are they committed to seeing their business grow, they’re hoping their business will revitalize the area.

“We really think that the best way to solve these issues is by making this corner vibrant again,” Bjorn said to CBS News Bay Area.

The old site of the Creamery is not the only part getting a facelift. These signs of stores closing will come down, the area will be cleaned up and lights will be put up to make this corner of 4th and Townsend more inviting. Baker and Bjorn are determined to make a difference, one cup at a time.

“Coffee is about community,” said Bjorn. “Historically coffee shops have brought people together and this neighborhood needs to be brought together.”