existing building at bush and montgomery for more now on this initiative, i'm joined live tonight by rodney fong, the ceo of the san francisco chamber of commerce. rodney, always a pleasure to see you. the chamber champion. this legislation and now you're leading by example. what do you envision happening in this space? >> well, we're very excited about this. you know, it's an opportunity for us to showcase all of the great members that are part of the chamber of commerce and new companies that are opening in san francisco. it's a focus on sustainable businesses here in san francisco, eco entrepreneurs. i and we're really thinking about addressing some of the challenging topics and hearing from people about how they imagine the downtown to be next. >> okay, so let's talk about this location and why you believe that others should also consider downtown. >> well, this is a quintessential corner of san francisco's downtown on montgomery and bush street. and it's a fishbowl to some degree. we're really eager to have activity in the space. it's on the ground floor, plenty of windows, and we invite pe

we are also joined by a handful of really wonderful partners that make it work, rodney fong, head of chamber of commerce is here. stephanie linder, the head of the garden at golden gate park, we are in your front yard stephanie, thank you very much. you heard them back here hooting and hallering when the mayor talked about roller skating, david. skate and place. and then from illuminate who works tirelessly to light this place up and create joy and place-making, my friend ben davis. and i know i'm forgetting somebody and i'm losing my notes, but i most importantly-oh our friend from another planet. there is special bit of news. we have outside land coming first week of august. already eager beaver tickets are sold out? that is because the show is hot hot hot. and thank you very much for assigning two very important members of your organization to join us for our birthday today. give it up for ranger dave and ranger roof. [applause] and as the mayor alluded, the most important round of thanks are for the hardworking men and women who take care of the part for 150 years with sweat, lov

president and ceo of the san francisco chamber of commerce rodney fong says he's fully on board with the mayor's vision. >> i think covid taught us not to necessarily put all of our eggs in one basket. san francisco has the luxury of being able to try to diversify itself, which i think the mayor by going to sacramento is trying to do by expedite and create incentives for people to take chance and be creative in this great downtown. >> reporter: back at saj nancy told me she, too, likes the idea of getting more people back into downtown. she just hopes those people will visit her restaurant as much as those did before. >> improving either housing or more work, offices around the area will improve our business a lot. >> reporter: even with all of these different initiatives that the mayor's office is pushing, the folks here tell me they still think it is going to be a long time before downtown is fully revitalized. they're expecting years, if not more. >> thank you. san francisco has seen a handful of major office investments this year. in the last few days we learned tech startup ripp

rodney fong is the president of the san francisco chamber of commerce. >> it's largely the intellectualpacity that is here in san francisco. a lot of smart people able to do this great, innovative work in san francisco yet again, is on the cutting edge of so many things that affect the world. >> downtown does still have its problems, though. robert salmons is a commercial real estate expert with cushman wakefield, who says the pandemic altered the market with hybrid work. he predicts the city's core will eventually bounce back from the downturn, even if it takes some time. >> after the.com downturn, it took almost ten years to get back to where we were previous because with so much venture capital and new industries like artificial intelligence expanding in the city. >> egan says san francisco is still the place of the future. >> we're hearing venture capitalists and wanting to be in san francisco saying, you have to be in san francisco to be part of this action. we're starting to see the talent saying, i need to be in the office more, and i need to move back to the bay area because it'

rodney fong, the ceo of the city's chamber of commerce, explained larger goals for the new office. >>invite people to come by and use it. it's really sort of a community space for us all. and so activating, you know, all of the great things that happen on the 15th floor, 16th floor. in the past, we really hadn't been able to see that kind of technology, that sort of innovation. and so now having a brick and mortar store, the chamber of commerce is really able to showcase what's happening in the downtown of san francisco. >> this is the result of legislation passed last year that allows downtown office spaces to be on the ground floor only if it's paired with retail, food and beverage or entertainment use. >> it was a night of musical performances coming up. the vocal festival that features students in the east bay. >> also ahead tonight challenges still ahead for san francisco mayor london breed and her plan to bring pandas to the city. the legislation, she hopes will kick start the multi-million dollar effort. >> and hey, we've had some cooler temperatures out there across the bay ar

president and ceo of the san francisco chamber of commerce rodney fong says he's fully on board withvision. >> i think covid taught us not to necessarily put all of our eggs in one basket and san francisco has the luxury of being able to try to diversify itself which i think mayor by going to sacramento is trying to do to expedite and create insentives for people to take chances and be creative in the great downtown. >> reporter: back at sage, nancy told me she too likes the idea of getting more people into downtown and just hopes those people will visit her restaurant as much as those did before. >> improving either housing or more work offices around the area will improve our business a lot. >> now taking a live look outside on this tuesday morning. >>> you feeling in the mood for some jewelry, lead? look at today. ooh. it's beautiful out there. i can't say it enough. we are in for a good day today and jess we can't say the same for the friends in the south though. >> oh my gosh. check this out. what texas has been dealing all week is wild. the hail was coming down jed and the sky

rodney fong is the president of the san francisco chamber of commerce. >> it's largely the intellectualre in san francisco. a lot of smart people able to do this great, innovative work in san francisco yet again, is on the cutting edge of so many things that affect the world. >> downtown does still have its problems, though. robert salmons is a commercial real estate expert with cushman wakefield, who says the pandemic altered the market with hybrid work. he predicts the city's core will eventually bounce back from the downturn, even if it takes some time. >> after the.com downturn. it took almost ten years to get back to where we were previous because with so much venture capital and new industries like artificial intelligence expanding in the city. >> egan says san francisco is still the place of the future. >> we're hearing venture capitalists and wanting to be in san francisco saying, you have to be in san francisco to be part of this action. we're starting to see the talent saying, i need to be in the office more, and i need to move back to the bay area because it's starting to hap

president and ceo of the san francisco chamber of commerce rodney fong says he's fully on board withvision. >> i think covid taught us not to necessarily put all of our eggs in one basket and san francisco has the luxury of being able to try to diversify itself, which i think the mayor, by going to sacramento, is trying to do to expedite and create incentives for people to take chances and be creative in this great downtown. >> reporter: back at sajj, nancy told me she too likes the idea of getting more people back into downtown and just hopes those people will visit her restaurant as much as those did before. >> improving either housing or more work offices around the area will improve our business a lot. >>> now taking a live look outside on this tuesday morning. and breathtaking really. we live in such a beautiful place. and we're in for a beautiful day today. jess? it sounds like we can't say the same though for our friends in the south. >> absolutely. take a look at this video. check out what texas has been dealing with all week. the hail was coming down hard yesterday. and this

we are also joined by a handful of really wonderful partners that make it work, rodney fong, head off commerce is here. stephanie linder, the head of the garden at golden gate park, we are in your front yard stephanie, thank you very much. you heard them back here hooting and hallering when the mayor talked about roller skating, david. skate and place. and then from illuminate who works tirelessly to light this place up and create joy and place-making, my friend ben davis. and i know i'm forgetting somebody and i'm losing my notes, but i most importantly-oh our friend from another planet. there is special bit of news. we have outside land coming first week of august. already eager beaver tickets are sold out? that is because the show is hot hot hot. and thank you very much for assigning two very important members of your organization to join us for our birthday today. give it up for ranger dave and ranger roof. [applause] and as the mayor alluded, the most important round of thanks are for the hardworking men and women who take care of the part for 150 years with sweat, love and skil