Well, let’s see how things look these days on one-third of one-half of the first block of troubled Sixth Street these days.
On the left you can find the current roost of Mobile Command Three from the SFPD. It’s probably there owing to the recent murder (San Francisco’s first and only for 2012 so far) at Stevenson and Sixth. If the cops wanted to have a substation in this area, they’d already have one in there, of course, so the 415′s littlest Mobile Command unit is a kind of temporary substitute.
And look, the poorly-managed and poorly-situated Passion Cafe is no more. The sign that used to be there is gone. Will tourist-beloved Dottie’s True Blue Cafe move in there soon? I don’t know.
And oh, the Happy Donuts has finally moved in from across the street and, of course, the SFGov-backed Pearl’s Deluxe Burgers is now firmly ensconced on the corner. It’s hard getting used to having a fast food burger chain in here:
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So that’s what’s new in this active stretch of the corrupt Twitterloin.
Speaking of which, what’s up with this? Can you imagine going down to your local diner to get a malted or whatever and leaving your bike propped up against the building unlocked, thusly?
What is this, Mayberry, RFD or Osaka, Japan? I mean, I don’t think you can just leave your bike around on the sidewalk while you nosh on your twice-fried American fries, can you?
Well, I guess you can but it’s a good way to lose your ride with a quickness.
Or, maybe it’s a bait bike from the SFPD, put out there to see who would steal it? Anyway, it was there all by its lonesome for seven minutes at least, which has got to be some kind of record for Mid-Market. Hurray.
That’s your 2012 update for the heart of Mayor Ed Lee’s troubled Mid Market area…
This has gone back and forth for a while, but today, the owner of the Passion Cafe has made a commitment to staying on 6th Street and operating business as usual with no plans to sell.
So this photo is now out-of-date:
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Here it is, straight from the horse’s mouth:
“Thank you, all.
After the wonderful altruistic support we’ve had since and before the incident at Passion Cafe, we’ve decided against selling the restaurant.
Our initial goal was to create a change for the betterment of the residents in the Sixth Street corridor. After 35 years of building South of Market there had been one continuing desire and that was to bring change to Sixth Street which was festering throughout the SOMA neighborhood; as contractors, we took the most blighted building on the Street and we accomplished our goal and have encouraged many new businesses to use us as a model to bring their ideas to the Mid-Market, Sixth Street corridor.
No one could have predicted the economy, consequently we decided to operate Passion Cafe and we’ve had much success and have been lauded from State Senator Mark Leno and have received awards from City, State and Federal entities, too many to mention (except, thank you Supervisor Kim, S.F. Travel, CVE, Mayors Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee, Urban Solutions). The show of gratitude has been humbling.
It’s ironic that on the morning of the incident, I had come early to have someone hang a for sale sign early in the day as to be safe not to injure anyone below, if not for that I would never have been the recipient of a sad, deranged attacker. We had come to that decision feeling very proud of our accomplishment. We’ve survived, in large part, because of our supporters.
After a confusing period, I would like to put all speculation to rest and again, thank everyone for their continued support and encouragement. Passion Cafe will remain, amongst our new neighbors, from Burning Man to Twitter to the International Museum of American Art to all the other eateries we’ve encouraged to move to the new, vibrant Sixth Street and Mid-Market.
Please continue your patience, big things are on their way.”
The judge said five to ten but I say double that again I’m not working for the clampdown No man born with a living soul Can be working for the clampdown Kick over the wall ’cause government’s to fall How can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power D’you know that you can use it?
Now, what will next week bring? Who knows.
Anyway, here’s more from last week:
JK Dineen has the deets on recent real estate activity, some changes at Sixth and Market:
A month after an Twitter committed to taking 200,000 square feet at 1355 Market St., the private group that has long owned 995 Market St. has decided to test the investment market waters. The building is one of the relatively few large office structures included in area the Board of Supervisors recently made exempt from the city’s payroll tax. The tax break was crafted to keep Twitter in San Francisco, after the company threatened to move to Brisbane. The 97,578-square-foot building is on the southeast corner of Sixth and Market streets, an intersection on San Francisco’s skid row that a real estate marketing professional might charitably call “lively” or “dynamic.”
