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SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF CITY F
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PLANNING COORDINATOR
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DEPARTMENTOF CITY PLANNING
450 McALLISTER STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SURVEY
SOUTH OF MARKET
I I I I
SOUTH OF MARKET COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SURVEY by Marybeth Branaman
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency M. Justin Herman, Executive Director Norman Murdoch, Chief, Planning Division July 1963
C-O-N-T-E-N-T-S
INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OF FINDINGS BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND TENURE EMPLOYMENT INCOME RENTS
MARKETING AREAS
1
8 13 18 20 21 22 27 29 30 32 33 3 Following page
TRANSPORTATION, VEHICLES,, AND PARKING SIZE IN SQUARE FEET ADEQUACY OF AREA AND LAYOUT LOCATION ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AREA PRESENT PLANS VACANCY
LOCATION 4M Table 1 2 Key to Activity Classification Summary of Commercial and Industrial Survey, Establishments Interviewed and Vacant Premises Owners and Tenants, by Type of Activity Owners and Tenants, by Years at Present Location Years at Present Location, by Block
Employees, by Sex Fnployees, by Type Etaployees, by Residence Employees, by Means of Transportation Total Annual Payroll Gross Annual Volume Rents per Square Foot Marketing Areas Transportation Dependency Average Number of Visitors per Day per Firm and Total Vehicle Contacts per Day Loading and Parking Business Vehicles and Where Garaged Square Feet of Interior Space Adequacy of Area and Layout Reasons for Locating in This Area Plans to Remain at Present Location Plans to Remain at Present Location, by Block Plans for Change in Operations
13
15
18 20 21
22
23
2i-
25 27 29 30 33 33 33
23
APPENDIX_ -INVENTORY OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISBMENTS, BY TYPE OF ACTIVITY Survey Schedules 36
INTRODUCTION This survey was undertaken to provide the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency with detailed facts about the commercial and industrial activities in the South of Market project area--their number, size, type, economic health, physical facilities, and current plans. The South of Market area lies to the south and east of the central business district of San Francisco. It is traditionally an area of wholesaling, light manufacturing, and some heavier industrial activities. Office buildings in the area are concentrated along Mission and New Montgomery Streets. Residential uses are mixed with these commercial and industrial activities. This confused pattern of uses is a major contributing factor to blight in the area. Elements of skid row are also present in a portion of the survey area. The boundaries of the survey area are shown on the map on the following page. The area includes the proposed redevelopment project which covers approximately 90 acres and the so-called Market Street breakthrough area of about five acres. In all, 13 city blocks or portions thereof are involved in the survey. The boundaries of this redevelopment survey area are not to be confused with the greater area--bounded by Market Street, The Embarcadero, Tenth Street, and China Basin Creek--which is now being studied by an advisory committee to the 1 Board of Supervisors. In cooperation with this committee, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is now completing a survey by mail of this greater South of Market district. 1 South of Market Advisory Committee on Commercial and Industrial Development.
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This survey of commercial and industrial activities South of Market was designed to shed light on the present economic conditions and potential
I
in the
area,
assist in planning its future physical and functional character,
discover interests which would be helpful to its business development, and provide information which could aid in the event of necessary business relocation. Information was obtained from the businesses by personal interview. The two interviewers for the survey were employees of the Redevelopment Agency and worked in the area between February 18 and May 31, 1963. Although letters had
been sent to property owners in the area as the survey began, no appointments were made for the initial contact with business establishments. Interviewers went through a two-week orientation and training program with the Agency in order that they would be able to answer questions raised by respondents as well as elicit the desired information. They were instructed to obtain as much essential data as possible but not to press the respondents unduly if they felt they did not wish to reply to any or all parts of the questionnaire. Trial interview schedules were used initially and revised after the first week in the field. Contact was made with all business premises in the survey area, and in some instances call-backs were required to find the appropriate respondent and/or 2 complete an interview. Interviews varied in completeness, and therefore varying numbers of responding firms appear in final tabulations. Some respondents preferred not to answer some portions of the questionnaire but did reply to others, and very few refused to answer any questions. 2 A few social welfare institutions and buildings housing Federal Government offices were omit e" from this survey.
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I
No corrections were made for known shifts in occupancy during the course of interviewing. In other words, some vacant sites may have been occupied and others vacated after the premises had been contacted. On the whole, this procedure probably tends to understate vacancy rather than occupancy. The Redevelopment Agency would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the respondents for their generous assistance in making this survey possible.
I I I
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS A total of 723 firms are engaged in private enterprise in the survey area. These businesses have a gross annual income of over $325 million.
Some firms are operating marginally and others at very high economic levels. Service, retailing, wholesaling, and manufacturing predominate as the major types of activities in terms of numbers. Transportation and communications services are the biggest employers, and wholesalers take up the most space. An important part of the apparel Industry in San Francisco is concentrated in this area, including manufacturing, wholesaling, and related activities. Printing, publishing, and allied activities also form a significant segment of the South of Market economic life. Vacancy in the area Is currently over 12 percent. Approximately 86 percent of the business occupants are tenants. Although the majority of these have leases, a large number occupy their premises on a month-to-month basis. Nearly 10 percent of all establishments have been in business in the area less than one year. The average length of occupancy on a site is between five and nine years. Commercial and industrial activities In the area provide employment for / an estimated 8, 000 persons, exclusive of government workers. Over two thirds of total employees are men. Clerical and sales workers make up almost a third of the labor force. Some 40 percent of the employees live outside of San Francisco, almost half of these commuting from the Peninsula. Over 60 percent of the total take public transportation to work. 1 The new Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Building will house about 1,700 additional employees.
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The operating area of most of the firms--service and retail establishments--is limited to the immediate vicinity or extends only to the nearby central business district. However, for the others y I mArk6tizig efaphAsis: , id. in the Bay Area, Northern California, California, and the Western United States. The area depends primarily on trucks for delivery and distribution. The average firm receives 64 visitors each day. Each site generates vehicle contacts of all types at the average rate of 18.3 per day. The area is deficient in loading facilities generally, but a few industries are very well equipped. Firms in the area own, lease, or otherwise use at least 1 1 300 trucks and autos, 1,038 of which are garaged South of Market. About 725 off-street private parking spaces are provided by business establishments, mostly for their own employees, and 2,034 spaces are furnished in public commercial lots or garages. Since around 2,500 employees drive to
work, the area would appear to have a shortage of off-street parking for customers, clients, and other visitors (even assuming afactor for carpooling). This is aside from consideration of parking for persons destined outside the area. South of Market firms occupy over five million square feet of interior space, an average of about 700 square feet per employee. The size of individual establishments ranges all the way from 15 square feet to more than 200,000. For their space they pay rents which are generally very low. More than 70 percent pay less than $.i5Łr square foot peruthnt1* Except for firms drawing business almost exclusively from the immediate neighborhood, the availability of space and low rents were the chief considerations motivating establishments to locate in the area originally. Current
IM
dissatisfactions with the area hinge mainly on functional obsolescence of facilities and change of character of the neighborhood. In contrast, some firms found their present location ideal because of accessibility, space, low rent, or a combination of factors. Over a fifth of the firms reported that their space or physical layout was inadequate, but not all of them planned remedial action. As regards the future, 90 percent of the establishments indicated a preference to remain in the area at their present locations, other things being equal. Of the other 10 percent, half planned to leave and half were undecided or their plans were unknown. Some 50 firms who intended to remain on their existing sites planned a change in their operations or premises. Such proposed changes included expansions, contractions, and remodeling. Clearly, a great deal of commercial and industrial activity flourishes South of Market. However, this is not necessarily indicative of an economically healthy business community. In large measure the very factors blighting the area contribute to its segmented prosperity. Those enterprises seeking lower rents, more space, and ready accessibility, but who are unaffected by such factors as internal congestion and the pall of skid row, do enjoy locational advantages. Inability to compete for space or the unsuitability of existing facilities has contributed to a decline in wholesaling and manufacturing activities in the area. Certain retailing activities are quite frankly thriving because of slum conditions.
