Pacific Cafe served its last customers at 7000 Geary on Aug. 30. It had opened in July 1974, and owners Frank Gundry and Ross Warren told the San Francisco Chronicle they were retiring after 52 years. Gundry had worked there almost from the start.
About five weeks later, the crews digging under Geary Boulevard packed up. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's project page reports that its Phase 2 water and sewer work between 32nd Avenue and Stanyan Street was 100% complete as of Oct. 9, 2026, with "all equipment and materials" removed.
For a few weeks this fall, Geary has had neither crew on it. The pipe work is done, and SFMTA's $48 million surface project has not begun. Several storefronts changed hands in that same short window. The tenants opening on Geary now will spend their first year or more beside an active work zone, and the businesses that close in the meantime will leave spaces that change hands in the middle of it.
The half you couldn't see is done
The underground job was large. SFPUC describes about 1.4 miles of sewer mains and 6.7 miles of water mains replaced or rehabilitated, much of it pipe over 120 years old, dating to the late 1800s. It also finished early. An Oct. 14 SFMTA committee presentation records that the SFPUC upgrades were "completed ahead of schedule," and it mentions an Oct. 1 gathering to mark the end of the main underground work.
The surface work comes next. Here is the sequence as the city has published it:
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | Quick-Build bus lanes, stop changes and signal retiming installed | SFMTA project page |
| Spring 2026 | Detailed design completed | SFMTA project page |
| July 2026 | Surface construction contract awarded | SFMTA Oct. 14 presentation |
| Oct. 9, 2026 | SFPUC water and sewer work 100% complete | SFPUC |
| October 2026 | Notice to proceed anticipated | SFMTA Oct. 14 presentation |
| Late 2026 to early 2028 | Bus bulbs, pedestrian bulbs, signals, repaving, trees, sidewalk art | SFMTA project page |
The project covers Geary from Stanyan Street to 34th Avenue. SFMTA hasn't named the blocks where work will start. Its presentation says details on timing and sequencing will come after the contractor's first submittals, including a baseline schedule. The project page puts the current status like this:
As the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) finishes water and sewer work underneath Geary Boulevard, the SFMTA is preparing to start construction this fall.
What changed on the storefronts in the meantime
These are the Geary addresses that changed between August and mid-October, from east to west:
| Address | Business | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 4142 Geary | LH Restaurant | Posted a one-month hiatus sign, then reopened by mid-October, apparently as TF Restaurant, with a "Grand Opening" sign |
| 4601 Geary | Former Noodle in a Haystack space | City records list the name Casito; no concept or opening date announced |
| 4627 Geary | My Tofu House | Closed after 25 years |
| 5203 Geary | Topogato | Closed in mid-September |
| 5801 Geary | HI NRG | Café opened quietly Sept. 16, with a grand opening Sept. 23 |
| 5820 Geary | Ad Astra | Gym open by early September, with a grand-opening party Sept. 26 |
| 5844 Geary | Roar | Gym reported as coming, no date given |
| 7000 Geary | Pacific Cafe | Closed Aug. 30 after 52 years; space still available as of early September |
Most of this news comes from Mission Local's Richmond Buzz column, which follows the corridor block by block. Its Oct. 15 entry reported the 4142 Geary reopening. The SF Standard covered Topogato's final day. Owner Simon Brown pointed to slow growth, high cacao and operating costs, and soft consumer spending.
The table shows a pattern by location. The closures are spread out: a 25-year Korean tofu house in the 4600 block, a chocolate shop in the 5200 block and a 52-year seafood dining room at 7000 Geary. The openings are close together. HI NRG at 5801, Ad Astra at 5820 and Roar at 5844 sit within a few doors of each other near 22nd Avenue, and all three are a café or a gym. On the eastern end, two spaces in the 4100 and 4600 blocks have new names on them, though one of those is still only a name in city records.
