Jim Gardner
Managing Editor- San Francisco Business Times

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Some real estate developers collect yachts. Others dabble in winemaking, heli-skiing or competitive cycling.

Jesse Herzog sells hot dogs.

A vice president of development for Avant Housing and AGI Capital, Herzog is also the proprietor of Zog’s Dogs, a gourmet hot dog stand at 646 Market St.

Real estate development was dead in the water back in 2009 when Herzog (nicknamed Zog) was looking for a revenue-generating opportunity and stumbled across a classified advertising a hot dog stand for sale in downtown San Francisco. He had always wanted to own a hot dog stand, so he bought it.

“My family came here in 1850 — they were wholesale butchers downtown and had a corral where they kept cattle in the Dogpatch,” said Herzog. “Six generations later, I’m entitling a property in the Dogpatch and selling meat downtown. So the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

Zog’s sells an average of about 125 hot dogs on a decent weekday. Best sellers include the Moral Conundrum (a veggie dog wrapped in bacon), the Prop 8 Dog (two dogs in one bun), and the Bobo Dog (for the Bourgeois Bohemian).

Indeed, Herzog has turned his hot dog stand into an expression of his interest in art. He offers what is certainly the world’s only Hot Dog Stand Artistic Fellowship (deadline March 1) where artists are encouraged to make hot dog-themed art. Winners include a group who made a video about the launch of the first hot dog into outer space, a woman who painted ketchup and mustard portraits of customers (including Avant Housing executive Eric Tao, who ended up looking like Michael Jackson), and a performance piece on “love and loss in the context of hot dogs.”

“It’s been interesting to me to understand what the San Francisco consumer wants, which can be very complicated,” said Herzog. “San Franciscans have a lot of opinions, whether it’s about hot dogs or real estate entitlement.”

Jim Gardner oversees print and online news coverage of the vibrant Bay Area economy.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/02/san-francisco-real-estate-developer.html

By Byard Duncan

Last Friday, amid an avalanche of accidental entendres (One of these, directed at a female SF Weekly correspondent: “Want to go down and see what happens to you next?”; another, aimed at no one in particular: “I’m really not that into VIP-ness”) and crude cultural allusions (“It’s like a Shakespearean fuckin’ playhouse!”), Bay Area real estate developer and restaurateur Jack Knowles found time to show a small group of local journalists around his promising new venue at 777 Valencia St. in the Mission.

Officially, the space will be called The Chapel when it opens on Oct. 4. Its first weekend will feature an impressive lineup of musicians, from Elvis Costello to Steve Earle, and will correspond with that weekend’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festivities. The main selling point, however, is The Chapel’s status as a sort of home-away-from-home for New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which will accompany the musicians in October and perform in residence at the venue three or four times per year.

With its official opening just two weeks away, the space appears gutted and skeletal. Its exterior is sprinkled with stickers and wheat paste murals; and wires, construction lights, and bags of Quikrete line the floors inside. Only a few of the walls are painted, and most of the windows remain boarded up. The stage area itself — a church-like auditorium with 40-foot ceilings, red walls, oak buttresses, and plenty of exposed plywood — will be beautiful when it’s complete. The only remaining challenge is getting it to that point, and quickly.

Knowles, a compact man who spits when he talks and has a cotton candy whorl of hazel hair, doesn’t appear too concerned. After popping a bottle of warm champagne in the unpainted, un-insulated bar area, he proposes a toast. “So we can all be together at night! And eat and drink together!”

From here, he leads the bewildered journalists upstairs to the balcony area (all things considered, a stunning sketch of a mezzanine, dotted with paint buckets, more construction lights, etc.), and explains his rationale for buying such a resplendent space in the middle of a recession.

“My financial people think I’m a idiot!” he exclaims, spitting a little more. “But the thing is, I didn’t want to punk out. Everybody was punking out.”

In one corner of the balcony, he points to a patch of exposed sheetrock, which will serve as a sound insulator during concerts. He explains that one of his workers’ main challenges has been laying enough sheetrock in time for October. They’ve been working exhaustively, he says, to further insulate the venue in time.