V
Many property owners are unsuccessful in securing long-term leases and must rent on a month-to-month basis in order to keep their properties occupied, sometimes at reduced rents. Owners of functionally obsolete or poorly maintained premises are unable to attract new tenants to fill vacancies.
BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND TENURE Classification of establishments by type of activity ALl establishments were classified by their four-digit Standard 1 Industrial Classification, or SIC number. In instances where more than one industry code was applicable to an establishment, that of the predominant operation was used. 2 If an establishment carried on two or more types of activity which were clearly separate and approximately equal, it was classified by its "anchor function" or initial locational consideration for being in the area. 3 This group included. 24 establishments. Certain auxiliary units which are subordinate to, and operated for the use of, some other establishment of the same concern were coded with the major group number of the parent activity and then assigned the appropriate auxiliary designation. Such units fall into four categories -- central or district administrative offices, research laboratories, warehouses, and other auxiliary units. The auxiliary warehouses were tabulated as a special classification, both because of their number and because of the importance or warehousing in the South of Market area. Other types of auxiliary units were tabulated with their major groups. 1 In accordance with Bureau of the Budget, Standard Industrial Classification Manual, prepared by The Technical Committee on Industrial Classification, Office of Statistical Standards (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1957) and Supplement to 1957 Edition SIC Manual, 1 963. 2 An establishment is defined as an occupied commercial or industrial premise, which might be as small as a single office or as one or more lots. For purposes of this tabulation and analysis the terms establishment and firm are used interchangeably.
3
For example, if an establishment carried on both wholesaling and retailing activities, it was classified in its wholesale group.
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After the initial coding of all establishments, tabulation was made by appropriate groupings, which are shown in the Appendix. All data were compiled by blocks and by SIC groupings, which are identified on Table 1. Liquor stores which also carry groceries were classified as liquor stores because of the greater volume of business In that category. These appear under other retail stores in the generalized activity classifications. Eating and drinking places were also grouped together. The total number eating places which are not also drinking places are shown in the Appendix. Table 2 shows the number of establishments interviewed, those not interviewed, and total vacant premises. A total of 677 were interviewed. This total includes the new Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Headquarters Building currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 1964. For purposes of most comparisons the universe of the survey is 676 establishments. Type of activity Various service industries make up by far the largest activity division
in the area, accounting for 210 out of the 677 establishments interviewed.
Hotels stand out as the largest single major group within this category, matched by a combination of nonprofit organizatlorts and miscellaneous services. Engineering and architectural services and labor unions make up the bulk of this latter group. These are followed by personal services, mostly barber shops, shoe shine and shoe repair shops, and laundries. (It is interesting to note that there are no self-service laundries in the entire area.) As the second major activity division, retail trade is dominated by eating and drinking places. Alcohol constitutes a very important part of the
II
bic 2 South of Market SUMMARY OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SURVEY ESTABLISHMENTS INTERVIEWED AND VACANT PREMISES Total establishments Establishments interviewed not interviewed 15 126 38 138 81 37 28 63 42 25 65 8 11 677 1 11 2 8 5 2 1 3 I. 2 3 2 2 46 Percent of premises vacant in block 0 15 7 10 12 11
Block 3705 3706 3707
3722
Vacant premises
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Total premises 16 162 43 163 98
Percent of area total 2 20
25
3 ii 12
5
20 12
3723 3724 3733 3734 3735 3750 3751 3752 3763 TOTAL
5
3 6 3 6 13 3 2 98
44
32 72 49 33 81 13 15 821
5
9
8 6 18 16 23 13 12 10 2 2 100 8 6
U
economic life South of Market, since in addition to the 31 bars in the area, there are 11 retail stores which sell liquor. Another key to the economic as well as social character of the area are the 21 secondhand stores in the
U
retail group, most of which are pawn shops. Third in significance is wholesale trade with 11 establishments, of which 115 are wholesalers with stock. Particularly large in the wholesale group are apparel firms and jewelers. Although some of the wholesalers listed as hving stock carried very little, only 26 establishments were completely without stock except possibly for samples and operate as manufacturers representatives or brokers agents. Some of the merchant wholesalers were also noted to be representatives of other firms as well. Manufacturing activities number 121 firms, Printing, publishing, and allied industries are most significant In this group, and the apparel industry
I
holds second rank. Other major divisions which contain a smaller number of firms hold greater significance for the area in other aspects such as employment or consumption of space, as is the case with transportation and communication services or contract construction. Very few South of Market firms are in the finance, insurance, and real estate activity classification and almost all of these are located along New Montgomery Street which is a continuation of the main financial district.
-11Tenure Almost 86 percent of all the business occupants in the area are tenants (see Table 3). The major division of activity accounting for the highest
percentage of total tenants is that of services, which is also the largest numerical group in the area. Only two lease-purchase arrangements were found in the area, and in two instances an establishment was both owner and tenant. Of the 579 tenants in the area, rent or lease arrangements were reported by 552 firms, The remainder either were not reported or, in a few instances, paid no rent. The majority of tenants, 73 percent, have leases. However, the
27 percent which are on a month-to-month basis is a high quantity for a commercial area. This unusual percentage is suggestive of the quality of properties in that owners must accept month-to-month tenants because they cannot obtain lessees. The lessees with a termination date less than five years in the future numbered 355. (Such leases might have been for longer than five-year terms 25 of the
but were tabulated only by termination date.) Of the remainder, leases were scheduled to terminate between 1969 and 1973.
Only two reported
a termination date more than 10 years hence. Only one percentage lease was reported (but there are undoubtedly more of these in the area), and nine firms Indicated they had escalator clauses in their leases. Years at present location South of Market business present a mixed longevity pattern. Almost 10 percent of the establishments responding were on the site less than a year, and about 62 percent less than 10 years (see Table ii-). On the other
Table 3 South of Market OWNERS AND TENANTS, BY TYPE OF ACTIVITY Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE, & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL 12 2 5 12 1 3 32 31 25 20 16 7 39 11 579 1 3 2 4 3 16 17 49 10 17 20 3 2 7 2 18 7 78 24 21 9 3* 1 5* 1 3 4 4 23 7 24 Owners 6 Tenants 10 Total 16
5**
4o
45
17 11 17 13
12 10 14 9
85 26
57
59 53
13
44
33 30 32 17 10 44 14 677
5
3 98
*Includes one lease-purchase. **Includes two establishments which are both owner and tenant.
Table Ii. South of Market OWNERS AND TENANTS, BY YEARS AT PRESENT LOCATION
Years Under 1 1-4 5-9 io14 15-19 2O_24 25-29 30-3 35-39 0 & over
Owners 3 25 15 9
12
Tenants 60 180 12 68 49 23 16 15 12 20 566 579
Total 63 205 139
Percent of total 9.5 31.1 21.0 11.6 9.1 3.9 3.7 2.8 2.8 3.9
’rr
6o 26 25 19 19 26 659 676
3 9 4 7 6
Total firms reporting 93 Total firms 97
-12hand, approximately 13 percent had been in business on their present sites
25 years or more. The median time period for all reporting firms falls
somewhere between five and nine years. Tenants account for 86 percent of all reporting firms and owners percent. As would normally be expected, a much greater turnover is evident among tenants than among owners. On the site for a period of under five years were 30 percent of all owners and 42 percent of all tenants. At the other end of the time scale, 28 percent of all owners and 11 percent of all tenants had been occupying the same site for 25 years or longer. Conspicuous among the types of activities with shorter tenure are the personal services group, nonprofit organizations and miscellaneous services, and a sizeable proportion of the printing and publishing group. Retail establishments in general are not long-lived in the area, particularly eating and drinking places, although a few of the latter have been in the area for a very long time. Activities exhibiting longer tenure are wholesaling, food stores, some manufacturing establishments, and a few hotels. (One hotel reported three tenants who had been living there continuously for 53 years)
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No pronounced pattern emerges regarding length of occupancy by location, as can be noted in Table 5, except for the fact that the longer-term occupants are in the blocks closer to Market Street.
Table 5 South of Market YEARS AT PRESENT LOCATION, BY BLOCK Firms Forty re& portover , ing
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EMPLOYMENT Total employment Respondents were asked to estimate their employees in total full-time equivalents. Any range for seasonal employment was tabulated as an average. The average number of persons employed by reporting firms totaled (see Table 6).
