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With Adidas moving out of SF, what could fill city's growing empty retail spaces?

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With Adidas moving out of SF, what could fill city's growing empty retail spaces?


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday a new state-of-the-art tech and health research park in Los Angeles.

A collaboration between UCLA and the private sector, taking over a space that was once a Westfield mall.

“This is a race for global dominance in this space. This is about exponentials,” Newsom said.

Meanwhile, up north here in the Bay Area — our own mall in San Francisco is seeing a new store close its doors.

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MORE: ‘A sad day’: Nordstrom officially closes SF flagship store, shoppers say goodbye

Adidas announced Friday they’ll be shutting down on Jan. 13.

It’s not just mall space that’s becoming more available in San Francisco, though. Around the city, office vacancies are at record levels.

That level, now at 35% according to the latest numbers.

With all the unused space, there have been questions over whether San Francisco could do something similar to L.A.

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MORE: Cinemark theater closes at SF Westfield Mall but expert says it’s part of nationwide issue

“You should be able to take a downtown core and make into, not just a business center, but an innovation center,” said Sean Randolph.

Randolph works with the Bay Area Council’s economic institute.

He says since the pandemic, several city leaders have been pushing ways to reimagine downtown.

“I can only say that there is real interest in the University of California’s desire to look at downtown as an option for campus, for housing, for a number of things,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

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But it’s not just universities that can take up the empty space, says commercial real estate developer Mark Ritchie.

MORE: ‘Seeing the potential’: SF’s Vacant to Vibrant pop-ups hope to extend their stay in city

Ritchie says artificial intelligence businesses stand out as a rapidly growing consumer of office space in recent years – especially in San Francisco.

“We’re in the best position nationally to recover from this based on the hope for future tech employment and whatever is the vanguard for tech,” Ritchie said.

Experts say new development won’t come without challenges though.

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“There’s issues with homelessness that are a deterrent for some companies to come in here. There are issues with crime,” said Randolph.

However, despite the obstacles, many city residents say they’d support the changes.

“Especially if it’s done the right way. Housing, community organizations, afterschool programs,” said San Francisco resident Elena Henderson.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Offered Star $50 Million Contract Last Year

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San Francisco Giants Offered Star $50 Million Contract Last Year


The San Francisco Giants front office has improved over the past few years.

While the team hasn’t played as well as many fans have hoped for, this past offseason was a positive indication of what’s to come for the future of the organization.

If they can continue to spend money the way they have and land high-end free agents, the Giants will eventually find the success they’re looking for.

This season saw them start slower than they had hoped, but May was a much better month for San Francisco. With players hopefully getting healthy soon, too, this could be the floor for how good the team could truly be.

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Outside of landing free agents, keeping their own talent is just as important.

Camilo Doval, who made a name for himself as one of the better closers in baseball over the past few seasons, is the perfect example of that.

According to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants offered Doval a contract in the $50 million range last year.

“The Giants demonstrated they want to make it a long-term arrangement with Doval, offering him a multiyear deal in the $50 million range last year, the Chronicle learned. The sides were unable to come to an agreement, perhaps because another closer, Edwin Díaz, had received a $102 million deal from the Mets not long before.”

Making a long-term commitment to the flame-throwing right-hander would be a wise decision.

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Over his four-year big league career, the 26-year-old has posted a 2.77 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He had 27 saves in 2022 and 39 in 2023.

Having a lockdown closer to win games is as important as any other position on the roster.

Doval, who owns a 2.78 ERA this season in 22 2/3 innings pitched, is just that.

He’s struggled with command issues at times, including this year, as he’s walked 15 hitters. However, his 29 strikeouts are also impressive.

Doval doesn’t hit free agency until 2028 but he could be an excellent candidate to get paid early.

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San Francisco, CA

SF hippy hub The Center scales back its offerings in permit clash

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SF hippy hub The Center scales back its offerings in permit clash


“We want to comply with the city and it’s really expensive to do so, so we’re trying to figure it out,” Kaufman said.

For now, it has drastically scaled down its offerings to meet the city’s definition of providing complementary incidental food, which allows businesses to give away simple snacks and drinks without a health permit. The goal is to keep the space operational as leadership figures out its path forward, Kaufman added. 

“The Center is really this urban oasis where, for almost a decade, people have come to connect with themselves, connect with each other, and have respite in the middle of the city,” he said. “I think it holds a really unique place in the city of San Francisco, both in the kind of events and workshops that happen here, but also the kind of community that’s built here.” 

The Center needs conditional use authorization to run events and its beverage business in a residential district. Currently, “none of The Center’s activities—food, beverage, entertainment, institutional—are properly permitted,” Planning Department spokesperson Dan Sider told The Standard via email. “We’ve been trying to help them remedy this for the last three years.”

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San Francisco, CA

Six charged in San Francisco drug store theft

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Six charged in San Francisco drug store theft


SAN FRANCISCO — A group of people walking toward a store with empty bags triggered the suspicions of an off-duty San Francisco police sergeant and led to charges of organized retail theft against six people, prosecutors said Friday.

Three men and three women, ranging in age from 19 to 25, were accused of stealing more than $3,000 in merchandise — makeup, diapers, bath and body products, batteries, vitamins, and various other items — from a CVS store in the 700 block of Portola Drive, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Two of the men had been released from custody on another pending felony case.

The sergeant was driving near the store about 8 p.m. on May 24 and watched as the group entered and then chaotically left the store, with one suspect pushing a shopping cart full of goods, police said in a separate press release Thursday.

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The sergeant relayed the information to other officers who responded to the area.

The suspects were charged with felony commercial burglary, felony grand theft, felony vandalism and misdemeanor organized retail theft.

Although charges have been filed, the case remains under active investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. 

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