Since assuming office in 2025, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has been actively working to revive the city’s economy from its post-pandemic downturn.
Lurie, a newcomer to politics, was previously recognized as an heir to the family fortune and for his philanthropic efforts aimed at combating poverty.
Currently, Lurie has utilized his extensive network across various sectors to enhance the city’s image and economic standing after a protracted recovery period. Even years after the pandemic, San Francisco’s downtown area continues to grapple with significant office vacancy rates and persistent challenges such as visible drug markets and homelessness.
Lurie has consistently championed urban transformation and the attraction of new businesses to the city. In 2013, as chairman of the city’s host committee, he successfully convinced the NFL to bring the Super Bowl to the Bay Area, even while Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was still being built. Now, in his capacity as the city’s mayor, Lurie aims to replicate that success.
With football enthusiasts preparing to arrive for Sunday’s Super Bowl LX, the broader Bay Area anticipates a substantial economic boost. San Francisco is projected to be a central point for tourist activity, allowing Lurie to showcase to sports fans what they can expect when the FIFA World Cup arrives later this summer. He hopes this event will highlight the advancements achieved through his pro-business strategy.
Revitalizing the Business Sector
Lurie, a San Francisco native, established Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit dedicated to poverty alleviation, in 2005. This organization has channeled over $440 million into initiatives supporting housing, early childhood education, and employment throughout the Bay Area. He headed the organization until he launched his mayoral campaign.
Lurie’s mayoral tenure has prioritized enhancing conditions in the city and attracting businesses back to its downtown core, which became deserted during the pandemic.
The broader region anticipates an economic benefit ranging from $370 million to $630 million, with San Francisco alone potentially seeing up to $440 million, based on a study commissioned by the host committee. The event is also projected to draw 90,000 visitors from beyond the Bay Area and create approximately 5,000 jobs.
“We are prepared to showcase our restaurants, our small businesses, and our parks,” Lurie stated during a Monday press conference. “While there will be significant traffic this week, I believe the impending economic benefits will make it entirely worthwhile.”
The NBA All-Star Game held in San Francisco last year produced an economic impact of $328.2 million, as per research conducted by the Temple University Sport Industry Research Center. Close to 143,000 attendees from 40 U.S. states and 44 countries participated in the event.
Acknowledging Past Oversight
The economic challenges faced by San Francisco since the pandemic are widely recognized. Prior to the pandemic, office-related activities contributed over 75% of the city’s GDP. As stay-at-home mandates evolved into a strong inclination for remote work, the commercial real estate market plummeted, and the office occupancy rate is still at about 35%.
Prominent retail establishments like Uniqlo, Rack, and Anthropologie have closed their doors.
“We underestimated our business community,” Lurie stated at an AI conference in December. “We believed, ‘We can continue to burden you… and you will remain.’ However, that proved incorrect. People departed.”
From 2020 to 2024, the city’s population saw a reduction of approximately 50,000 individuals, based on Census figures. A proposed tax targeting billionaires poses a risk of further business exodus from the Bay Area and has already prompted long-term residents, including co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and investors David Sacks and Peter Thiel, to leave.
After weeks of silence regarding the proposal, on January 26, Lurie aligned with Gov. Gavin Newsom in his opposition to the tax. Lurie stated his opposition, believing it would cause residents to leave the city, which is already contending with a budget deficit due to federal reductions in food assistance and healthcare funding.
“Everyone ought to contribute their equitable portion,” Lurie remarked. “However, if individuals are able to simply relocate, I would prefer to see action taken at the national level.”
Lurie informed that the city needs to “eliminate bureaucratic obstacles” for small businesses, and he views the government as a collaborator with businesses.
Last year, Lurie convened business leaders—including former president Katherine August-deWilde, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, and Alphabet’s president and CIO Ruth Porat—to establish the nonprofit Partnership for San Francisco. Its aim is to leverage “private sector expertise and resources to help address the city’s most pressing challenges.”
Lurie has also held discreet meetings with Powell Jobs, former designer Jony Ive, and CEO Richard Dickson to develop a branding campaign for the city, as reported by the San Francisco Standard. Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, had previously contributed to a civic pride initiative financed by San Francisco business figures, such as Gap board member Bob Fisher and tech executive Chris Larsen.
Since Lurie assumed leadership, the city has experienced a 6.5% reduction in its vacancy rate, and tourism has increased post-pandemic, even prior to the anticipated boosts from the Super Bowl and World Cup. AI startups are rapidly entering San Francisco, with 85 out of 133 AI companies that secured leases in the city in 2025 being early-stage ventures, according to the Standard.
“This is the finest city globally when we are performing optimally,” Lurie stated. “And I believe people are beginning to recognize that once more.”