On Russian Hill, Lombardi Sports, a hub for generations of cyclists and rock climbers, is liquidating its inventory to make way for 62 units of housing.

In Chinatown, the Empress of China, the swanky five-story emporium that has hosted thousands of weddings, will shut down at the end of the year in anticipation of the building’s sale.

At Market and Valencia streets, Flax art and design store will move to an undetermined location to make way for 160 housing units.

Some of San Francisco’s historic family-owned businesses are disappearing as fast as an artisanal ice cube in a $14 craft cocktail.

While much of the change is logical and inevitable — 160 housing units is a more efficient use for scarce urban land than a two-story art-supply store — city preservationists and some elected officials are looking at ways to slow down the disappearance of so many quintessentially San Franciscan institutions amid an unprecedented real estate boom.

Supervisor David Campos, working with the nonprofit San Francisco Heritage, is finalizing legislation that would create a registry of legacy businesses, defined as restaurants, retailers and manufacturers that have been around at least 30 years and have contributed to their neighborhoods in a meaningful way. The program, which he says is the first in the United States, would create financial incentives that would encourage property owners to retain those kinds of businesses.

Campos said property owners who sell to a legacy business could be eligible for a rebate on the city’s real estate transfer tax, which is 1.5 percent for properties under $10 million and 2.5 percent for properties over $10 million. The city is also looking at extending historic tax credits to buildings that house legacy businesses.

“So many of our most valuable businesses that have enlivened these neighborhoods for decades are struggling to survive,” Campos said. “These are businesses that have become cultural institutions, that have helped create the character of the neighborhood.”

Family history

In the case of Lombardi Sports, the family owns both the business and the property. Caesar and Steve Lombardi opened the business on Clement Street in 1948. Steve Lombardi’s sons, Ken and Steve Jr., joined the business in 1990, and it moved to a 50,000-square-foot building at Jackson and Polk streets in 1993.

Two consecutive poor ski seasons, combined with ever-increasing pressure from online retailers, made the business a struggle.

“After a while it got to the point there were more lucrative things for the family to pursue,” said Steve Lombardi Jr., whose father recently passed away. “We were working twice as hard for half the money. This was not a whimsical decision; our family has been in business in San Francisco since the early 20th century. We have a lot of loyal customers.” The business will close in January.

San Francisco Heritage Executive Director Mike Buhler said the idea of preserving legacy businesses evolved over the past few years, as places like the Tonga Room, Marcus Books, the Eagle Club and the Gold Dust Lounge were threatened with closure. In each case, there were online petitions and letters to the editor attesting to their importance. Yet in most cases, the market prevailed and the business either shut down or was forced to move.

“What we recognized is that landmarking is not an adequate tool to save these businesses,” Buhler said.

'Level the playing field’

The hope is that the legislation will help “level the playing field” for businesses that are central to the city’s identity but might not achieve as high a return on investment as 160 condominiums over token retail.

Not everyone thinks the idea is a good one.

Consultant Phil Lessor, who works with developers and retailers in the Mission District, said the proposal “will limit the number of uses and opportunities for the building and the building owner. It’s giving monopolistic power to the tenant when you have just one buyer. It shifts the power to the tenant. When you have a monopoly, you have inferior product at a higher price.”

He said whatever city entity is charged with creating the registry — most likely the Office of Small Business — would be “handed an enormous amount of power.”

Employees at the Empress of China building at 838 Grant Ave. learned late last month that the building was on the market and the restaurant would close. The building is owned by a group separate from the restaurant owners, although there is some overlap, according to Erika Marr-Pollasky, a board member.

Longtime employees

The Empress of China was opened in 1966 by Kee Joon Lee, who opened five places in the neighborhood. He put together a group of investors and a board of directors to operate the business. Today, the board members are descendants of original board members, said Marr-Pollasky, Kee Joon Lee’s granddaughter.

“They are sad — we have a lot of employees who have been there over 30 years,” she said. “They are family. It’s sad, but what can you do? We are closing.”

Chinatown Community Development Center Executive Director Norman Fong has been going to the Empress of China for weddings for 46 years — sometimes as a guest, but more often as a saxophonist. Fong plays for the Chinatown soul band Jes Jamming.

“It was the wedding capital of Chinatown,” Fong said. “The worst thing about playing there was we had to come up through the back elevator where the garbage is. But I loved the atmosphere and I loved the view.”

Fong said a younger generation of Chinatown property owners, many of whom inherited their properties, doesn’t have as strong a sentimental attachment to the neighborhood, and speculators are taking advantage of that. “The next generation has to be careful — if it’s just about the money, then we all lose,” Fong said.

Brand-new use for site

Anton Qiu, a commercial real estate broker who has sold properties in Chinatown, said the Empress of China building is being marketed as “tech play.”

“They have architectural renderings that show you would open up the ceilings for creative office space,” he said. “I’m not sure it will work. It’s so historic, and nothing has been done to the building for decades. The restaurant was an icon, but its time has gone by.”

While Lombardi Sports and the Empress of China are to close, Flax is looking to hang on and relocate. The store must vacate by the end of 2015.

“We are looking, but we haven’t found anything yet,” said owner Howard Flax. “It’s difficult. San Francisco is changing so fast. We were the poster child of redevelopment in San Francisco. The reaction was very positive in terms of our customer base being alarmed and reaching out to us.”

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jkdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: sfjkdineen