The future of a handful of long-standing restaurants and small businesses is uncertain, according to a detailed report by San Francisco Chronicle describes the quiet purchases of buildings along a stretch of Fillmore Street. The purchases appear to be leading to an upheaval of businesses along the corridor, including some long-standing restaurants. Here are three things to know about the businesses affected, who is suspected of being at the center of the buying spree, and what’s happening now.

Building buyer center on Fillmore Street where businesses are being displaced

From January 2024 to April, a buyer purchased six buildings along Fillmore Street, between Pine Street and Clay Street. The deals were conducted through affiliated LLCs and amount to chronicle Report. Here is an overview of the known purchased building locations and the status of the affiliated companies:

• 2001 Fillmore Street — White Birches LLC bought this building for $5.5 million, which houses a Mediterranean restaurant Noosh on the ground floor. The restaurant has been closed since about June for “mechanical repairs,” according to Eater tipsters, as the sign in the store states, and owner John Litz declined to discuss the sale of the building or a reopening date with the chronicle.
• 2043 Fillmore Street — This building houses the restaurant Pizza Hutwhich is also currently closed for repairs. The landlord told the news agency that a buyer is in the pipeline for the property, but would not reveal who the buyer is, and the owner of Apizza said he will move the business to Divisadero Street.
• 2208-2216 Fillmore Street — Pointed Blue LLC purchased this 7,300-square-foot building for $9.7 million. Three commercial spaces on the ground floor house retail stores and a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant The Mediterraneanhas been a fixture at the Fillmore for 45 years. Sources have told the newspaper that it is among the businesses that will move out when its lease expires, although owner Vanick Der Bedrossian declined to comment pending negotiations with the landlord.
• 2235 Fillmore Street — Sushi restaurant Ten-Ichi — a mainstay of the Fillmore District since 1978 — is located at 2235 Fillmore Street. The building was purchased by Great Stage LLC, according to Ten-Ichi owner Steve Amano. He told the chronicle that his current landlord has informed him that he must move out by September 30th and the sale of the building is in escrow.
• 2259 and 2261 Fillmore Street — Fillmore Reserve LLC purchased these neighboring properties, which house a women’s clothing store Alice and Olivia and the Clay Theatrea long-standing cinema that opened in 1913 and closed in 2020. In an earlier story chronicle Details that the LLC purchased both properties for a total of $11 million.

Venture capitalist Neil Mehta is the alleged buyer

All of these LLC avenues appear to lead to Neil Mehta, a managing partner at investment firm Greenoaks Capital and a resident of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. (Mehta did not comment to the newspaper or confirm his involvement.) The building purchases are also linked to Cody Allen, who owns the chronicle describes him as a “nightlife entrepreneur” who raised $100 million for a fund in January. Allen is said to be Mehta’s “man on the ground,” and while there are no records linking the two, he is listed as the manager of Great Stage LLC, the buyer of 2235 Fillmore Street; Pointed Blue LLC, the buyer of 2208-2216 Fillmore Street; and White Birches LLC, which bought 2201 Fillmore Street (though a relative of Allen’s is now listed as the manager).

Oh, and that $100 million fund? It came from a single, unidentified investor for a limited partnership fund called Aegis Reserve Partners LP, which means “pooled mutual fund/private equity fund.”

Rental negotiations lead to no result

Since neither Allen nor Mehta has commented on the chronicleNot much is known about their plans, although small business owners provide some background information. The newspaper calls the acquisitions “an apparent attempt to ultimately bring more high-end retailers to the area,” and that doesn’t seem far from the truth. Business owners who said they wanted to negotiate leases or acquisitions with their new landlord say those talks have gone nowhere. Although La Mediterranee owner Der Bedrossian did not speak to the newspaper, chronicleHe told KTVU that the new landlord would do an earthquake-proof renovation of the building after the lease expires, but would “look for a luxury business afterward,” Der Bedrossian told the news station. “That struck me as disappointing.”

Other building owners in the area have reportedly been asked to sell by this group but have not sold, and it is unclear what will happen to tenants of these newly acquired properties. The office of Catherine Stefani, manager of the Fillmore District, issued a statement to KTVU saying she is “deeply concerned about the loss of these long-standing businesses and will continue to ensure that the community is involved in all decisions regarding the future of Fillmore Street.” Stefani’s office is apparently in contact with a representative of the buyer of these buildings.