Start at 50 West Portal Avenue, where El Toreador has served chalupitas and margaritas under Esperanza Mahan since 1980. The space has held a Mexican restaurant since 1957. Walk a few doors up to 69, where Pedro Galletti runs Mozzarella di Bufala. Across the street at 80 is BookShop West Portal, Anna Bullard's 20-year-old bookstore. Between and around them sits the dark Empire Theater at 85. Its operator closed abruptly in 2021.
On August 30, the team behind that building said it had filed a revised plan. The proposal grew from 64 apartments on nine floors to 172 apartments on 12 floors, with about 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Mark MacDonald, co-owner of DM Development, described his pitch for prospective tenants to the Chronicle. "We often say the neighborhood is the amenity," he said.
So the building is being sold on the strength of the block it will disrupt. The shops that make that pitch believable are the same ones that have to last through the construction years.
What changed between January and August
The site has been in play for most of 2026. Planning Department chief of staff Dan Sider told the Chronicle on August 31 that apart from a January application, nothing had been submitted for the Empire site that he could comment on. He had not yet seen the revised package. Earlier this year, a petition against the original proposal called its 64 units across nine floors "grossly oversized."
The new version covers more ground. Along with the theater, it takes in the adjoining building that currently holds Supercuts and Goodwill. Sources number that parcel differently. The Chronicle calls it 61 West Portal and SF YIMBY calls it 59, while the developer describes the combined site as 85 and 61. Galletti chose not to sell his building, so the new structure would rise on both sides of Mozzarella di Bufala. "I'm going to be surrounded by it. Literally," he told The Standard.
The ownership has deep roots in the neighborhood. Empire West Portal LLC was founded by Jesse Appleton, a fifth-generation owner of the property, together with longtime family friend Alex Vartan.
Here is the block as it stands, using addresses from published reporting:
| Address | Business or site | Relationship to the project |
|---|---|---|
| 50 West Portal Ave. | El Toreador | Same stretch of the avenue; owned by Esperanza Mahan since 1980 |
| 59 or 61 West Portal Ave. | Supercuts and Goodwill building | Part of the redevelopment site |
| 69 West Portal Ave. | Mozzarella di Bufala | Not sold; sits between the two redevelopment parcels |
| 80 West Portal Ave. | BookShop West Portal | Directly across from the theater |
| 85 West Portal Ave. | Former Empire Theater | Main redevelopment site |
Goodwill will not be one of the shops waiting it out. Supervisor Myrna Melgar said the nonprofit had already said it would close what the Chronicle described as an upscale "boutique" version of the thrift store.
Why there is no hearing to attend
For anyone who remembers how West Portal projects used to go, this is the part that feels unfamiliar. The developer's project site says the revised plan uses San Francisco's Family Zoning Plan, SB 423, SB 330 and the State Density Bonus, and that it seeks ministerial approval under SB 423. According to SF Planning, ministerial housing projects generally skip public hearings, CEQA review and Neighborhood Notification.
The 85 West Portal project site lays out the sequence it expects:
- Planning holds tribal consultation.
- Planning decides within 30 days whether the application is complete.
- Planning checks compliance with objective standards within 90 days.
- Planning issues approval within 180 days of finding the application complete.
The clock starts at the completeness finding, and as of early October no completeness date has been published. That means nobody can yet put a calendar date on approval. SF YIMBY reported on September 1 that the construction cost and schedule had not been shared. An earlier timeline that pointed to an early-2027 start applied to the 64-unit version. Treat it as outdated.
Melgar has been direct about her role. "What I am not in a position to do is to ask them to make it smaller," she told the Chronicle, pointing to the site's location next to West Portal station. She told The Standard that hours-long listening sessions are no longer required, so she could not make the developers sit down with concerned neighbors. Bullard, who is on the West Portal Merchants Association board, said merchants have not been part of the process. Appleton said the team understands construction challenges, will work closely with merchants, and has been engaging with community leaders.
Because the approval path leaves no formal venue for comment, the questions that matter to the block are practical ones. How long will the work last, how loud will it be, and how many customers keep coming in the meantime?
