SF Mayor Lurie unveils small-business incentives, Waymo mapping for Market Street

Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled a coordinated push to revive Market Street that pairs imminent Waymo autonomous-vehicle mapping with a slate of small-business incentives including fee waivers, permitting reforms and placemaking funds. A city autonomous-vehicles press release says Waymo will begin mapping the Market Street corridor in the coming days, with passenger service expected to launch as soon as this summer. Mayor Lurie said, “Market Street runs through the heart of our city, and we’re making sure it continues to evolve with the times. By welcoming Waymo, we’re adding another safe and sustainable way to access shopping, theaters, hotels, and restaurants. This is about revitalizing downtown and making it easier for everyone, locals and visitors alike, to enjoy everything our city has to offer.”

The mayor’s package includes regulatory and financial measures aimed at lowering the bar for new storefronts. In February Mayor Lurie launched PermitSF to reform and streamline the city’s permitting processes, cutting red tape for small businesses and housing development. Last month he and Supervisor Stephen Sherrill announced legislation to renew the First Year Free Program, which “has helped thousands of small businesses open their doors by waiving fees in their first year.” City officials and the Board of Supervisors also introduced legislation to create five new entertainment zones across San Francisco this week, and Lurie is working with State Senator Scott Wiener on state-level liquor-license legislation to create new, more affordable licenses for restaurants and bars.

The administration tied those policy moves to a Heart of the City executive directive that aims to “turn San Francisco’s downtown into a vibrant neighborhood where people live, work, play, and learn.” The directive, city materials state, will leverage more than $40 million in initial commitments secured by the Downtown Development Corporation to create safe, clean streets, support small business, and activate downtown public spaces. Sujata Srivastava, chief policy officer at SPUR, framed the effort in broader terms: “Revitalizing downtown is about more than bringing workers back to offices, it’s about creating a lively, welcoming neighborhood where people from all walks of life want to live, shop, and gather. Mayor Lurie’s leadership is helping San Francisco reimagine downtown as a 24/7 destination, and SPUR is proud to support efforts that will turn vacant buildings into housing, strengthen small businesses, and ensure that our city’s core remains a driver of opportunity for everyone.”

The financial picture includes at least one separate fundraising claim: Mayor Lurie has helped raise $60 million for a newly-created San Francisco Downtown Development Corp., and city reports indicate Mid‑Market will get a share of those funds. The administration and nonprofit partners are also directing subsidy programs such as Vacant to Vibrant and SF New Deal’s Pop-Up to Permanent strategy to fill ground-floor retail in Mid-Market; vacancies and failed post‑COVID commercial experiments complicate that work. The storefront at 986 Market, formerly Equator Coffee, closed during COVID, and a 16-story former WeWork building across the street has been renamed and repurposed but still appears largely vacant.

Public-safety and access remain recurring constraints. The giant 6th and Market post-midnight drug market remains, and nighttime markets continue to tarnish the neighborhood’s image and hold back economic recovery, while Supervisors Dorsey and Mahmood introduced anti-drug paraphernalia distribution legislation last week. Lurie has also ended the Mid‑Market car ban with a rideshare exemption, a move described by local observers as a partial step toward restoring activity.

Alongside policy and funding, Lurie is hosting a Market Street Reimagined ideas competition co-sponsored by Urban Land Institute San Francisco and the Civic Joy Fund, with a $100,000 prize fund and a Special Innovation Prize to be awarded by Norman Foster. The administration is presenting a mix of technology, subsidies, regulatory reform and design challenges to reshape Market Street; officials and advocates will need to reconcile the differing downtown funding figures and spell out timelines for Waymo, the entertainment zones and the First Year Free renewal as the work proceeds.