How leading SF mayoral candidates hope to bring businesses back downtown

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- With just about a month left until the November election, the top candidates in the race for San Francisco mayor are battling to be voters' top choice.

In interviews with the four leading candidates, ABC7 News anchor Reggie Aqui teamed up with our media partner The San Francisco Standard and its political and business reporter Annie Gaus, along with Kara Swisher, author and host of the "On with Kara Swisher" podcast. Our panel asked the candidates about some of the biggest issues facing the city: including public safety and crime, homelessness, downtown recovery and the economy, tourism and public perception of the city.

WATCH: Top San Francisco mayoral candidates detail vision for city, tackling crime, homelessness and more

An increase in crime, decline of in-person retail shopping, and the pandemic made for a perfect storm to hurt foot traffic downtown. Many small businesses here have been forced to close because of rampant drug use and ongoing criminal activity.

A July report from commercial real estate group CBRE found the San Francisco downtown area had an overall vacancy rate of nearly 37%.

All mayoral candidates agree on the need to get the city's economy booming again, with a large part of that starting with bringing offices and businesses back downtown.

Lurie: Give us "18 to 24 months"

Nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie promised if he is elected mayor, he will help make downtown booming within the first two years of his term.

"Give us 18 to 24 months and we're going to call our friends in the East Bay and in the South Bay and in Marin and say, 'hey, come in, come shopping with us, come out to get a meal and let's go to see a show at Golden Gate Theater.' And they'll say, 'OK, I'm coming," he said.

MORE: What top SF mayoral candidates say about city's homelessness problem

The Levi's heir said he plans to model the rebuild of downtown San Francisco after what New York City did in the aftermath of 9/11.

"It's going to be a quasi public-private entity with business leaders, civic leaders and people from my administration to make sure that we recruit and diversify what we have downtown," He said. "People want to be in San Francisco. If it's clean and safe, we will come roaring back."

Peskin says downtown needs a new blueprint

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin says in the city's effort to bring back tourists and businesses to the heart of San Francisco, local leaders need to reimagine spaces that used to traditionally be retail or office spaces.

"What we need to do to revive downtown is to bring the best aspects of neighborhoods. And I not only passed that legislation by reforming the building code and the fire code and the planning code, I have a plan," he said. "A matter of fact, I'm the only candidate in this race who has a plan to offer city financing to bring those conversions forward with lower interest rates."

MORE: Can San Francisco fix its public image? Mayoral hopefuls vow to restore the iconic city

When asked by ABC7 News anchor Reggie Aqui if housing would work in areas like Union Square - historically a tourism hot spot, Peskin said the city should take a new approach in its new era.

"In order to revitalize downtown and Union Square, we need a mix of uses," Peskin said. "We need it to be a 24-hour neighborhood. We need to have a residential component so that it's alive in the evenings as well."

Farrell: Tax incentives will bring back businesses

"Downtown, for those of us who've been around San Francisco for a long time, is a shell of its former self. It's a ghost town compared to what it used to be," former interim mayor Mark Farrell said. "City Hall needs to be focused on doing everything possible proactively to bring that back, because that is the economic engine."

Farrell, who has spent a decade and a half as a venture capitalist, believes proper tax incentives will help attract businesses and corporations to return to the city.

"I think there needs to be, one, tax incentives for employers that will actually relocate to those areas," he said. "If employers will actually bring their employees back into the office four plus days a week to work, we can talk about enforcement if we want to."

Breed: Mixed-use spaces and tax breaks are already in the works

Breed and several of her opponents are in agreement about some of the proposed solutions to bring an economic boom back to the city, but says her administration has already been working on several of those ideas.

"We are providing tax breaks, fee waivers - first year free for any new business that wants to open in San Francisco. We waive all the city fees vacant to vibrant as a partnership with property owners downtown, specifically to allow businesses to move into their properties and open up," the incumbent said. "We're getting rid of the bureaucracy in San Francisco."

You can watch the full interviews with all four candidates here.