The two-year window and who is counting it
The merchants The Standard interviewed kept returning to one number, roughly two years of construction. Mahan anticipated a difficult construction period. Maureen Stoss, manager of the grocery Eezy Freezy, said the bills won't stop during construction and doubted the project would finish as fast as planned.
Others on the block see it differently. Giuseppe Vivacqua, who has owned Spiazzo Ristorante for 30 years, expects short-term pain and steady customers. "The construction will be a pain, but customers will come anyway," he said. "And then the new housing will bring many more people." Galletti, who will be closest to the dust, sees the same opportunity. As a business owner, he called it a chance to bring more customers into the neighborhood.
There is help on paper. Galletti suggested developer-funded relief grants, and Issas Haddad of West Portal Daily Market recalled a pandemic-era program that gave businesses like his a few thousand dollars. DM Development has not offered grants. The Standard reported that Melgar noted that legislation she sponsored, which Mayor Daniel Lurie approved last year, provides financial support during construction tied to the city's rezoning program. The fund holds millions of dollars. Businesses can apply, she said, "once this becomes real, and somebody does suffer from losses because of the decrease in foot traffic." The fund pays after losses happen. It does not cover the margin a shop gives up before it can document them.
Using the rezoning also changes the affordability math. The Chronicle reported that Melgar said the plan's use of rezoning requires 15% of units to be affordable, compared with the city's current 5%. That works out to 26 below-market-rate units.
The avenue already has a recent record of absorbing change
The case for the block holding up rests on what has happened on West Portal Avenue over the past few years, and that record is current. Sara Deseran of The Standard dates the dining rise to Little Original Joe's in 2020. It picked up in February 2024 when Elena's, the 100-seat Mexican American restaurant from the Original Joe's family, opened and was booked from day one.
This year brought more turnover at the low end of the avenue. Squat & Gobble closed its last West Portal location at 1 West Portal in January 2026 after 32 years. Tur moved in. It is a Thai-influenced brunch spot from Khao Tiew co-owners Wipada Rattanapun and Arkaranit Dusitnitsakul, with chef Varunthorn Ratanakachain, and it was listed as operating by mid-May. At 32 West Portal, Sam Pederson planned Hardware Coffee Co. as the successor to Papenhausen Hardware, with Dasluz founder Sandra Bautista running a florist counter inside. The Standard counted Elena's, Hardware Coffee Co. and Tur among the avenue's new destinations in June.
The street also absorbed a physical change. SFMTA finished its quick-build changes around West Portal station in September 2025. In its July 2026 review of the results, Mission Local reported traffic collisions in the study area down about 60%. Serious-injury collisions fell from 6.7 to 2.7 per year. Hoodline reported that 95% of survey respondents visited West Portal businesses as often as before or more often after the changes. SFMTA was still tracking results and looking for grant money to replace the temporary materials.
A quick-build is not a 12-story excavation next to a restaurant, so these results do not predict how the Empire construction will go. They do show recent, measured evidence that customers kept coming to the avenue after a significant street change.
What is still open, as of October 3
Several questions about the project that matter most to people on the block are unanswered:
- Approval date: Depends on a completeness finding that has not been reported.
- Construction start: Not disclosed. The September reporting said cost and schedule had not been shared.
- The marquee and blade sign: The Chronicle reported that the new building will include a marquee evoking the Empire. SF YIMBY's September renderings show part of the theater facade kept at the ground-floor entrances. The developer says its team is only considering using elements of the original theater. No published report says whether the original marquee or blade sign will be saved.
- Exterior materials: Metal and bronze panels, terra cotta and precast concrete, according to the Chronicle.
The merchants' calendar is less uncertain. The West Portal Wine Walk ran on September 17. Next, Siren is running a Fleet Week promotion from Thursday, October 8, through Monday, October 12, with an extra 20% off clearance items and live music on Saturday, October 10. No announcement has said when construction will start on the block, and none of the September reporting said that Mozzarella di Bufala, BookShop West Portal or El Toreador had decided to close.
If you own near West Portal Avenue and want a clear sense of how the Empire Theater project may affect the blocks around your home, the Denis Lancerin Group follows the filings and the street-level details and can talk through what is known and what is still pending. Let's Work Together.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
