John,

I am thrilled to announce that IKEA's much-anticipated downtown San Francisco location is now open! 

But this isn't just any store opening – it's also a sign of progress on our downtown recovery, bringing renewed energy to the Mid Market area. Across the street the new Line Hotel has opened its doors to visitors and people can grab an excellent cup of coffee at Alfred Coffee, famous for its iced vanilla latte. This is part of growing interest in our Downtown, which had the highest annual increase in office attendance in a recent survey of major cities. 

The 250,000-square-foot complex with IKEA as its anchor, plus new co-working spaces, will help reinvigorate San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood. It is already bringing shoppers and foot traffic downtown, and encouraging more businesses to invest early in our recovery.

This new IKEA store has already created 100 new jobs! We collaborated with the company to hire local workers to fill these open positions, and are working hard to bring more new jobs downtown. I'm proud to see this new store contribute to that effort. More businesses opening and more workers make downtown safer and more welcoming for shoppers, workers, and all residents.

I hope you will take time to shop at IKEA and support a business that is investing in our city’s recovery. And enjoy those famous IKEA meatballs!

Sincerely, 

Mayor London Breed