David Rio Chai Bar owner David Scott Lowe learned his cafe might be forced to close. For now, it’s staying open.
Jamellee S. via Yelp
“It was kind of a shocker. We had no clue,” Lowe told SFGATE on Thursday, explaining that the cafe has a 10-year lease at 1019 Market St. downtown.
But the city of San Francisco filed an application this week to acquire the mostly vacant downtown office building, with plans to turn it into a mental health service center. Included in the application: “The building is vacant except for the ground floor retail tenant that will vacate upon ownership turnover.”
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San Francisco’s real estate division said negotiations are ongoing at this time, and Lowe said he’s trying not to overreact since he hasn’t heard anything from the building owners.
“We’re not going to give up on San Francisco. We just need to wait and see. We have no intention of leaving,” Lowe said. “And if we’re forced to, we’ll find another location.”
If the acquisition of 1019 Market St. by San Francisco goes forward, it will be the end for David Rio Chai Bar, the ground floor tenant that’s occupied the building since 2015.
Ed U. via Yelp
Lowe founded the specialty tea company in 1996 with Rio Miura, intending to sell their chai products in Japan. But popularity for the unique chai blends spiked and they began a wholesale business, getting their products into cafes and retail stores. Lowe said he always wanted to have a flagship cafe in San Francisco.
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“When we decided we were going to open a shop I wanted to be on Market [Street]. The ethos of our company is we are invested in our city,” he said. “I chose that spot when it’s right there in the middle of the most neglected part of San Francisco. We’re all about trying to make the city better and being good community members.”
The cafe opened in 2015, and Lowe said it’s been a “rough road” ever since. They’ve weathered frequent break-ins, vandalism and even occasional attacks on staff. He said the cafe finally started to make a profit in 2019, and then the pandemic hit just months later. He said he’s been losing money every month that it’s been open since. Even so, he said he planned on keeping the cafe open long-term.
“It’s an investment I’m willing to make in the city. At some point, things have to change,” he said. “The city is amazing and it will come back and I want to be there for that.”
In 2019, he opened a North Beach location of the cafe, which closed two years later.
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For now, Lowe said he plans to stay open and needs to look over his lease and see what leverage they have, if any. “I’m the eternal optimist,” he said. “We’re not giving up on this spot.”