Where poverty, promise intersect: SF’s Tenderloin reinvents itself

Ask someone who hasn’t been to the Tenderloin lately to meet you there, and they’re apt to have one of two reactions — excitement or the side-eye. Why? The long-sketchy neighborhood is the city’s newest hot spot. Business owners priced out of Union Square (up to $1,000 per square foot), SoMa, the Mission and Mid-Market are finding opportunities in the Tenderloin, which real estate experts consider a well-located neighborhood ripe for redevelopment (at $40 per square foot and climbing).