7,559
This can be assumed to be an understatement of the total
employment in the area for a number of reasons. First, respondents who were owners of businesses frequently did not report themselves as employees. Nonreporting firms and those not interviewed could reasonably be assumed to account for an additional 100 to 150 persons Further, it was found that South of Market firms employed an additional 366 persons who were usually
in other locations or came into the area only occasionally. (Most of these were in contract construction or engineering firms employing similar personnel, but some were salesmen or other types.) It was also determined that seasonal employment adds a minimum of 409 workers to the labor force at some point during the year. Therefore, it is safe to assume that employment on the average is approximately 8,000 within the survey area. This is exclusive of government employees. The building at the corner of New Montgomery and Howard currently has 985 government employees and the building at the corner of Fourth and Stevenson 1,287. This would bring total employment to over 10,000. The biggest employers are manufacturing industries and transportation and communication services, each with about a fourth of the area’s working 1 A few institutions also were not interviewed who did have paid employees.
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Table 6 South of Market EMPLOYEES, BY SEX Firms reporting 16 Average per firm 17
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING
Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing
454 1 71 4o 13 50 835
261 603 373 429 102 207 1,815
37 25 8 25 9 12 151
TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES, 12 WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear 21 With stock--meat & groceries 9 With stock--all other wholesalers 85 Without stock--all wholesalers 24 RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gentl merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL 43 32 30 32 17 10 43 14 668 17 20 57 52 13
107 103 577 103
55 9 228 6o
162 112 805 163
8 12 9 7
84 02 257 40
53
24 37 57 34 28
77 121 259 291 68
5 6 5 6 5
98 319 49 76 48 256 89 5,073
58 16 267 1 11 17 51 25 2,486
156 70 586 50 87 65 307 114
4 2 20 2 5 7 7 8 11
7,559
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population. Services and wholesale trade rank in second place with over
17 percent and 16 percent of the total employment, respectively.
Males account for over two thirds of the employees in the area. Transportation and communication services employ more females than any other industry division. Manufacturing industries account for approximately the same percentage of total males and total females in the area, females dominating in the apparel group. Employees by type Data on the type of workers in the area were obtained from 95 percent of the establishments interviewed. Table
7 shows that clerical and sales
workers are the leading types of employee, accounting for 31 percent of the total. Transportation and communication services and wholesale trade are the activities employing about two thirds of these types in the area. Approximately 40 percent of the professional, technical, and managerial workers are also in transportation and communication services. Almost twothirds of the craftsmen, foremen, and operatives (skilled workers) are employed by manufacturing firms. Service workers and laborers are scattered throughout the various activity groups, assuming particular importance in manufacturing, contract construction, and services. Employees by residence With 89 percent of the firms reporting it was found that almost 40 percent of the employees in South of Market commute to work from outside the City (dee Table 8). More of the commuters come from the Peninsula
than any other part of the Bay Area (19 percent of all employees). The
Table 7 South of Market EMPLOYEES, BY TYPE Prof., Firms tech., Clerical report- mgrl., & sales ing propr., workers 16 32 16 Craftsmen foremen & & operatives 107 Service workers ’laborera 140
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastic products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE
Total 295
7 23 43 16 11 17 12
8 34 63 27 21 22 727
32 45 40 70 17 41 910
35
288 213 321 12 115 70
186 167 34
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261
534
350 418 75 209 1,805
25 31 98
With st,Oek.-dry goods &ntions; apparel; footwear 20 With stock--meat & groceries 9 With stock--all other wholesalers 85 Without stock--all wholesalers 23 RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE SERVICES Hotels 43 Personal services 32 Misc. business services 29 Automobile parking & services 19 Misc. repair services 16 Motion pictures; amusement services 10 Nonprofit organizations; misc. services 44 AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL 10 644
&
26 11 204
68 18 422 98
8
54
55 12
42 28 130
144 111 811 160
9
16 21 57 52
19 25 50 51 20
3 60
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31 18 31 15 4
25 22 187 122 9
78 125 268 286 67
98 34
REAL ESTATE 13
44 21 66 14 12 10 239
4
-
251 1
9
3 11.7 34 2,321
3 19 103 18 31 4 37
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95 31 149 17 31 48 2
_ 62
111.6 71 569 50 83 65 325
_
9
1,796
1,613
1,690
7,420
Table 8 South of Market
p
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE
EMPLOYEES, BY RESIDENCE Firms East rŁprtSite Penin. Bay Mann ing
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-15East Bay supplies the second largest number of commuters, and only a small percentage live in Mann County. 1 It is noteworthy that out-of-towners were most numerous in the transportation and communication services division. Well over a fourth of the employees who live in San Francisco work in manufacturing industries. However, within major activity divisions, retail trade firms employ the highest proportion of local residents. Employees by means of transportation As can be noted in Table 9, practically nobody walks to work in South of Market (less than three percent). Most of those who do are in the service industries and restaurant and bar business, probably those living in or near the area. Approximately 61 percent arrive by means of public transportation, and slightly over 36 percent drive to work. Although statistics were not gathered on carpooling, there is evidence that a fair amount of it exists. It is of interest that 86 percent of the transportation and communication service workers take public transportation, the same group accounting for the largest number of commuters. Approximately
56 percent of the manufacturing
employees and 49 percent of the wholesale trade workers also take public transportation, both groups with a high percentage of San Francisco residents. Public transportation passengers outnumber auto riders in the blocks bordering on Market Street - 3705, 3706, and 3707----and in the next tier below. They are most pronounced in Block 3722 in which over 80 percent arrive by public transportation. It will be noted that the largest number of employees are also in this block, which is near the East Bay Terminal. 1 Those living in Contra Costa County were grouped with the East Bay.
Table 9 South of Market EMPLOYEES, BY MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock- - all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofitorganizations; misc. services 119 62 393 41 8o 63 299 110 1 14 151 31 30 17 86 61 2,522 50 31 201 10 47 45 211 68 17 41
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Total 243
Auto 232
Public 11
Walk -
Firms reporting 16
455 319
303
226 72
167
192 41 68
76 383 148 224 26 138 1,563
1
-
4
-
11 19 42 16 10 17 11
416
67
209 1,814
-
3
251
-
136 110 782
156
51 80 370 88
83 30 405
2
-
19 84 22
9
65
7 3
69 256
279
13
56 79
133 151 31
-
15 19
123
40
88 118 34
4 35
10
-
65
11
3 1 2
-
40 25 28 15 14 9 4o 10 603
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AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
49 4,246
6,969
201
I
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The situation reverses in the blocks further from Market Street and from the Terminal, namely 375 0 , 375 1 , 3752 employees come to work by car.
,
and 3763, where more
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Seasonal employment As indicated earlier, over 400 additional workers are employed by South of Market firms at one time or another during the year. Seasonal peaks and other fluctuations were noted by 66 firms. The apparel industry showed the largest number of firms with a distinct seasonal -
15 apparel
manufacturers (particularly sportswear) and three apparel wholesalers. Employment fluctuations were reported. by 10 architectural and engineering firms and nine contractors. Most of the former found that their employment varied with the numberof jobs they had rather than with the seasonal, as did.
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some of the latter, but contractors also had true seasonal variations. Fluctuations were also noted by six printers and publishers and five other manufacturing industries. The time periods of greater or lesser activity are almost as diverse as the number of firms reporting such fluctuations. In some cases no mention was made of changes In the number of employees during rush periods. Shift-type employment does not appear to be characteristic of the area. Total annual payroll Responses were given to the total annual payroll question by 52 percent of the establishments in the area (see . Table 10). These firms had an estimated annual payroll of $41.,374,193. Estimating the size of the payroll for the entire area is difficult. Because of the high proportion In lower-paid service industries, it Is probable
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Table 10 South of Market TOTAL ANNUAL PAYROLL Total annual Average 11per firm ZaMo $ 1 ,959,500 $ 130,633
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock- - all ’wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business service Automobile parking & setVices Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
that the area t s total payroll is less than double the amount reported. It is also significant that 37 percent of the payroll reported was paid to transportation and communication service workers A number of factors tend to distort the payroll picture. A few firms have no employees and therefore no payroll. This was noted in the case of several auxiliary warehouses and a few wholesaling firms. Hotel employees often receive room and sometimes board as a part of their wages. A number of firms indicated that their employees also received commissions in addition to basic salaries but did not give the amount.