But that’s not all - you see what’s going on across the way at 1001 Market? There must be some kind of business going on behind all that naked wood.
Here it is. (Can you spot the corners of the 995 building where the owners gave up trying to get the green tiles to stick?)
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But that’s not all - ever since that unfortunateincident on or about Stevenson Alley a couple of weeks ago, the popo are all over the place. It’s like a major crackdown ‘n stuff.
Or so I’m told.
By somebody who would know, ’cause he keeps his eyes on things.
Mmmm… Will May 2011 be seen as the bottom for Sixth and Market?
A month after an Twitter committed to taking 200,000 square feet at 1355 Market St., the private group that has long owned 995 Market St. has decided to test the investment market waters. The building is one of the relatively few large office structures included in area the Board of Supervisors recently made exempt from the city’s payroll tax. The tax break was crafted to keep Twitter in San Francisco, after the company threatened to move to Brisbane. The 97,578-square-foot building is on the southeast corner of Sixth and Market streets, an intersection on San Francisco’s skid row that a real estate marketing professional might charitably call “lively” or “dynamic.”
But that’s not all - you see what’s going on across the way at 1001 Market? There must be some kind of business going on behind all that naked wood.
Here it is. (Can you spot the corners of the 995 building where the owners gave up trying to get the green tiles to stick?)
Click to expand
But that’s not all - ever since that unfortunateincident on or about Stevenson Alley a couple of weeks ago, the popo are all over the place. It’s like a major crackdown ‘n stuff.
Or so I’m told.
By somebody who would know, ’cause he keeps his eyes on things.
Mmmm… Will May 2011 be seen as the bottom for Sixth and Market?
This is a view you can get of the changing Sixth Street area from the new rooftop bar:
This race, primarily with Debra Walker and Jane Kim it would seem, is 14 weeks from being over so I’ll have to start paying attention.
Here’s the release:
“Sparks Campaign Launch Big Draw. District 6 candidate brings together a true community crowd at campaign kickoff
San Francisco – As Theresa Sparks kicked off her campaign for District 6 Supervisor campaign at Passion Café in the Mid-Market area, one thing is clear: there is a coalition of community leaders, elected officials and business leaders, both progressive and moderate, rallying around her campaign. Her message: we need a new direction for District 6.
“As I look across the crowd today, it’s clear we have a unique group coming together to demand real experience and common sense in their Supervisor,” said Sparks. “Our campaign is leading this race because of the strength of our diversity and how people of District 6 are demanding a new way.”
The nearly overflowing room at Passion Café included leaders from across District 6 from the Tenderloin and Van Ness to South of Market and Inner Mission. The over 130 attendees heard from Sparks’ endorser and campaign co-chair, State Senator Mark Leno, and District 6 Supervisor Bevan Dufty talk about why they are part of the Sparks for 6 team. Business leaders and community activists from across the District 6 and San Francisco all came together under one message: we need a new direction in District 6 and San Francisco.
It was the President of the Small Business Advocates, Art Swanson, who summed up the event best, “Theresa Sparks is building a coalition of business leaders and community activists, small business owners and large building owners and moderates and progressives — a coalition that has never been seen before in San Francisco.”
Sparks told the crowd that we need to ensure that everyone, whether live on Sixth Street or South of Market has a voice at City Hall. As Supervisor, she pledged to use her experience as a business leader and community activist to bring people together to rebuild Mid-Market, bring jobs back to San Francisco and help revive our economy.
““The people here today and people across District 6 are tired of the political bickering that stifles real change,” said Sparks. “They want to bring back hope, opportunity and economic prosperity back to their neighborhoods – as the next District 6 Supervisor, that will be my top priority.”
For more information, please visit www.sparksfor6.com to learn more about Theresa or join the “Sparks for 6” Facebook page.”
