From some of the world’s most iconic views to offering poop maps, San Francisco now disappoints on a Herculean level.
Check out San Francisco now.
Arguably the most beautiful big city in America looks more and more like a ghost town as San Francisco learns yet another painful real estate lesson.
The Wall Street Journal reported on a “fire sale” on the 22-story office tower known as Union Bank. The retail cost of this building should be around $300 million. However, the building will likely sell for about one-fifth; as little as $60 million.
Tenant vacancies have caused the commercial real-estate triage in the City by the Bay. But there is more to the story.
This particular building located at 350 California is 75 percent vacant. Moreover, renovation costs could exceed $50 million. Still a bargain if you could get occupants. Sadly, San Francisco’s government is pushing tenants away rather than attracting them.
“We’re all really on the edge of our seats to see the first office trade in San Francisco,” real estate services executive J.D. Lumpkin told the WSJ. A real estate lawyer warned the paper that the 350 California fire sale could prove “a bellwether for the value destruction in the urban office market nationally,” and not just for San Francisco’s (formerly?) ritzy Financial District.
To blame are high-cost structures based on pre-pandemic valuations, the local tech industry’s embrace of remote work, and what some people euphemistically call “quality-of-life issues.” That’s what honest people call “aggressive panhandlers, violent crime, and open-air drug sales and abuse.” Oh, and sidewalks festooned with poop and dirty syringes.
As I mention on my radio show from time to time, the last time I was in San Francisco, I had about $1000 worth of equipment stolen from my car along with a leather jacket I purchased earlier that day. When I went to the police station to file a report, the officer said “What do you expect me to do? Look for a well-dressed bum taking pictures?!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. But I made that chump fill out my report. I would be damned if they didn’t log the crime against me.
While admittedly the scamdemic caused some problems in commercial real-estate, this bubble burst was expected long before work-from-home hit.
The article continues,
According to the Journal, nearly “$80 billion worth of loans backed by U.S. office buildings come due this year,” and “most will need to be refinanced, at a time of higher interest rates and lower occupancy, threatening lenders with losses.”
City governments have been driving corporations out for decades. Homeless and drug addicts swarm formerly iconic downtowns. There was a time when city leaders kept the riff-raff from these areas. Now they condone it.
Corporate America responded.
Many corporations either have abandoned these cities or they plan to. And who could blame them? Clearly, a state without respect for law and order is no place for corporations to plant their valuable investments, i.e.. headquarters. As we see in San Francisco and elsewhere, when corporations leave, cities begin their death spiral.
Add these corporate losses to the loss of private citizens and it’s a one-two punch that could stop Gavin Newsom’s presidential run before it even gets started.
Remember, I recently predicted Newsom plans to run in 22024. Which is why he’s suddenly vested in the fate of San Francisco.
Operation De-Leftization
Things are so far-gone in SF, Newsom deployed the National Guard to assist in the policing and cleanup efforts.
As Trending Politics writes:
Newsom unveiled the unprecedented collaboration between the California Highway Patrol (CHP), California National Guard (CalGuard), San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA) to combat the escalating fentanyl crisis in the city. This move comes as a dramatic response to the severity of the situation, highlighting the urgency with which the state government is addressing the issue.
Newsom said his administration will focus on “dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city by holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable.”
“Two truths can coexist at the same time: San Francisco’s violent crime rate is below comparably sized cities like Jacksonville and Fort Worth—and there is also more we must do to address public safety concerns, especially the fentanyl crisis,” Newsom said.
“We’re taking action. Through this new collaborative partnership, we are providing more law enforcement resources and personnel to crack down on crime linked to the fentanyl crisis, holding the poison peddlers accountable, and increasing law enforcement presence to improve public safety and public confidence in San Francisco,” he added.
Newsom understands that Leftist Democrats look bad, particularly on drugs and crime.
“The San Francisco Police Department has been working hard to stop drug trafficking by making countless arrests and narcotics seizures,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott.
“Despite our ongoing work and close collaboration with the District Attorney, the fentanyl crisis has contributed to hundreds of drug overdose-related deaths.
“We welcome the support of our state partners because when we work together we can make a significant difference to make our city safer.”
“The CalGuard is seeing significant success supporting multiagency task forces interdicting fentanyl across our state,” said Major General Matthew P. Beevers of the California National Guard.
“We expect to achieve the same success working with our partners in San Francisco,” he added.
Currently, the carnage of San Francisco rests squarely on the shoulders of Democrats. However, one or two more conservative-like initiatives and Newsom will be ready to throw his rainbow hat into the ring, If nothing else, reviving the city will give Newsom an actual accomplishment, something Joe Biden STILL doesn’t have. Of course, if Newsom fails, his campaign will be a “no go” at launch.