I I I I I
INCOME Gross annual volume With 72 percent of the firms reporting, the gross annual volume of business done in the area amounted to over
325 million (see Table ii),
As in the case of annual payrolls, determination of the full picture of incomes is difficult. Some firms have no income simply because of the nature of their business. In the case of nonprofit organizations, gross annual volume is misleading because some firms reported union dues received and pension funds and others did not report on the same basis. It is nevertheless readily apparent from the information available that wholesaling and transportation and communication services are the big incomeproducers South of Market. An attempt was made to evaluate the economic health of the area in terms of the gross annual volume of business by comparing the area’s activities with City totals. A few items of interest were gleaned by comparing area averages with the 1958 Census of Business statistics for San Francisco. 1 Even allowing for substantial changes since that date, wholesale trade firms show strength in comparison with all such firms in the City. This is particularly marked in the case of apparel and food. wholesalers. As would be expected, hotels in South of Market made a very poor showing. Miscellaneous business services far outdistance the City average for that type of activity, but this may be due in large measure to the fact that union pension funds created an overstatement of gross annual volume. Eating and drinking places appear to be faring very well on the average. 1 U. S. Bureau of the Census, Central Business District Statistics, San.FranciscoOakland., Calif., Area, BC5 8 -CBD767Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961).
Gross annual volume per square foot--retail establishments Where reliable information was available on gross annual volume and interior space for retail establishments, the gross annual volume per square foot was computed Data were thus obtained for
149 retail firms. Again, an
unusual pattern emerges for the area, with gross sales ranging from under $5.00 to between $500 and $600 per square foot annually. A rough comparison was then made by type of activity with national averages .expected for that type of business, where national figures were 1 available. Adequate comparisons could be made for 105 firms. On this basis,
59 percent of these firms were operating below national averages. On the other
hand., of the 41 percent producing normally or above, a few were faring very well indeed. In this latter group, several restaurants, bars, and food stores were far above national averages for their particular business. 1 For average per foot gross sales for retail types see Community Builders’ Council of Urban Land Institute, The Community Builders Handbook (Washington: LI, 1960), Appendix I.
RENTS South of Market presents a most unusual pattern of rents per square foot (see Table 12). Utilities are generally not included in the rent except
in larger office buildings. Rents per square foot by significant price breaks are summarized below. Rent/sq. ft. Under $ .10 No. of firms Percent of total 53 , 6 17.1 9.7 60 35
263
81
$.io to .15
$.16 to .21
$.22 to .45 $.46 and over
12.2
7.3
As indicated above, about 54 percent of the reporting firms are paying less than $.lO per square foot for their interior space. On the other hand, over seven percen$ are paying more than $,46 which is in the lower range of the price of premium office space in San Francisco. Since the level of services furnished South of Market is relatively low, these firms may in effect be paying still higher rents. It should be noted that in some instances high rents are being paid for choice locations and in others the very small size of the space results in a high per-square-foot rent (e.g., shoe shine stands). The data are very misleading in some cases because the square footage used was that of interior space. Therefore, in the case of such activities as gasoline stations, which are included in the other retail stores category, the rents would appear to be very high.
-20-
Table 12 South of Market RENT PER SQUARE FOOT
Firma Activity classification .00 CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION Rent per square toot ($)
.04
.07
2 1 1 5
.10
1
.13
.16
.19
.22
.25
.25
.31
.34
.37
.40
.43
.46
.49
.52
.61
.71
.81 l.
91
1.01
2.01
3.01
4.01
1
6
1 11
----------------1
1
., 4
_ -
3
,
1 1
9
4
21
2 9 4 3 2
4 4 3
1
-----1 2 1 i 5 3
----------2 1 2 1 1
----1 --------
3211
1
2
2
1
2 1
1
4
1
1
-
-
-
-
----
---------------1 1
&
COMMUNICATION SERV ’CiS
1
4 2 15 3 3 4
5
-
----------
-
-
9
5
WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen 1 iae.; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE
4
1 11 2
-
18
1
1 1 9 2
-1
6 2 1 1
-
1
1
3
3
1
------------------- 2 1 1
2
-
12
7 68 19 14 14 51 43 8 28 28 19
1 2 4 2 20 2
6
10 5
-
1 7 6
1
--------
6
5
1 7 2
1 8 4
----------1 1 1 1 1 --1 3 3 2 2 1 1 3 3
2
-
1
-
-
1
3
------
-
3
i 2
-
-
-
-
----
-
2
SERVICES
Hotels Persona services Misc, business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
Very low rents are concentrated in the services group, especially hotels. Locations on Market Street, Mission Street, and New Montgomery seem to command higher rents than do those in other parts of the area.
MARKETING AREAS Table 13 summarizes the areas from which South of Market firms draw their clientele or where they distribute their products and services. Some 90 percent of the firms gave 727 responses to this question. The area of marketing operations most frequently listed was the San Francisco Bay Area. This is undoubtedly overstated because personal services and some retailing establishments considered their commuter foot-traffic customers as being from out of town. Manufacturing firms seem to distribute a good deal nationwide, whereas wholesalers appear to concentrate more heavily on Northern California and the western part of the United States. Retail stores are heavily neighborhoodoriented, particularly in the case of eating and drinking places. International trade is not emphasized in the area, although a few firms indicated they did business with Canada, Japan, or other parts of the Orient.
Table 13 South of Market MARKETING AREAS Finns Neigh- , report- bor- !/ ing hood S.F. 16 1
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING
WestN. Bay ern Area Calif. Calif. U.S. 12 3 -
Inter Nat’l riat’l
6
Food & kindred products 7 Apparel & other fabric products 24 Printing, publishing, etc. 38 Primary metals; metal products; machinery 11 Wood, paper, chemical, & 10 plastics products Misc. manufacturing 17 RANSBJRTATION & COMMUNICATION 12 SERVICES OLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers TAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’1 merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores NANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE VICES Hotels Personal services lsc. business services utoinobile parking & services ise. repair services otion pictures; amusement services onprof it organizations; misc. services ILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL s "downtown" responses. 16 20 58 51 13
-
1
-
3
1
-
5 18
3 1 2 6
2 2 16
1 1 3
1 2 3
2 10 4 3
1 7 6
7 3 5
-
1
1 2 1
1
-
4
3 4 1
2
-
-
1
5 3
1
2
1
2
20 8 87 24
-
-
1 2
2 4
9 1 29 12
1
-
8 1 37 7
2 1
1
-
-
-
7 1
17 2
5 2
7 4
4 2
5 8 55
22
-
U
-
-
-
-
-
7 5 13 3
9 3 17 4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
2
1 1
1 1 1
-
-
1
-
-
3
-
NOT TABULATED 30 27 7 29 2 3 30 4 3 7 17 5 12 1
-
-
18 26 2 5 15 3 185
1 3
-
3
-
-
-
-
4
-
3 3
11 2
2 4
1
2 1 1 1 1 2
1
-
1 2
2
-
39
lii.
7 3
113
4
2
5
2
1
4 99
609
139
91
29
49
22
TRANSPORTATION, VEHICLES, AND PARKING Transportation dependency South of Market is obviously overwhelmingly dependent on trucking for its transportation needs, both in the receipt and shipment of goods. It will be observed from Table lii- that 609 firms gave 859 answers to the transportation dependency question. In some instances, firms used one type of transportation for receiving raw materials and another for delivery of their finished product. In other cases, firms simply had multiple dependencies. It can be assumed, of course, that all rail, ship, and air shipments are combined with truck or auto operations. Parcel post was listed separately because so many firms designated it as their transportation dependency. (Air dependencies sometimes overlapped this category,) Parcel post was not grouped with trucking because some firms close to the post office seemed to find that a locational consideration as well. Where a firm listed autos rather than trucks, the responses were grouped with trucks in the final tabulation. Hotels were not tabulated for this question because it did not seem to be applicable. One could assume that almost all hotels did rely on trucks for deliveries of laundry and other supplies. Messenger service includes those firms which indicated a dependency upon motorcycles and bicycles for their operations. Rather significant is the relatively greater dependence upon rail and ship transportation by wholesalers than by manufacturers. Also of importance is the large number of service industries which listed no transportation dependency. No real block pattern emerged on this question.
