SF Concourse future in question
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2004
San Francisco — San Francisco— Owners of the Concourse Exhibition Center, which houses temporary exhibits during the semiannual furniture markets here, may raze the facility and replace it with an apartment complex.
Officials said such a move is at least two years away, and if and when it does occur, another venue already has been secured for Concourse exhibitors.
"San Francisco has a housing crisis that's only going to get worse during the next few years … and it's a prime location for this type of project," said Margaret Casey, vice president of events and shows at Bay West, the investment firm that owns the Concourse and several nearby showroom buildings.
She stressed that plans for the apartment project have not been finalized. But she said any move to the undisclosed new venue would be relatively easy for exhibitors since it's in the same neighborhood as the nearby Design Center Showplace and Design Center Galleria, also owned by Bay West.
The Concourse, a former railroad station that was converted into an exhibition center in the early 1970s, has about 125,000 square feet of exhibit space. After a few years of declining attendance and exhibitor participation, Casey said the facility has rebounded and was fully leased for the January furniture market.
The facility also houses temporary exhibits for the San Francisco Gift Show each February and August, and hosts the Golden Gate Apparel Assn. show five times a year.
She said long-range plans call for the Concourse, or its successor, to be part of a strong regional furniture show with the Design Center buildings. By positioning itself as a niche player, she believes Bay West's properties can remain viable no matter what happens after the World Market Center opens in Las Vegas in July 2005.
Bay West doesn't own the San Francisco Mart, by far the city's largest furniture showroom complex.
Owners of the Las Vegas complex have said they want to become the dominant furniture show in the West, and some industry observers aren't sure the San Francisco market will survive once the Las Vegas venue opens.
"We don't see ourselves getting caught in that battle," said Casey.
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