SF New Deal and Office of Economic and Workforce Development Launch Vacant to Vibrant to Bring Pop-ups to Downtown San Francisco
Amidst a growing number of vacant storefronts in San Francisco’s downtown and economic core, we’re launching Vacant to Vibrant, a program to support and inspire the community to envision the future of downtown and re-energize the neighborhood with diverse pop-ups.
We’re excited to share the launch of our newest program Vacant to Vibrant in partnership with the City of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), that will support small businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, and cultural organizations to collaborate with local property owners and create engaging pop-up experiences and community spaces in vacant storefronts in downtown San Francisco.
Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, storefront vacancies have skyrocketed in downtown San Francisco. Ground floor vacancies are a reminder of the economic, cultural and social regrowth potential that is critical and will be possible with considerable public-private investment.
Making it easier for temporary and pop-up activations is an essential step to pave the way for San Francisco’s recovery and will create a window into what the future of downtown can be: innovative, diverse, creative, and vibrant. Our program aims to build bridges between downtown and thriving communities across the Bay Area, and help people develop a relationship with the vibrant neighborhood downtown can be. Vacant to Vibrant also serves a critical purpose in the greater vision of Mayor Breed’s Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco.
All local artists, businesses, entrepreneurs, and cultural organizations are invited to pitch their pop-up ideas. Proposals will be reviewed by an advisory committee and for the selected pop-up concepts, SF New Deal will handle everything from matchmaking with vacant spaces and property owners, to managing permitting and providing grant funding from $3,000 - $8,000 to support the activations. The program is designed to streamline, support, and expedite the process for small businesses and others engaged in temporary activations. Pop-ups will take many forms including one-day events and multi-month activations, and span arts, retail, food & beverage, nightlife, and entertainment that will transform vacant storefronts into vibrant gathering places and help re-energize the neighborhood.
Vacant to Vibrant will launch with programming in San Francisco’s economic core. Each cohort will activate 10-15 ground floor vacancies in a 1-3 block stretch to engage the community and inspire activity downtown.
Applications are open and will be accepted through June 1, 2023 for the first cohort of activations. Applications will remain open on a rolling basis thereafter. The first cohort of pop-ups will launch in late summer 2023.
More information about the program and applications are available online at www.vibrantsf.org. For those without computer access, assistance and information is available over the phone at (415) 480-1185.