-22-
Table iii. South of Market TRANSPORTATION DEPENDENCY
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plasticr products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE
3/Includes motorcycles and bicycles. /Includes Greyhound bus.
Visitors and vehicle contacts Table 15 shows the average number of visitors per day to South of Market establishments and an estimated total number of vehicle contacts per day. Wide ranges in the daily visitors were sometimes given, and respondents were pressed to estimate a reasonable average. Otherwise a midpoint in the range was used in. tabulation. Vehicle contacts on the table represent a total for all reporting firms. Retail stores, of course, generate more foot traffic than do other activities, and food stores far exceed all others in the average volume of visitors. Eating and drinking places averaged 226 visitors per day for the firms of this type reporting. Average visitors to the other retail stores group is overstated because gasoline stations are included in this group, although the liquor stores in the group do have a large number of visitors. Differences in the size of firms make averages for the area misleading, particularly with the retail group. The largest amount of truck traffic is to wholesale establishments, and those firms also have a great number of automobile contacts per day. The high number of auto contacts with other retail stores is again distorted by the fact gasoline stations are in the group. Vehicle contacts per firm per day for the area average as follows: Trucks Autos All vehicles 6.!f 10,9
18.3
Table 15 South of Market AVERAGE NUMBER OF VISITORS PER DAY PER FIRM AND TOTAL VEHICLE CONTACTS PER DAY Average number of Firms visitors report- per day Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock- - all wholesalers 11 1MAWN Y".100 1 " Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services No-profit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL 44 32 29 31 16 10
42 14
Total vehicle contacts per day Truck Auto Other 281 148 -
16
8
7 24 43 16 11 17 12
11 12 9 16 3 6 51
313 171 176 182 58 49 409
107 186 218 284 66 94
2 115 1 -
731 246
21 9 85 24
10 36 24 5
283 217 855 61
ill 68 1,019 235
-
53
-
17 20 58 51 13
623 96 226 197 29
83 89 185 182 2
199 240 216 1,481
-
-
20 2
-
49
15 31 8 42 34
40 44 241 146 17
59 5
46
19 8
8 122 18 1,208 111 52
270
-
-
-
3
-
ii
-
116 4,264
49 7,457
662
64
453
Parking and loading space Off-street parking and loading in the area are summarized in Table 16. The nature of loading facilities in the area precludes a neat listing of the types available Respondents indicated whether or not they had offstreet loading facilities, and usually stated the type. Responses were diverse and could best be listed as follows: 62* trucks
35
Ii. 15
doors docks ramps square feet service station area lots (1 shared by 2 firms) not reported by type
3,450
1 2 ?
Shared facilities frequently clouded the accuracy of reporting loading space. It was also found that areas sometimes used for off-street loading were also put to other uses. In addition, firms which did have some loading space also loaded or unloaded from the street when off-street facilities were clogged. The actual number of off-street parking spaces for the area is also underestimated in Table 16 Firms sometimes reported they had on-site parking
but did not or could not give definitive answers on the number of spaces. Also, parking spaces varied slightly from time to time because of other intermittent uses of the space. For example, outdoor on-site space for parking was sometimes usurped for loading purposes, for storage, or for other activities. This was particularly noted by construction firms The same is true of indoor on-site parking, and in both cases parking spaces were sometimes available only outside of business hours.
*Not on site. **Inc ludes parking lots and garages, gasoline stations, and repair garages with storage and parking.
-25-
Most frequently the on-site private parking (and all off-site private parking) was reserved for employees. Very few establishments had parking spaces reserved exclusively for visitors. On-site private parking, other private parking, and public commercial parking spaces reported total 2,159 spaces. If an estimate is made for unreported firms and unknown spaces, the total for the South of Market area is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 off-street spaces. Business vehicles and garaging As is shown in Table 1, at least 1,300 trucks and autos are business-owned,
leased, or employee-owned and business-used by South of Market firms. In addition, 55 other vehicles are also owned by businesses in the area. Most of the latter are three-wheeled motorcycles such as are used by messenger services. Transportation and communication services and manufacturing industries are the biggest truck owners in the area, followed by wholesaling and contract construction firms. Wholesalers and transportation and communication firms lead as auto owners. Over 1,000 of these vehicles are generally garaged in the South of Market area. Provision for garaging on site is best in the transportation and communication services division. It will be noted on Table
iT
that garagings exceed the number of business
vehicles in some cases. Multiple garagings account in part for this apparent discrepancy, i.e., vehicles are sometimes taken home and sometimes garaged elsewhere. In a few cases, respondents did not know the exact number of vehicles owned, leased, or otherwise used by the firn, but did know they were not garaged on the site. In those cases where the number of vehicles exceed the number garaged, the answer either was not known by the respondent or leased vehicles
BUSINESS VEHICLES AND WHERE GARAGED Business vehicles* WieregarageaeFirms reportOn S. of ing Trucks Autos Other site M. Home 16 80 28 51
Activi4y classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING
44
ut
Food & kindred products 7 Apparel & other fabric products 214 Printing, publishing, etc. 43 Primary metals; metal products; machinery 16 Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products 11 Misc. manufacturing 17 TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES 12 WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture, Eating & driiing places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement serv ices Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL 32 29 31 16 10 42 17 20 58 51 21 9 8 214
51 2 31
11 5 16 116
16 25 24
29 ii 22 201
-
50
-
8
-
4
5
4 13 53
9
13 15 9
23
8 11 188
14
19 108
14 8
i
15
3 35 28 15
20 8 152 54
-
-
5
-
15 33 12
13 27 76 30
76 27
9
5 5 2 it
-
5 18 1 48
7
-
2
6
10 3 15
2 10 1 10 1
3
-
1
-
27
-
13
5
23 28 15
-
27 6o 8 2
25 1 -
33 30 3
-
35 27 21
-
3 8
-
43
1
1 2
479
28
14
-
14 662
10
-
9
559
1487
813
55
252
*Owned or leased by the business or employee-owned and used in the business. **Garaged, in this case, does not necessarilr mean enclosed storage. Totals do not necessarily equal total vehicles.
-26-
were involved for which storage was not known A further factor not registered in this tabulation is that some firms indicated seasonal variations th the number of vehicles used for business purposes
SIZE IN SQUARE FEET By far the largest consumers of interior space in the area are the wholesalers with stocks, followed closely by the manufacturing group as a whole (see Table 18). Each group occupies over a million square feet. Within the manufacturing division, the apparel firms are the biggest space users. Hotels, of course, also take up a great deal of interior space. The 644 firms reporting average 7,714 square feet. In terms of activity groups, transportation and communication Industries have the highest average per firm. Food and kindred products are the largest in the manufacturing group on the average, meat packers undoubtedly contributing to this. Attention is also called to the fact that meat and grocery wholesalers are the next largest in average size. The average square feet per employee on Table 18 was computed on the
basis of total employees for the area, rather than on those of reporting firms only. The seemingly large number of square feet per employee for automobile parking and services is misleading because interior parking spaces distort the data. However, the figure would still be expected to be high. The explanation for the high averages of hotels and auxiliary warehouses is obvious, but it is quite likely that those for the City as a whole would be lower. It is interesting that apparel and meat wholesalers average out over 1,500 square feet per employee but other wholesalers only 950. The presence of a larger number of wholesalers with stock of low bulk, such as jewelers, being the accounting factor.
-27-
Table 18 South of Market SQUARE FEET OF INTERIOR SPACE Total square feet Average Average sq. ft. sq. ft. per per firm employee* 4,866 286
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING
Firms reporting, 15
72,995
Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; -- footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
onTtaleniployees for each activity classification.
