The Man Betting Big on San Fransisco Office Space

This is a common scene in San Fransisco.

San Fransisco used to be the place to be – once the most in demand places in the US has now become a poorly-governed, crime-ridden and under-policed city. In addition, people wanted to swap the luxuries of working from home with commuting into the office which crushed the demand for office space. This led to landlords abandoning properties and defaulting on their mortgage payments causing a significant fall in the price of real estate.

Although investors thought that post-pandemic, demand would increase, this has simply not been the case. San Fransisco is seeing a rise in office vacancy year on year.

That was until this man decided it was time to start re-investing into San Fransisco.

Ian Jacobs, a descendant of the Reichmann real-estate empire headquartered in Toronto, amassed wealth by acquiring properties in financially distressed New York City during the 1970s. According to sources familiar with the situation, the 47-year-old entrepreneur spent much of the past year securing financial commitments from relatives and affluent families to purchase office buildings in San Francisco at discounted prices. Now, Jacobs faces the challenge of disproving the prevailing belief that downtown office spaces, particularly those in San Francisco, will remain vacant indefinitely.

According to individuals familiar with the situation, Jacobs has secured commitments totaling $75 million for his initial ventures. Ultimately, his ambition is to acquire 3 million square feet of office space at prices approximately 70% below the estimated cost of constructing the properties, as indicated by marketing materials for the project reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Recent transactions for buildings in San Francisco have averaged between $200 and $300 per square foot, suggesting an aggregate investment ranging from $600 million to $900 million.
Drawing parallels to the past, New York City, like San Francisco today, grappled with issues such as crime, corporate exodus, and political turmoil. However, five years later, a revitalized Wall Street bolstered the local economy, resulting in a tenfold increase in the value of the properties compared to the initial purchase price. Jacobs believes that the same thing will happen in San Francisco.

However, this may be different to other times as the new generation are only taking jobs if they can work remotely. In fact a recent study by SpiceWorks claimed that 55% of graduates are looking for remote working roles. In addition, if you Google, ‘’shoplifiting in California”, you will receive thousands of hits and that’s partly due to this strange law. Stealing merchandise worth $950 or less is just a misdemeanor, which means that law enforcement probably won’t bother to investigate, and if they do, prosecutors will let it go.

And so a mixture of bad governance and the demand for remote working means that the risk being taken by people such as Ian Jacobs may potentially backfire. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Please like and subscribe to level up your World Knowledge.

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