Earlier this year, dealer Rebecca Camacho was standing in her new and expanded downtown San Francisco gallery in Jackson Square, when she paused and pointed to the arched windows facing the street. “There have been people constantly walking by. It’s alive!” she said.
Others in parts of downtown San Francisco, like the Union Square area near Camacho’s previous location, have a different perspective. Nearly 37 percent of the office buildings there remain empty post-pandemic, a rate that is higher than the national average. Vacancies have contributed to the shuttering of retail spaces. Plus, San Francisco officials have said they are struggling to contend with homelessness and a drug overdose epidemic, while the cost of living remains prohibitively high...
Devorah Lauter