The group tightest on space appears to be miscellaneous business services, although it should be noted that a number in this group have employees who work away from the premises of the firm. The low average in transportation and communication services is also owing to the large volume of employment in those industries which is generally out in the field.
ADEQUACY OF AREA AND LAYOUT Of the reporting establishments, 72 indicated their space was insufficient, and 63 indicated inadequacy of layout (see Table 19). Some
of these are the same firms, but no distinction was made in the tabulation. The auto parking and services group was not tabulated. In giving reasons for inadequacy, 19 firms gave the need for more space as a reason for inadequacy and stated their space and layout both were unsuitable. There is reason to believe that the type of additional space needed was important rather than just more space. Other specific replies dealing with space as a factor in layout were "inadequate for seasonal fluctuation," "need more floor space, "space too narrow, ’"need more space in one location," "need more shop area," "need service space," "need more storage space," and "need more loading space" (two firms). In addition, four respondents stated they had too much space. Other reasons for inadequacy are listed below: Reason Need to be all on one floor Need parking Columns--old-style construction disadvantageous Building noisy Interior arrangement poor Need, rear entrance Layout of conveyors poor Need more doors Need to be on two-way street No, of firms
9 5
1 2
6
1 1 1 1
Some firms did not specify the reason for inadequacy although giving negative replies, and some gave multiple reasons. -29-
Table 19
South of Market ADEQUACY OF AREA AND LAYOUT Firms reporting Area adequate Yes No Layout adequate Yes No
LOCATION Locational considerations Reasons given by reporting firms for locating in the South of Market area are shown by blocks in Table 20. If locational reasons were not known by a respondent, the firm was not counted as reporting. The most frequently given answer was proximity to customers and clients.
This was particularly important to retail and service firms. Closely correlated
with this reply was proximity to similar or allied establishments, especially in the wholesaling and manufacturing groups. Locational linkages were noted among wholesale apparel firms where allied establishments were their customers and among manufacturers of products related to the apparel industry. Similar linkages were also evident between contract construction firms and consulting engineers and between the former and wholesalers of various types of building specialties. A number of service activities indicated the locational consideration of having their suppliers conveniently near. The second most frequent response was space availability which in turn was closely tied in with the third reason, the cost of space.
This coupling of
locational reasons was reported most often by services, manufacturing industries, and auxiliary warehouses, and the availability of space was also an important consideration for wholesalers who carried stock. Printing, publishing, and allied industries found proximity to either the retail or financial district important to their operations in a number of cases, as did several of the miscellaneous wholesalers. In 58 cases the availability of a going business was the locational motivation of the firm. This type of response was tabulated as a business
-30-
Table 20 South of Market REASONS FOR LOCATING IN THIS AREA Proximity to customers & clients 6 511. 21 39 30 15 13 25 21 9 24 2 2 261 Historical accident
-
opportunity. A surprising number of firms mentioned they had been forced to move from other locations because of building demolition, some because of public action and others by private clearance. About a dozen firms indicated they had been moved by freeway construction or by redevelopment. The few firms noting proximity to employees or members as a locational factor were mostly labor unions. A fairly large number of firms had deliberately chosen their sites after weighing locational advantages of other areas, either within San Francisco or outside the City. Some sites in the South of Market area met very special locational requirements for such firms as those requiring ready accessibility to the waterfront or proximity to the post office. Current applicability of locational considerations Respondents were asked if their original locational considerations were currently applicable. Some 40 firms gave negative replies. Changes in the ethnic character of the neighborhood seemed to be accountable for loss in business by a number of long-term retail or service establishments In the area who had given proximity to customers as their original locational consideration. A few wholesalers indicated that firms with which they were allied had left the area. Several respondents In various activities stated that the location had not met their expectations. Other reasons given for a change in locational desirability included Increased rents, shifts in space availability or functional obsolescence of space, and Increasing inaccessibility for employees because of the nature of the area.
ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AREA Respondents were not specifically asked what they thought of South of Market except as a location for their own particular businesses However, during the course of the interviewing many volunteered comments regarding their general attitudes Particular enthusiasm for the accessibility of the area was expressed by the proprietors of a variety of activities They found it generally convenient, accessible to or for their customers, or simply convenient for the persons in the firm. Some even thought the parking facilities were good. Contractors, a few professional people, and such wholesalers as are associated with the building trades held this view. Dissatisfactions with the area expressed dealt mainly with the character of the neighborhood, parking, and the nature of their physical facilities. The City tax structure was also noted by respondents as being disadvantageous. The adverse influence of skid row was pointed up by the comments that the neighborhood was too rough for women, that the clerical force would not walk through the area, or that customers were deterred by undesirable encounters on the streets.
32
PRESENT PLANS Plans to remain at present location With 98 percent of the interviewees reporting, 597 or 90 percent planned to remain at their present location. About five percent planned
to move,
and
another five percent were undecided or their plans were unknown by the respondents. Tables 21 and 22 show the responses by activity groups and by blocks. Those wishing to leave their present sites were scattered throughout the various activity groups.
In manufacturing activities, nine establishments
planned to leave and another five were undecided. Wholesaling firms with definite plans to move number seven and retailing six. Of the services group, nine wished to move and seven were undecided. On a block basis, it is notable that in Block 3106, 12 firms either did not plan to remain or were undecided, and 10 firms each in Blocks 3722 and 3751 were in the same categories. Plans for a change in operations Table 23 summarizes the responses on plans for change in operations. Apparent inconsistencies in the higher number of firms reporting a plan to move to a different site than of those indicating they did not plan to remain is explained largely in terms of time and/or necessity. Some firms indicated they planned to remain at their location if nothing necessitated their changing their location. Some did plan to remain in the short run but planned to move in the long run if opportunities presented themselves. Others wanted to move and did not feel financially capable of so doing. Still others would move to a different site or a different and larger site if possible.
Table 21 South of Market PLANS TO RAIN AT PRESENT LOCATION Firms reporting 16
Activi ty c lassification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION
MANUFACTURING
Yes iii.
No 1
Undecided 1
Unknown
-
Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHOLESALE TRADE With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
7 24 43 19 9 17 11
5 21 39
16 7 16 9
2
-
2 2 2
-
1
2
-
1 2
-
1
-
2
22
9 85
22
18 9 76 20
1 4 2
-
3 14
-
-
1
-
17 19 59 51 13
17 19 514 146 12
-
-
3. 3
-
2 1 1
-
1
-
14 14.
32 29 32 17 10 143 14 664
143 27 25 29 15 10 39
1 1
-
-
-
2
2
1 i
14
-
2 2
-
3 1 33
1 1
26
u
597
8
Table 22 South of Market PLANS TO REMAIN AT PRESENT LOCATION, BY BLOCK Firms reportin
South of Market PLANS FOR CHANGE IN OPERATIONS Move to Expand differon ent site site
-
Activity classification CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURING
Firms reporting 16
No plans 14
Undecided 1
Other change*
-
1
Food & kindred products Apparel & other fabric products Printing, publishing, etc. Primary metals; metal products; machinery Wood, paper, chemical, & plastics products Misc. manufacturing TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNICATION SERVICES
WHOLESALE TRADE
7 24
44
19
9 17
3 21 31
12
-
-
2
-
1 1 3 2
-
3 2 8 3
-
-
-
-
2
-
8 15 9
1
-
1
1
-
10
-
-
-
1
With stock--dry goods & notions; apparel; footwear With stock--meat & groceries With stock--all other wholesalers Without stock--all wholesalers RETAIL TRADE Food stores Gen’l merchandise; apparel; furniture Eating & drinking places Other retail stores FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE SERVICES Hotels Personal services Misc. business services Automobile parking & services Misc. repair services Motion pictures; amusement services Nonprofit organizations; misc. services
AUXILIARY WAREHOUSES TOTAL
22 9
84 22
16 8
-
-
2 1
4
-
3
-
i
-
71 20
2
-
4 2
3
-
17 19 58 51 13
17
-
-
-
-
-
-
50 42
12
1
-
2 4
-
1 2 4
-
-
3 1
1
-
414. 32 29 32 17 10
43
38 27 24 27 14 8 37
-
3 3
-
2 1 1 2
-
-
4
-
1 1 1 1 1
3
2 2 1 1
-
-
1
1
13
661 553
15
28
43
22
*Includes remodelinR.
