It’s been a lifetime (ok, fine, almost four years) since Eater SF shared news about the upcoming boutique hotel the LINE, which signed a lease for its first Bay Area outpost back in 2018. Now we finally have more details to share about what to expect in terms of the food and drink options. The trendy 236-room hotel, designed by Handel Architects, will include four food and beverage outlets in total: a ground-floor restaurant called Tenderheart, a rooftop bar and restaurant dubbed Rise Over Run, a more classic hotel bar called Dark Bar, and , lastly, an outpost of Los Angeles’ highly Instagrammable Alfred Coffee.

Executive chef Joe Hou is heading up the kitchens at both Tenderheart and Rise Over Run and brings some San Francisco kitchen cred to the endeavor. According to a press release, Hou, a former pastry chef, worked at Per Se and Nomad in New York City before heading out west, where he joined the team at Michelin-starred Angler. His resume also includes time in the kitchens of Palo Alto’s Bird Dog and the more recently opened Le Fantastique in San Francisco. The press release promises “thoughtful, sophisticated flavors” and menus built on seasonal produce, though details remain scarce about what exactly to expect on the menu at either restaurant.

Chef Joe Hou and beverage consultant Danny Louie. Anna Alexia Basile

Tenderheart, an all-day restaurant that will take over an indoor-outdoor space accessible by both Turk and Market streets, will serve “Northern California cuisine through a multi-cultural lens,” the press release says. While Rise Over Run, that rooftop bar and restaurant perched atop the 12-story building, will boast panoramic views of the city and serve “canapes and shareable plates,” the company brags. Presumably because of the city’s unpredictably chilly weather, the rooftop will have a solarium in addition to a terrace, so customers can take in the sights without having to actually be exposed to the fog.

On the beverage end of things, the company tapped local bar vet Danny Louie of Chinese-American cocktail company Gāmsāān. Louie spearheaded the cocktail program at Mister Jui’s, as well as Chino and Alembic. The lobby-floor Dark Bar is where he’ll mix “unique takes on quintessential cocktails embellished by unexpected bar snacks,” per the release.

But last, coffee: Yes, Los Angeles-based Alfred Coffee, famous for its “But First, Coffee” neon signs, will open its first Northern California outpost inside the hotel. In addition to the usual selection of coffee drinks and tea, there will be some grab-and-go food options available too. All the food and beverage outlets and the hotel itself are expected to open to the public on September 30.

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The post New Restaurant and Rooftop Bar to Open at San Francisco’s Upcoming the LINE Resort in Mid-Market appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

You can see it walking down Central Market Street at dusk: One by one the windows of the new residential buildings are starting to light up.

Despite empty office buildings and rows of shuttered retail — and open air drug dealing that has become so bad that in December the city declared a state of emergency — residents are moving into the long-troubled heart of San Francisco’s main street.

At Prism, a 193-unit complex at 1028 Market St., 36 units have leased since it opened about six weeks ago. Next door, the 301-unit 50 Jones St., which debuted during the darkest days of the pandemic, is now about 85% leased. A block to the east, the traffic of potential buyers to the Serif condos at 950 Market St. has doubled since February as COVID cases started to drop. About 50 condos out of 242 have sold there.

“We are seeing a lot of people who are moving to San Francisco for the first time, whose companies are requiring them to come back to the office soon,” said Olympic Residential Group Director Adam Tetenbaum, who oversaw development of Prism.

For years the injection of thousands of several of housing units along Central Market Street was seen as the missing element of a revitalization that took off a dozen years ago as tech companies like Dolby, ZenDesk, Twitter, Square and Uber took over vacant or under-utilized buildings. Tens of thousands of workers shifted much of downtown San Francisco’s entrepreneurial verve north from SoMa and west from the financial district. That brought retail, restaurants and a burgeoning arts scene.

But while about 2,000 new housing units opened in the west end of Central Market Street — these included 100 Van Ness, Trinity Place and Nema — proposed Market Street developments between Mason and Jones street moved much more slowly through the approval process. The result is that signature housing projects at 50 Jones, 1028 Market and 950 Market missed the Mid-Market tech boom, instead opening at a time when the pandemic had left office buildings deserted, foot traffic sparse and storefronts boarded up.

“So much closed down on Market Street during the pandemic,” said Simon Bertrang, executive director of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. “It’s not a very active place right now.”

Developers Dan Diebel (left) and Adam Tentenbaum at Prism on Market Street in San Francisco. The building with 193 housing units and a green space rooftop opened in January.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Businesses that shut down included Popson’s Burgers, Equinox Coffee, Warm Planet Bikes, Huckleberry Bikes, Homeskillet and World of Stereo.

For the developers of 1028 Market St., a joint venture of Olympic Residential Group and Tidewater Capital, the hope is that the expected return of office workers will combine with new investment to jump start the stalled Mid-Market story. And already there are glitters of home. Ikea started construction on its $260 million mall at 945 Market St. A new Line Hotel will open this summer alongside the Serif condos at 950 Market. Next week the city’s largest Whole Foods will open at 8th and Market, part of the 1,900-unit Trinity Place project.