“Sheetrocking around the clock?” one journalist offers.

“Yeah,” Knowles replies, unsmiling.

The tour is briefly interrupted by a minor verbal tussle with one worker who may or may not show up the next day if he is not promptly paid. Knowles convenes with him while the journalists wait. Overheard: “I’m counting on you to lay a lot of rock,” and “Stick with me, I’ll stick with you.” The issue appears to get resolved, and Knowles returns to his tour. “I don’t feel good when no one’s working,” he says. “It makes me nervous.”

If indeed Knowles doesn’t punk out, and the space comes together in time for its slated opening, it could breathe life into a section of the city that is perplexingly, frustratingly devoid of serious large-scale music venues. The press release that one of four PR handlers distributes at the door includes a quote from Knowles about San Francisco’s “evolving” musical history. “We believe the Mission is now to San Francisco what North Beach and the Haight have been to the city’s cultural history in years past, and we’re proud to be here.”

Pride notwithstanding, there’s work to be done. A shitload of it. Yet Knowles, with his impressive restaurant resume, boundless energy and pitter-pattering arsenal of self promotions, just might be the man for the job.

Visit SF Weekly’s All Shook Down for more San Francisco music news.

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/25/the-chapel-in-the-mission_n_1914290.html

Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria said it is opening a location in Shanghai come January.

Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria said Tuesday it is opening a location in Shanghai come January.

The San Mateo-based company said its first “Ello Amici’s” is to be located on Xiangyang Road in the popular HuaiHai Road shopping district of Shanghai, featuring a menu similar to what is available to Amici’s diners in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The location in China comes as a result of collaboration between Amici’s co-founder and President Peter Cooperstein, partner Mike Forter and the Lo Family of Shanghai. Menlo Park resident Sophie Lo is a Bay Area businesswoman and her brother Jimmy Lo is a real estate developer in China, Amici’s said in a prepared statement.

“Our goal is to open several locations in Shanghai and then expand into Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau and other areas in China,” Cooperstein said in the statement.

The pizza company has 12 locations from San Jose to Vacaville in the Bay Area, and is planning to open another location in Southern California’s La Jolla in spring 2012. Its pizza is also served at San Jose Sharks National Hockey League games in the HP Pavilion.

Click here to read the press release from Amici’s.

Written by Lisa Sibley. She can be reached at 408.299.1830 or lsibley@bizjournals.com.

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Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/12/07/amicis-pizzeria-opens-shanghai.html

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec 06, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria (
www.amicis.com ),
the critically acclaimed San Francisco Bay Area restaurant, will open in
Shanghai in January, company co-founder and President Peter Cooperstein
announced today.

The first “Ello Amici’s” is located on Xiangyang Road in the popular
HuaiHai Road shopping district of Shanghai.

The China opening is the product of collaboration between Cooperstein,
partner Mike Forter and the Lo Family of Shanghai. Menlo Park resident
Sophie Lo is a Bay Area businesswoman and her brother, Jimmy Lo, is a
real estate developer in China.

“When Mike Forter and I founded our first Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria in
1987, we were excited to introduce the Bay Area to the style and quality
of our food and to our service-oriented operation,” Cooperstein said.
“Today we are equally energized to realize an even greater opportunity
in China!”

Renowned for pizza prepared in open flame, 700 degree ovens, Ello
Amici’s will offer Chinese patrons a similar menu to that available to
Amici’s diners in the Bay Area.

Amici’s began serving an east coast-style thin crust pizza in a smart
and casual atmosphere in December of 1987 and operates 12 sites from San
Jose to Vacaville, including two popular San Francisco locations, on
Lombard Street and on King Street, across from ATT Park. The company is
annually ranked as one of the most successful independently-owned pizza
businesses in the United States.

“Our goal is to open several locations in Shanghai and then expand into
Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau and other areas in China,” Cooperstein said.

The popular eatery has also scheduled its initial Southern California
site, in La Jolla (Northern San Diego County) for the spring of 2012.
Additionally, Amici’s pizzas are now served at San Jose Sharks National
Hockey League games in the HP Pavilion.

