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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,465 posts)
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 12:37 PM Jun 2023

Empty offices, abandoned malls, concerns over crime: Why the Golden City is losing its luster

HOME > REAL ESTATE

Empty offices, abandoned malls, concerns over crime: Why San Francisco, the Golden City, is losing its luster

Al Yoon Jun 17, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

• Commercial real-estate landlords are giving up on once trophy San Francisco properties.
• A lack of hope among real-estate owners stems from office vacancies, but crime is also a factor.
• Expect the downtown's downturn to worsen before it gets better, said Manus Clancy of Trepp.

Landlords large and small are waving the white flag over the increasing pressures facing the city, stemming in part from the downsizing of some of the largest employers and the inertia of remote work.

In May, foot traffic to San Francisco offices was down nearly 60% compared to 2019 — the largest deficit of the major US urban centers tracked by Placer.ai, and it shows. The city's 18 million square feet of empty office space is so vast that it could house 92,000 people, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Since April, the office tower at 350 California Street sold for an alarming 75% less than its estimated value before the pandemic. The owner of the flagship Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the nearby Parc 55 handed the keys to its creditors rather than try to make payments on a $725 million loan. Days later, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and coowner Brookfield gave the San Francisco City Centre back to their lenders after the exit of retailers left the mall just over half occupied.

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quaint

(2,564 posts)
1. Seems the pendulum is swinging.
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 12:42 PM
Jun 2023

Maybe recovery will include less corporate/executive greed and more opportunity for real people.

Why yes, I am a dreamer.

jimfields33

(15,809 posts)
7. One thing you need is tax revenue. Every person who leave takes that with them.
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 01:54 PM
Jun 2023

Companies that leave or closes down makes it worse as they not only take its tax revenue but every workers tax revenue. San Francisco has some work to do.

 

Hugh_Lebowski

(33,643 posts)
2. I hate to see my beloved City suffer and degrade like this, but in terms of climate
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 12:48 PM
Jun 2023

this is probably reflective of an overall positive trend. People working from home is much better for the environment than driving to work every day. So is ordering goods online vs going out to buy things in person. Retail sales in dedicated spaces is honestly pretty inefficient in terms of energy consumption.

Auggie

(31,172 posts)
8. Agree, though BART is in big trouble too ...
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 01:56 PM
Jun 2023

plus S.F. Muni, and probably CalTrans due to decrease in toll collections.

I'm positive it can be addressed, though new paradigms of service and financing will have to be imagined and created.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/transit-muni-sfmta-transportation-17767835.php
https://www.bart.gov/about/financials/crisis

NBachers

(17,117 posts)
12. They're planning on extending parking meter hours 'till 10 PM Mon - Sat and Sundays 12 PM - 6 PM.
Sun Jun 25, 2023, 10:56 PM
Jun 2023

Current parking meter hours are 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Saturday, and free on Sunday.

Developers used to incorporate parking spaces in their new buildings, but they got The City's car-hating "Transit & Bicycles First" crowd on their side, so now they don't have to fit any parking spaces into their buildings. That means that, in any new residential developments, residents with automobiles will now have to filter into already nightmare-parking-crowded streets and fight with current residents for spaces.

The extended parking meter hours are supposed to help make up for the Muni revenue shortfall.

https://www.sfmta.com/blog/san-francisco-extend-parking-meter-hours-citywide

usonian

(9,810 posts)
3. I remember SF from the days before Silicon Valley spilled over. 1980's.
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 12:51 PM
Jun 2023

The pendulum swung way far towards mega-tech companies and startups.
Where it lands, nobody knows.
Nothing is permanent but change.

marble falls

(57,097 posts)
4. Too many people teying to make their money work for them and over maximizing profits. Pricing out ..
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 12:56 PM
Jun 2023

... the middle class was a bad move. Why don't business people ever learn about business cycles?

The Unmitigated Gall

(3,817 posts)
5. Yep. It was a city of artists and poets, musicians...
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 01:13 PM
Jun 2023

And a solid working middle class. Far more interesting and vibrant than tech millionaires.

There’s a kind of blight the wealthy bring when they take over. I lived it in my little town nobody used to know the name of.

Malibu, CA.

The people who made SF a fantastic place to be are gone, for the most part. Priced out.

OldBaldy1701E

(5,129 posts)
11. Good ole 'gentrification'...
Sun Jun 18, 2023, 07:38 AM
Jun 2023

I have watched it destroy several communities. The rich are like locusts. They move into an area because they love the 'eclectic' feel, and then ruin it by making the area they moved into just like the area they moved out of by driving up property values, demanding conveniences that ruin certain businesses and displacing those who made the place interesting in the first place. It sucks and is a detriment to the area that suffers from it.

ZonkerHarris

(24,228 posts)
6. This happened in New York City in the 1980s and everybody who bought the depressed properties
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 01:23 PM
Jun 2023

got very rich when the cycle of business came back.

Susan Calvin

(1,646 posts)
9. I would love to do that if the housing market has also had a downturn.
Sat Jun 17, 2023, 04:17 PM
Jun 2023

But I doubt I could afford even depressed prices.

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