According to its owners, Pacific Cafe closed because they're retiring, and Topogato's owner cited business costs. Construction isn't the reason either one gave. The timing still matters. Whoever takes the empty spaces at 7000 Geary, 4627 Geary and 5203 Geary will be fitting out and opening while the surface contractor works its way along the corridor.
What the city has promised merchants, and what it hasn't
SFMTA's October plan for merchants is mostly about communication. The presentation lists the following:
- A mailer to nearby residents and merchants before construction starts
- Biweekly construction forecasts in the same format SFPUC used
- Contractor signs every 100 feet in active work areas
- Flyers to merchants before any temporary parking removal
- Ads in the Richmond Review and an SFMTA blog post
- Relaunching the Small Business Working Group
The materials from that working group's earlier round give an idea of what it does. During the Quick-Build, SFMTA's FAQ describes a Muni advertising campaign for Central Richmond businesses and holiday window and tree lighting for 28 businesses. It says the group will return during construction. The materials announce no Geary-specific grant or compensation program.
Parking is the question shopkeepers ask first, and most of that change has already happened. SFMTA says almost all permanent parking changes were made in the fall 2023 Quick-Build, for a net loss of 31 spaces, which averages out to less than one per block. The parking changes still ahead are mostly temporary ones during construction, which is why the merchant flyers are on the outreach list.
What the finished street is supposed to look like
The work is meant to make Geary faster for buses and safer to cross. The Quick-Build already gave a preview. SFMTA's July 2025 evaluation reported 6% to 11% lower transit travel times after the 2023 changes, an estimated 235 hours saved per day across all 38 and 38R riders. Of riders who noticed a change, 85% said their trip had become more reliable. The surface contract makes the paint-and-post version permanent, with bus bulbs, pedestrian bulbs, upgraded signals and repaving.
The surface contract also includes changes neighbors picked themselves. SFMTA's community enhancements page describes about 50 new street trees and decorative glass-aggregate sidewalk designs at six Geary Rapid stops.
- Where the art goes: Park Presidio, 20th Avenue and 25th Avenue, at both the inbound and outbound stops. Outbound stops get ocean themes, and inbound stops get park and greenery themes.
- Who drew it: Honors students at George Washington High School. Their designs, adapted into lithocrete, show Golden Gate Park's windmills, a Japanese Tea Garden pagoda, seagulls, kelp and sand dollars, according to an SFMTA blog post from January.
- What gets planted: Coast live oak and Monterey cypress in the median, with California buckeye, California bay laurel and primrose tree along the sidewalks. SFMTA plans to confirm locations and species again before planting.
- Who chose it: Two survey rounds in 2024. The first drew 1,855 responses that spring and ranked street trees first and decorative concrete second. The second, in September, drew almost 1,600 responses on species, placement and design layout.
The student-art announcement estimated installation in 2027. That fits inside the overall late-2026 to early-2028 construction window.
Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Joe's parklet
The first in-person check-in with the project team will be on a familiar corner. SFMTA has scheduled drop-in office hours at the Joe's Ice Cream parklet on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 2 to 5 p.m. Joe's is at 5420 Geary, between 18th and 19th avenues. It moved there in May 2010 from its original corner at 18th and Geary. The Richmond Review reported its 65th anniversary in July 2024 under owners Alice and Sean Kim.
SFMTA hasn't published the block sequence yet. Until it does, these are the ways to follow the project:
- Sign up for email or text updates on the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project page. SFMTA says regular construction updates begin later this fall.
- Watch for the mailer and the biweekly forecasts once the contractor's baseline schedule is set.
- Contact the project team at [email protected] or 415.646.2300.
- Follow Mission Local's Richmond Buzz to see who moves into 7000 Geary, 4627 Geary and the Casito space at 4601.
If you own a building on Geary, run a business along the 38 line or are weighing a home within a few blocks of the boulevard, I'm happy to talk through what this construction schedule could mean for your timing. Reach out at Selling San Francisco. Let's Connect.