VACANCY Data on vacant premises were obtained after the interviewers had completed their work in the field. At that time 116 premises had been reported as vacant. Further investigation with owners or with their representatives revealed that only 98 of these were vacant. The other 18 premises had appeared to be vacant because the interviewers had been unable to find occupants even after repeated contacts with the site, either because tenants were rarely there or the premise was used primarily for a mailing address or storage. At the outset, two facts should be kept in mind regarding vacancy. First, a vacant premise might be a single office or an entire building. Therefore, the vacancy rate based on the number of premises tends to be on the conservative side. Second, unimproved vacant land was not included in the calculation. For the area as a whole, vacant premises were 12 percent of the total. Vacancies in commercial structures in the South of Market renewal area have been broken down by rentable units, or premises. For the
48 premises about which
information was available, reasons for their being vacated have been divided into the following: 1. No suitable tenant Is available, but the property can be rented. 2. The premise Is lacking in essential facilities and hence is not a rentable property. 3. The property is vacant and In a usable condition but Is not available because of some special circumstance. Properties available but vacant Properties for which no suitable tenant has been found are generally being held for one of the reasons listed below, according to the owner or his representative
-34-
-3 5-2683
1 The overwhelming majority of the properties currently available have not been rented because no suitable tenant of good character and financial resources can be found. 2. Many- businesses employing women are not interested in the area despite low rents because of the undesirable environment found in South of Market. 3. Many of the buildings were designed for commercial or industrial activities which are no longer competitive in the area. . Many of the rents asked are too high or the kind of space or location. 5. The level of service generally janitorial and maintenance
NG
94102
offered is below that found in similarly priced space. 6. Although usable, many buildings lack such modern accommodations as self-service elevators. Approximately 60 percent of the vacancies in the area were in this category. A large number of property owners in the "rentable" group indicated they would be willing to remodel extensively if a suitable tenant were found and the rents could be raised commensurately. Inadequate facilities A lack of essential facilities is causing 10 premises to remain vacant. For example, one building has very steep steps, making the available space difficult to reach and functionally useless. Other spaces are not large enough to rent, are dirty, or have leases which prevent subleasing although the premise is vacant. Approximately 21 percent of the vacant premises were not considered adequately equipped to compete in the market.
-36-
No effort being made to rent A number of properties which could be rented are not being placed on the market because of special circumstances. One property is being held vacant as the result of pending litigation. Another is part of an estate which benefits more from the property remaining vacant.
Two
other premises were vacant because
they are scheduled for use by existing tenants in the structure at some future time. Two other properties are vacant because of extensive remodeling. Type of space No adequate system was devised for determining the square footage of the vacant premises. However, it appears that over half of the vacant space occurs in loft buildings. In addition, a large amount of low-quality office space is vacant in the area. The remainder of the vacancies seem to occur in premises designed for ground-floor commercial establishments or in older hotels currently closed by city action. Over-all, the vacant space, according to the persons interviewed, tends to be old, poorly maintained loft or semiloft space with very marginal rental potential, if any. With very few exceptions, all property owners frankly admitted that the vacant properties were in very poor condition and offered very little to potential renters.
APPENDIX SOuthof.Market INVENTORY OF CORCIP.L AND INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS BY TYPE OF ACTIVITY-
sic
Code CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION 1511 17 1711 1721 1731 171 1752 1799 General building contractors Special trade contractors Plumbing, heating, and air conditioning Painting, paper hanging, and decorating Electrical work Masonry, stone setting, and other stone work Floor laying and other floor work, n.e.c. Special trade contractors, n.e.c0 MANUFACTURING 20 2013 2033 2051 2072 2099 22 2279 23 2311 232 1 2331 Food and kindred products Activity
Number of Establishments
l. 1 6 1 2 1
Sausages and other prepared meat products Canned fruits, vegetables, preserves, jams and jellies Bread and other bakery products Chocolate and cocoa products Food preparations, n.e.c. Textile mill products Carpets, rugs, and mats, n.e.c. Apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials Men’s, youths’, and boys’ suits, coats, and overcoats Men’s, youths’, and boys’ shirts, collars, and nightwear Women’s, misses’, and juniors’ blouses, waists, and shirts Women’s misses’, and juniors’ dresses Suits, skirts, and coats, except fur coats and raincoats
2 1 2 1 1
1
3 1 1
2335 2337
3
1
558-2683 IN A 94i02
SIC Code
Activity Women’s, misses’, and juniors outerwear, n.e.c. Girls’, children’s, and infants dresses, blouses, waists, and shirts Girls’, children’s, and infants outerwear, n.e.c. Leather and sheep lined clothing Curtains and draperies Pleating, decorative and novelty stitching, and tucking for the trade Apparel findings and related products Fabricated textiles, n.e.c. Lumber anwood pxodu#’s, except furniture Wood products, n.e.c. Furniture and fixtures Auxiliary warehouse Paper and allied products Paper coating and glazing Converted paper and paper board products, n.e.c. Corrugated and solid fiber boxes Printing, publishing, and allied industries Periodicals: publishing, publishing and printing Miscellaneous publishing Commercial printing, except lithographic Commercial printing, lithographic Engraving and print plating Manifold business forms manufacturing Bookbinding, and miscellaneous related work Typesetting Service industries for the printing trades, n.e.c. Other auxiliary units Chemicals and allied products
Plastic materials, synthetic resins, and nonvulcanizable elastomers pharmaceutical preparations Central or district administrative office
1 1 1
3
SIC Code
Activity Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products Miscellaneous plastics products Primarais industries Brass, bronze, copper, copper base alloy castings Fabricated metal products Hardware, nee. Metal stampings Electroplating, plating, polishing, anodizing and coloring Valves and pipe fittings, except plumbers’ brass goods Fabricated metal products, n.e.c. Machinery, except electrical
Number of Establishments
30 3079 33 3362 34. 3429 31 61 3 4 71 3494 3499
2
1 1 2 1 1
35 3555 3569 3585
3591 36 36#2 3679 3603
Printing trades machinery and equipment General industrial machinery, n.e.c. Refrigerators; refrigeration machinery, exc. household; and complete air conditioning units Machine shops, jobbing and repair Electrical machinery, equipment 1 and supplies Lighting fixtures Electronic components and accessories, n.e.c. Auxiliary warehouses Professional, scientific, and controlling Instruments; photographic and optical Goods; watches and clocks
1 1 1
II.
1 1 1
382 3851
Orthopedic, prosthetic, and surgical appliances and supplies Optbalmic goods
1 1
11.
