Overview
The real estate landscape in downtown San Francisco presents a generational opportunity for reimagination, redevelopment and investment for long-term growth.
Office vacancy peaked at 34% in 2024, compared to 5.4% in 2019 (Cushman & Wakefield). In 2025, more than 150,000 square feet of retail was vacant on Powell Street between Union Square and Market Street. These empty buildings and storefronts are more than economic problems; they also shape how downtown feels and who chooses to be there.
The DDC’s emerging Real Estate program takes a multipronged approach. In the near term, we support retail occupancy in key corridors, are exploring paths to support office-to-residential conversions, and are mapping ways to accelerate private investment downtown.
Our longer-term strategy goes further: catalyzing new residential and mixed use development, attracting anchor institutions such as universities or research centers, and leveraging new innovative financing tools to unlock capital investment.
Real estate recovery is about more than buildings. A downtown that is also a neighborhood — where people choose to live, work, shop, eat, visit, learn, and play — is what promotes a welcoming and sustainable city center.
Goals
The DDC’s emerging Real Estate program focuses on opportunities that:
- Reduce office and retail vacancy in key downtown corridors
- Add residential units, particularly through office-to-residential conversions
- Attract businesses and institutions that strengthen downtown’s economic mix
- Leverage private capital to achieve outsize impact
Partner on downtown’s real estate recovery
Reducing downtown vacancy is one of the highest-leverage investments in San Francisco’s future.
Whether you’re a developer, investor, or institution, the DDC is ready to work with you to catalyze recovery.
