Neil Mehta, the venture capitalist who we learned last year was the mystery buyer of the former Clay Theater and multiple retail properties on Upper Fillmore Street, says in a new podcast interview that he only wants the best for the neighborhood.

There was a fair bit of outrage last year about the idea that one guy, billionaire VC Neil Mehta, was buying up buildings on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights and moving to evict longtime restaurant and retail tenants. One in particular, sushi restaurant Ten-Ichi, was family owned and had been there 46 years, but it apparently didn't fit into Mehta's vision for an "elevated" selection of retail and food offerings — the owner of Ten-Ichi, Steve Amano, accepted a buyout and agreed to terminate his lease last fall, but Amano told the Examiner he was never given an option to extend.

This all led to some protest from former District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who as a parting gesture before leaving office got some legislation passed strengthening the Legacy Business protections for businesses on Fillmore. Following that, 45-year-old Mediterranean restaurant La Mediterranee got a four-year lease extension.

Mehta said little through these news cycles, but he did tell the Chronicle last summer that he intended to " elevate the quality of upper Fillmore’s retail offerings" through his investments, and that the Clay Theater would become "a high-end theater and hospitality concept," but did not offer further details.

In a wide-ranging interview on the podcast "Invest Like the Best With Patrick O'Shaughnessy" about his investments and his successes in the venture capital space, Mehta talks about his real estate investments on Fillmore Street, as was noted today by The New Fillmore.

"I’m born and raised in San Francisco, so I dedicated a reasonable amount of money to trying to fix just my street in San Francisco," Mehta says, which is already likely going to rile some of his neighbors who may disagree that Upper Fillmore needs "fixing."

He discusses how all of these building purchases are "a terrible financial investment," and the rents he can charge to tenants will barely let him break even, but he's been enjoying the project and he's established a nonprofit (the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project) to deal with the financials.

This, at least, may put to rest fears that Mehta is looking to profit substantially from his purchases, or turn the Clay Theater into a massive new condo complex.

Talking like a techie more than a creative type, Mehta says, "I think San Francisco is a really important city. I think it’s important for America. I think it’s important because it’s ground zero for a lot of the most interesting people all over the world to come and build their version of the future. And we’ve tried really hard to kill it. We’re anti-business, we’re anti-growth, we’re high taxes, we’re anti-family. A lot of things are going in the wrong direction."

It doesn't exactly follow how making a tony, long-ago gentrified retail street fancier is doing anything for the larger cause of "fixing" the city or making it more affordable for families. But, Mehta says, "I think losing San Francisco to some of the progressive causes that have plagued the city would be pretty bad," and "this was one part of my little corner of the world, starting to invest and make it better. But it came from a place of wanting to make that street beautiful. And if we can make that one street beautiful, then you could maybe do that across other parts of the city, and you could make the city livable for families and have people still there."

Mehta complains about how "a guy, Aaron Peskin" who "was a politician" went out on the street with "picket signs with my face on them [saying] 'billionaire taking over city.'"

"And I wasn’t doing any of that," he says.

But, he was and is, without explanation or public input, doing what he thinks is best and "beautiful" for "his street," and that understandably rubs people the wrong way in an age when other billionaires are running roughshod over entire institutions just because they can.

But, he reveals one tidbit we hadn't heard — which might relate to the space at Fillmore and Pine formerly occupied by Noosh that has been sitting vacant for a while, or perhaps the Ten-Ichi space — which is that he's putting an "all-day diner" in the space. (Does that mean all night, too??) And he says he is "enabling other entrepreneurs to go build something that will delight people," which apparently still includes a new theater with "a great partner" at the helm.

Stay tuned for whenever this billionaire decides to share the full array of his plans.

Previously: SF Supervisors Strengthen Legacy Business Protections, Hoping to Save La Mediterranee and Others

Photo via Google Street View