By way of our inbox we learn that Mayor Lee hails the pending arrival of Mid-Market's newest tech company. Spotify—the Swedish music streaming company—is ballooning out of its co-working spot in the FiDi into three full floors of office space in the Warfield Building, where it can "aggressively grow" and continue to innovate the future of music above the historic concert venue.
The Mayor isn't alone in celebrating; there's something in the move for everyone. Upon its arrival in mid-July, Spotify will become the eleventh tech company to take advantage of the payroll tax exclusion policy used to lure Twitter into the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Group I, which bought the Warfield building for an undisclosed sum just over a year ago, must be psyched to have nearly filled the long vacant building. Between Spotify's 13,500 square foot lease and the 10,000 square foot inhabited by VC firm Benchmark Capital, there's just one small retail space and office space left to lease before the building is at capacity.
Lest you worry that mid-Market will be taken over by techies (a dubious fear at the "vibrant" intersection of Sixth and Market), rejoice at the additional, smaller leases signed by graffiti artist Ricardo "Apex" Richey, youth denim collective Holy Stitch!, and the Phantom Coast Gastropub and Brewery all clustered around the same block as the Warfield. Between those new arrivals and the presence of Burning Man and the Luggage Store Gallery across the street, this long beleaguered stretch of Market Street may just fulfill the long anticipated dream of the area as hybrid haven for arts and technology. - Laura Tepper
· Mid-Market Coverage [Curbed SF Archives]