And even some of the shuttered restaurants are finding new life: the former Homeskillet at 1001 Market is now Gai Chicken & Rice while what was Popson’s Burgers at 988 Market St. will become Fayala, a French and Mediterranean restaurant.

Prism is aiming to attract younger, price-conscious workers. The building is offering eight weeks of free rent on a 13 month lease. Even without the incentive Prism’s units are competitively priced. The most affordable studios are renting for $2,275 a month, less than the city average of $2,423. One bedroom start around $3,300, about average for the city but less than other amenity-rich buildings similar to Prism — which has a large rooftop garden, gym and entertainment spaces.

William Deng, 22, landed at a Prism studio after moving to San Francisco from New York. A life science researcher, Deng recently landed a job at a biotech company in South San Francisco and wanted to be close to BART and Caltrain but also “close to the hustle and bustle of the city.”

He said he was attracted to Prism because it’s new construction. He said the staff in the building has been accommodating, organizing resident get-togethers and offering free tickets to Harry Potter and The Cursed Child at the nearby Curran Theater.

Deng is well aware of the street conditions in Mid-Market and the Tenderloin, but said it’s “not as bad” he imagined. He said he has already noticed more activity on Market Street in the weeks since he moved in. Foot traffic will only increase as offices open up this spring and summer, he said.

“We are surrounded by countless companies and apartments with people working from home,” he said. “Just imagine how different and safer the morning and evening commute will be with all those people on the street.”

Rather than seeing its lack of parking as a disadvantage, Prism uses it to attract a young, environmentally conscious worker like Deng, according to Tetenbaum.

“We gear it to people who want to bike and walk and use transit,” said Tetenbaum. “The bike lane and Muni and BART are out the front door.”

Overall, San Francisco’s rents rose 9% in the last year, after dropping about 25% during the first year of the pandemic, according to the brokerage CBRE. Occupancy is now about 95%. With some companies planning a March return to office — at least part time — buildings like Prism could benefit from new hires moving to San Francisco, said CBRE research director Colin Yasukochi.

“A lot of the tech companies have done very well during the pandemic,” said Yasukochi. “They have hired tens of thousands of people and a lot of those new hires have never seen their home office. And housing is still in short supply.”

The question is whether the new investment along Market Street will help improve the lives of the 30,000 Tenderloin residents to the north of Market Street who have long struggled with rampant drug dealing, violent crime and trash-strewn sidewalks and alleyways, according to Bertrang.

“If we can’t deliver clean and safe sidewalks … it will be a wasted opportunity,” he said.

The historic tenderloin “should be an attraction for people moving into the new buildings instead of something they are worried about,” Bertrang said. “If the city can address the basic issues of cleanliness and safety it’s going to support everyone. The intensity of the drug trade right now is really damaging.”

Tenderloin Housing Clinic Executive Director Randy Shaw said the contrast along Market Street is evident. On the one hand, buildings like Prism are delivering housing that was a decade in the making. On the other, it’s hard not to be discouraged about an area that was bustling five years ago and is now more depressed and hard hit by drug dealing than it was five or 10 years ago.

Even the land where Prism now sits was full of life from 2015 to 2017 when it was The Hall, a pop-up food court that featured jazz, bluegrass and afterschool art programs for Tenderloin kids.

“I’m trying to figure out how we get that scene back,” he said. “There are good things on the horizon but at the moment it’s tough out there.”

JK Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen

The post Regardless of open air drug dealing close by, new housing in San Francisco’s Mid-Market is filling up appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The area, which includes the Mid-Market, UN Plaza and Tenderloin, has been badly hit by the pandemic.

As COVID-19 spread across San Francisco, many large companies and their employees left the mid-market area, leaving those who had no choice but to live and trade on these empty streets.

There is no coating.

“Selling drugs and buying products, using drugs publicly in broad daylight as families walk by and walk past this area,” said Mayor of London Breed.

RELATED: Is San Francisco Safe? City officials explain plan to tackle homelessness and substance abuse

A number of crimes against Asian Americans have made people feel that the area is not safe. However, when companies are considering reopening, the security they insist on must be a priority.

Steven Gibson is with the Mid-Market Business Association.

“A lot of companies aren’t open yet, so they’re just considering opening. The question is, will customers come if they’re not comfortable and secure,” said Gibson.

The mayor’s plan, entitled “Mid-Market Vibrancy and Safety Plan,” begins Wednesday as more police officers patrol the area on foot.

RELATED: “That’s Horrible”: SFPD Steps Up Patrols Amid a Series of Violent Attacks on Asian Americans

Smaller companies that barely survive welcomed the plan.

“Yeah, it’s a great idea. The people here … it’s a great idea, safer,” said Laid Chellihi, who owns a pizza place nearby.

Urban Alchemy’s community ambassadors are just as important. More of them will connect people to the services they need.

“We have to do something to keep the area clean and clear and people want many of the people struggling with addiction to get the help they need,” added Mayor Breed.

RELATED: “San Francisco Worsening”: Asian-American Victim Consider Moving Out of State After Brutal Attack

This is Supervisor Matt Haney’s district.

“Police work alone will not be enough in my opinion, but foot patrol, community police, this approach is the best way to do police work,” Haney said.

The mayor said there was now money in the budget to start funding the program, which will also count on dollars from the private sector.

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