SIC Code
Activity Miscellaneous manufacturing industries Jewelry, precious metal Lapidary work and cutting and pblishing diamonds Sporting and athletic goods, n.’e.c. Marking devices Costume jewelry and costume novelties, except precious metal Morticians’ goods Furs, dressed and dyed Signs and advertising displays Manufacturing industries, n.e.c. Central or district administrative office TRANSP0RTATI0N COMMUNICATION, ELECTRIC, GAS, AND SANITARY SERVICES Local and suburban transit and interurban passenger transportation
Maintenance and service facilities for motor vehicle passenger transportation Motor freight transportation and warehousing Local trucking and draying, without storage Trucking, except local Local trucking and storage, including househdld goods General warehousing and storage Transportation Services Rental of railroad cars with care of lading Communication Telephone communication (wire or radio) Telegraph communication (wire and radio) Other auxiliary unit Electric, Gas, and Sanitary Services Other auxiliary unit
1
2 1 1 1
1
11.8
11.811 11.821 11.809
3 1 1
11.9 4909
SIC Code
Activity WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE
Number of Establishments
50
Wholesale trade (with stock) Drugs, drug proprietaries and druggists’ sundries Chemicals and allied products, n.e.c. Dry goods, piece goods, and notions Apparel and accessories, hosiery, and lingerie Footwear Meat and meat products Groceries and related products, n.e.c. Electrical apparatus and equipment, wiring supplies and construction materials Electronic parts and equipment Hardware Air conditioning and refrigeration equipment and supplies Commercial and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies Professional equipment and supplies Equipment and supplies for service establishments Transportation equipment and supplies Machinery, equipment, and supplies, n.e.c. Metals and. minerals Paper and its products Furniture and home furnishings Lumber and construction materials Wholesalers, n.e.c. Auxiliary warehouses Wholesale trade (without stock) Drugs, drug proprietaries, and druggists’ sundries Apparel and accessories, hosiery, and lingerie Electrical apparatus and equipment, wiring supplies and construction materials Hardware Plumbing and heating equipment and supplies Commercial and industrial machinery, equipment, and supplies Professional equipment and supplies 1 2 1 2 6 13 2 7 2
Activity Equipment and supplies for service establishments Machinery, equipment, and supplies, Lumber and construction materials Wholesalers, ne0c RETAIL TRADE Building materials
Mail order houses, except general merchandise Automatic merchandising Food Grocery stores, with or without fresh meat Meat markets Fish (sea food) markets Candy, nut, and. confectionery stores Dairy products stores manufacturing Retail bakeries nonmanufacturing Retail bakeries Food stores, n.ec Auxiliary warehouse Automotive dealers and gasoline service stations Gasoline service stations Apparel and accessories Men’s and boys clothing stores Men’s and boys’ furnishings stores Women’s ready-to-wear stores Apparel accessory and other specialty shops Family clothing stores Men’s shoe stores Auxiliary warehouse Other auxiliary unit Furniture, home furnishings, and equipment Furniture stores Drapery, curtain, and upholstery stores Auxiliary warehouse
Eating places Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) Combination eat: Lng and drinking places Miscellaneous retail stores Liquor stores Combination liquor and grocery stores Secondhand clothing and shoe stores Secondhand book stores Secondhand stores, n.e.c. Book stores Sporting goods stores Florists Cigar stores and stands News dealers and newsstands Camera and photographic supply stores Miscellaneous retail stores, n.e.c. Auxiliary warehouse Other auxiliary unit FINANCE, INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
28 19 12
3 8 1 1 19 1 1 1 2 2 2 6 1 1
60 6022 63 6319
Banking State banks, members of the Federal Reserve System Insurance Carriers Life insurance carriers, n.e.c. Insurance carriers, n.e.c. Insurance Agents, brokers, and service Insurance agents, brokers, and service Real Estate Operators of nonresidential buildings Agents, brokers, and managers Subdividers and developers Combinations of real estate, insurance, loans, law offices 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 1
6 399
64 6411 65 6512 6531 61 6611
SIC Code
Activity Holding and other investment companies Investing institutions, n.e.c. SERVICES Hotels Personal services Power laundries, family and commercial Laundries, except power Photographic studios, including commercial photography Beauty shops Barber shops Shoe repair shops, shoe shine parlors, and hat cleaning shops Pressing, alteration, and garment repair Miscellaneous business services Advertising agencies Consumer credit reporting agencies, mercantile reporting agencies, and adjustment and collection agencies Duplicating, addressing, mailing, mailing list and stenographic services Blueprinting and photocopying services Disinfecting and exterminating services Miscellaneous services to dwellings and other buildings Research, development, and testing laboratories Business and management consulting services Business services, n.e.c. Other auxiliary unit Automobile repair, automobile services, and garages Parking lots Parking structures General automobile repair shops Automobile repair shops, n.e.c.
Amusement and recreation services, except motion pictures Theatrical producers (except motion pictures), bands, orchestras, and entertainers Bowling, billiards, and pool Sports promoters and commercial operators, and amusement and recreation services, n.e.c. Medical and other health services Offices of physicians and surgeons Educational services Vocational schools Niprofit membership organizations Labor unions and similar labor organizations Auxiliary warehouse Miscellaneous services Engineering and architectural services Nonprofit educational and scientific research agencies Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services Servicee. n.e.c. 10 1 I 1 1 1
2
21 2 2 7
a.e.c. - not elsewhere classified
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency South of Market (Calif. R-59) Commercial and Industrial Survey Lot(s)_____ Block Estab. No. - of______ Firm name Site address Respondent & title Owner of business Address PROPERTY - TENURE CONDITIONS 1. Own building & land 2. Own building _____________’Phone 3. Tenant ’Phone
-
4. Name, address & ’phone of owner
5. Rent per month
6, Lease
- 7. Termination date
8. Other occupancy conditions (lease-purchase, utilities, own fixtures, equipment, percentage lease, etc.) 9. To whom is rent paid 10. Do you collect rent from anybody who does business on the premises? Yes
11. Nape of subtenant
No
12. Does anyone live on the premises? Yes TYPE OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY 13. General: Retail 14. Describe operation: Wholesale
No Industrial
If so, employee?_________________ Trans.Coan. Service____
15. Gross annual volume 16. Is business conducted at more than one location? Yes Other National Bay Area S. F. 17. Nature of business on site (hdqs., branch, etc.) If so, where?
4PLOY?NT 18. Average no. full-time employees 19. Seasonal or other peaks? 20. By type: Profeas’l, technical, & kindred workers Mrs., offs., & proprts. Clerical & kindred workers Sales workers 21. By residence: S. F. S. of M. Site
Male
Female
Craftsmen, foremen & kindred workers Operatives & kindred workers Service workers Laborers 22. By means of transportation: Auto Public Walk
Peninsula East Bay Mann
23. Total annual payroll in last calendar year (if fiscal, so state)
MARKETING
24, Areas of operation from which business derived Neighborhood No, Calif. S. F. Nationwide Bay Area 26, Average no, visitors/day
27, 28. Visitor vehicle contacts/day, Business vehicles Truck Truck Auto Auto Other
25. Transportation dependency: Truck Rail Ship Air
Other
29, Garaged where? 30. Business vehicle contacts/day Truck Auto Other
LOATIOMAL CONSIDERATIONS
31, Total yrs. in business
32. S.F.
33. S. of M.
34. On site
35. Reason for locating in this area
Space/cost Space availability
Labor supply Proximity to customers
Proximity to similar or allied estab. Proximity to rail/shipping Proximity to retail district Proximity to financial district
36, Do these reasons still apply? Yes 37. 38.
No No
Do you plan to remain at this location? Yes With what other types of businesses are you allied?
39, Would closer proximity to these be desirable? Yes
CHARACTERISTICS OF PREMISES
No
Why?
40. Sq. ft. of interior space
42. Area adequate? Yes ____ No why?
41. Ground floor
43. Layout adequate?
Other No If not,
Yes
44, Do you have on-site loading? Yes
46. On-site parking? Yes No
No
45. How much?
48. For what?
47, No, of spaces
49. Have you expanded on this site? Yes 51. What type of expansion?
No
50, When?
52. Do you now have plans for a change in your operations? Yes____ No
Expand on site Move to different and larger site
Move to different site
Other
Interviewer Date S FRA S. of M. 3163
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency South of Market (Calif. R-59) Commercial and Industrial Survey Parking Facility Supplement Block Estab. No, Firm name Site address Respondent & title
of
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS & PREMISES 1. No, of stalls: 2. Type of operation: Open Enclosed TOTAL Reserved PARKING ACTIVITY 5, Validation arrangements 6. Turnover rate Rate emphasis: Long-term (per stall/day) Percent of total_______________ 8. All-day parking encouraged?________________ Percent of total_______________ Inactive period________________ Ticket-operated_____ Self-park Attendant park Other 3. Services present: Gasoline Lubrication Repair Car wash 4. Type of space: sqft In lot area In structure No. of stories
9. All-night parking permitted?_______________ 10. Peak hours of traffic activity 11. Parking rates_____________________________ 12. Cars parked at time of interview___________ 13. Total spaces available at time of interview,
Time of interview
IT
Interviewer Date
S FRA S. of M. 4-1-63
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency South of Market (Calif, R-59) Commercial and Industrial Survey Vacant Premises Block Estab. No. address ondent address & phone of owner Lot(s) of
previous tenant
of business activity of last tenant on for vacating premises______ th of vacancy Why vacant?
1tions under which property will be rented:
Month-to-month? Other occupancy conditions_ Changes to suit tenant? to sell?
for change in building feet of area rent per square foot