X headquarters leaving San Francisco, businesses react

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Jen Hall has owned The Beer Hall off Polk Street in San Francisco for more than a decade.

"We opened 11 years ago [this month]. We opened in 2013 and so, yeah, we're just trying to be a cornerstone for this neighborhood," Hall explained.

The Beer Hall sits right across from X's headquarters, and back in 2013, when the company was Twitter, Hall says the area was the place to be.

"It was definitely the heyday. When we opened, Twitter was here, it was sort of a tech hub, there were other tech offices, residential buildings were going up and there were just a lot more people," Hall shared.

Hall says they used to partner with Twitter, providing beverage services for the building and hosting happy hours for their employees. Things were going great, but then the pandemic hit.

"The streets. It's just not the same. People aren't going out any more," Hall expressed.

Hall says the work from home mandates gutted the neighborhood and their business.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter and started moving things around, Hall says that only added to the issues.

Now that Musk has announced X is officially leaving the city, Hall says the worst of the impact is probably already behind them.

"He's been pretty vocal about his disdain for San Francisco and its current state. Honestly, it's been bad news for this neighborhood for the past four years," Hall remarked.

Now, Hall says she just wants to focus on the future. Her business continues to chug along and they're hoping others in the area can do the same.

"I certainly hope that people will come back. I think that small businesses are the heart of San Francisco. That's why people want to live here and stay here," Hall spoke.

Hall says it'll certainly be sad to see what once was such an iconic building sit vacant, but she's hopeful it'll find a new tenant and the neighborhood will find a new energy.