THE EFFORT TO STRENGTHEN the economic muscle of downtown San Francisco got a major boost this week with the formation of a development corporation bringing some of the city’s most prominent names in business and philanthropy together, including a nonprofit organization founded by the mayor.
The newly formed nonprofit Downtown Development Corporation, or DDC, will unite the private and nonprofit sectors, in partnership with the city, to focus on investments to help the downtown area regain foot traffic and fill office vacancies that have persisted since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.
Downtown San Francisco has struggled to recover its economic base after the pandemic, which saw offices emptied, transit traffic in steep decline and reduced nightlife spending. City data shows that office attendance was at 44% of pre-pandemic numbers as of the first week of March of this year. About a third of the city’s office space, most of which is downtown, remained vacant as of December. The last quarter of 2024 was the first time the vacancy rate declined since 2020, according to the city’s Office of Economic Analysis.
Development corporations are private nonprofit organizations that are formed by or in partnership with local governments to focus on specific geographic or policy areas. The city already has a Chinatown Community Development Corporation, focusing on Chinatown, and the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, which focuses on reducing displacement of Black residents in the city.
The goal of the Downtown Development Corporation is to help “finance and execute the city’s vision for downtown San Francisco,” Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office said in a statement.
Lurie said downtown’s revival was vital for the city’s overall recovery and said the Downtown Development Corporation would be one of the tools the city used to help the area bounce back.
“It will help bring to life our plans for downtown by driving investment, supporting small business, and partnering in our work to keep downtown safe, clean, and vibrant,” Lurie said on Tuesday. “We will ensure downtown remains a thriving economic and cultural center for generations to come.”
Big names back downtown
The DDC’s founding board includes some notable figures in the city’s private and nonprofit sectors, along with organized labor. It will be chaired by David Stiepleman, co-founder and co-president of the San Francisco-based global investment firm Sixth Street.
Other board members include Sam Cobbs, the CEO of the nonprofit organization founded by Mayor Lurie in 2005, Tipping Point Community. The nonprofit focuses on anti-poverty initiatives like housing, education and early childhood care, according to its website.
Bob Fisher, chair of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Rebecca Foster, founding CEO of the San Francisco Accelerator Fund, are also founding board members, along with Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, a digital payment company focused on blockchain technology, Olga Miranda, president of Service Employees International Union Local 87, and Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay and Quibi, who also ran for governor as a Republican in 2010.
“We’re assembling the right team to raise funds and help execute on the Mayor’s vision for downtown,” Stiepleman said in the release from the mayor’s office. “We feel great urgency to convert the amazing resources of our community and to get to work revitalizing our city center.”
The DDC will work with elected and appointed city officials to identify “high-impact” initiatives, focusing on shovel-ready projects, according to the mayor’s office.
It will serve as an organizing hub to identify ongoing public financing and invest private capital on both physical projects, like trees and outdoor dining spaces, and economic tools like offering small businesses credit and other support.
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