Parklets peaked, then died off. A new model inspired by Lego aims for a revival

When co-owner Lea Sabado looked into replacing a pandemic-era parklet that community members had pieced together with a new, legally compliant design, she estimated it would cost more than $60,000.

“It just wasn’t going to happen,” she said. “Such a big chunk of money wasn’t feasible.”  

But starting this week, she’s renting a modular one from the nonprofit SF New Deal for $400 a month. 

As the pandemic has receded, so too has San Francisco’s explosion of parklets. For about two years, commercial corridors were packed with these colorful street fixtures that functioned as outdoor retreats for drinking, dining, and socializing. After Covid restrictions shuttered indoor dining around SF in 2020, the number of parklets exploded from around 70 to more than 1,000. 

But as pandemic accommodations faded, the city’s appetite for red tape returned, and San Francisco rolled out stringent permitting requirements to update the outdoor spaces, which were often built with plywood and without much of a plan.

There are 310 compliant parklets remaining in San Francisco, though about 200 others are working towards approval, according to Monica Munowitch, Shared Spaces program manager for the SF Municipal Transportation Agency.

The die-off stemmed from a handful of challenges for small-business owners; namely,  compliance with the new codes, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. 

Aiming to drop that cost dramatically and let parklets boom again, nonprofit SF New Deal and it’s taking its inspiration from an unusual source: Lego children’s toys. The nonprofit’s program — dubbed Building Blocks — allows it to orchestrate the permitting, construction, and maintenance of customizable parklets that small-business owners can rent for a monthly fee.

The Excelsior Coffee parklet — which is made of metal and concrete, with bright-yellow sides that serve as planters — is “a milestone” for the business, the neighborhood, and the city, Sabado said. 

Sabado is the Building Blocks guinea pig, but SF New Deal aims to pilot the program with three other businesses this year: one more in the Excelsior and two on Clement Street in the Richmond. 

“It’s hard enough in San Francisco to run a business. We saw an opportunity to create a new model where we could end up taking all of the burden off the small-business owners,” said Simon Bertrang, executive director of SF New Deal. 

While Excelsior Coffee staff will handle daily cleaning of the parklet, SF New Deal and the local community benefit district will coordinate on more rigorous maintenance, like power washing and graffiti removal. The nonprofit will also help promote community events that Excelsior Coffee holds in the parklet, like street fair activations or live music. 

Critically, the use of prefabricated compliant pieces, which the nonprofit likens to Lego bricks or Ikea kits, can reduce costs and permitting timelines. However, the $400-per-month rental fee is subject to change as SF New Deal learns from its pilot projects, Bertrang said.

Dario Barbone, owner of Alimentari Aurora on 18th Street, has felt the pain of SF’s parklet process firsthand. Last year, he and a neighboring business owner fundraised nearly $30,000 as they tried to work with the Department of Public Works and other cities agencies to get their parklet approved, to no avail. 

“We’re still fighting, if you can believe that,” he said. “I’d pay rent just to not have to deal with DPW.”  

Beyond being freed from dealing directly with maddening city bureaucracy, Barbone imagines that the rental program would feel pleasantly like leasing versus buying a car: “When you lease a car, you’re way more relaxed, because yes, you pay for it, but you’re gonna give it back.” 

He loves the idea of relieving small-business owners from the cost and effort of installing parklets, though he worries that a “cookie-cutter” design could be less charming than custom-built spaces. 

The program’s flexibility appeals to Nikki DeWald, owner of Mission martini bar Blondies. She tore down her pandemic-era parklet, even though it cost her about $65,000 to erect. It wasn’t worth the hassle of the extra staffing, keeping updated with codes, losing a parking space, and cleaning up after people “who treated it like a urinal.” 

“But it was really nice to have in the summer,” she said. “If I could rent one from just August to October, when there’s warm weather, maybe I would go for it.” 

John Bela, a designer who worked on the modular parklets for SF New Deal, said erecting or tearing down one would take only a few days. 

“It can be something where a business can decide on a much more flexible basis whether or not it’s serving the interests of their business,” Bertrang noted. 

For Yuka Ioroi, co-owner of Cassava, efficiency is the biggest appeal. “Having a rental option, where you don’t have to worry about permitting, is a really, really nice approach,” she said. 

Her cafe’s location in Jackson Square isn’t a good fit for a parklet, but she appreciated one she had when she was on Balboa Street. She said a rental program would work particularly well if it were priced as a percentage of monthly revenue.

“We’re in such a crazy economy, and it’s out of our control more and more,” she said. “Any help like this is a really great direction.”