Media Note: Downloadable images and broadcast quality video in
3×4 and 9×16 of Ello Amici’s in Shanghai are available in the Media
Center on the corporate website at
www.amiciscorp.com

SOURCE: Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria

        Ciccarelli  Associates
        Peter Ciccarelli, 408-316-1930

Copyright Business Wire 2011

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/popular-san-francisco-pizzeria-amicis-opens-in-shanghai-2011-12-06

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Article source: http://www.addpr.com/articles/real_estate/90870.html

The vacant property, the former Louis Roesch Company printing factory at the corner of 15th and Mission, occupies half a city block in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

Yet the vast building has often been left unsecured — doors open day and night — and in recent years has become a magnet for intruders, vandalism and graffiti.

It also appears that its owners are not abiding by a two-year-old city ordinance that regulates vacant buildings.

“It’s the bane of my existence,” said Ian Melven, whose third-floor condominium overlooks the building. “It’s a little worrying. Who knows what’s going on in there?”

Avant Housing, a local real estate developer, acquired the property last year. Even in its current state, it is valued at more than $7.4 million by the city’s Office of the Assessor-Recorder. Avant has a $60 million plan to build 202 apartments on the site.

Indeed, for the better part of a decade there have been plans to build housing there, but they have been delayed for various circumstances, including lawsuits, financing problems and a previous owner’s death. The city has become wary in recent years of allowing buildings to be demolished unless new construction starts immediately.

The Planning Department said approval for the latest plans could be just weeks away.

In the meantime, neighbors say they are tired of having to be vigilant and report problems. “It’s a blight on a real up-and-coming block,” Mr. Melven said.

In response to the neighbors’ complaints, city resources are being spent on private property.

Last week, workers for the Department of Public Works painted over graffiti on the building, a chore that one crew member said was performed regularly. (In fact, graffiti returned within hours.)

Avant Housing is a joint venture of the San Francisco developers AGI Capital and TMG Partners, with financing from CalPERS, the California Public Employees Retirement System, which has come under fire in recent years for questionable investments. AGI Capital is listed as the contact on city permit applications, but executives did not respond to repeated requests to discuss the property. A receptionist who answered the phone for Avant Housing laughed when I asked for an interview.

Only after I contacted CalPERS, which reportedly has $100 million of state workers’ retirement money invested with Avant Housing, did anyone respond.

Questions were referred to Julie Chase, a public relations expert hired by Avant Housing, who at first said there had been no problems. When told that the issues had been witnessed firsthand over the course of weeks, including the building’s being left open at night, Ms. Chase said, “You were there at night?”

In February, according to the Department of Building Inspection, the building’s owners paid $765 to register the property as a vacant building, complying with a city ordinance passed in 2009.

The ordinance, meant to help the city track and exert more control over an estimated 400 vacant properties, requires owners to secure and maintain their buildings, abate graffiti and conspicuously post their contact information. Repeated visits to 1886 Mission Street in recent weeks found no such posting.

Under the ordinance, violators can be fined up to $6,885; in just two years, $157,000 in fines have already been levied citywide.

But the city has not fined Avant Housing.

William Strawn, spokesman for the Department of Building Inspection, said in an e-mail, “Our enforcement philosophy is to work with property owners and ensure they meet legal code requirements, rather than to collect fines and penalties.”

But the company will receive a bill for the paint job, said Gloria Chan, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works.

“We had to step in there and do it,” Ms. Chan said, explaining that the city intervenes when graffiti is chronic or profane (graffiti cleanup efforts citywide cost taxpayers $20 million annually). Private property owners are charged a minimum of $400 for graffiti abatement, plus a $250 fine.

Ms. Chase said that Avant Housing had private contracts for graffiti abatement and security, but that police officers entered the building last week to remove people who were illegally inside.

All involved agree that the many problems at 1886 Mission Street could be easily solved — with a wrecking ball.

Scott James is an Emmy-winning television journalist and novelist who lives in San Francisco. sjames@baycitizen.org

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/us/08bcjames.html