A view of CityPlace, looking West on Market Street at 4th
Eye Candy’s home, the Warfield building, is located in the heart of Market Street, between the 6th and 5th on the south side, and Taylor and Mason to the north. Mid-Market, also part of the city’s Theater District, is bordered to the east by the Union Square shopping district and to the west by the Civic Center neighborhood.
The mid-market neighborhood, just a block from the glamour and notoriety of Union Square, has long been an area in transition. Rather than the premium retailers found up the street inside the San Francisco Center mall, our neigbors include everything from mid-rise office towers, to upstart restaurants and funky night clubs, to boutique retailers, art galleries, and, yes, the occasional adult theater.
A view of CityPlace from Eye Candy
But Mid-Market is also full of history and at the moment, full of promise. On July 8, 2010, the CityPlace retail center was approved for development. A five-story, 250,000-square foot retail space directly across from the Warfield and just steps from San Francisco Center at 5th and Market, this new anchor is sure to have a major impact on our block. We expect a major discount retailer, such as Target, to be a key tenant in the new mall, and along with them a new sense of polish, activity, security, and connection between Mid-Market and Union Square.
It is an exciting development, and one we’d been anticipating. In fact, the project had originally been planned to have construction underway by last Fall, but given the procedural hurdles for a project of this scope, it’s not entirely shocking it took a bit longer than hoped. For a great write-up on the reasons why, check out Randy Shaw’s excellent Beyond Chron post on the CityPlace approval.
It will probably be some time before we see the demolition of the current buildings, but the tear-down has begun and we’re all looking forward to this next step in the revival of our neighborhood.
