Live data from Hacker News

Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

socketsite.com

21–30 of 527 posts

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#21

If this trend continues, I wonder if these office spaces can be converted to apartments. SF is in desperate need of living space

Where would be the demand for thousands of extra apartments if folk are mostly remote?

Before covid rents in SF were among the highest in the world, which implies very high demand. I’m confident that many people still want to live in SF, e.g. single people like to cluster next to other single people. In other words working in tech is a draw but not the only draw for living in SF or any other urban area.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of continued large-scale stimulus is tragic. We need a strong stimulus package with direct monetary relief (one $1200 check is not enough), and a program of structured financial relief / rent forgiveness. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

We should be reciving our 3rd and onto our 4th right now.

Really, it's an infrastructure problem. We don't have direct payment rails set up for something like UBI, and the political will to build this infrastructure is next to zero.

Most of the companies receiving relief were badly managed before the pandemic, and they should be allowed to fail. But it's very hard to structure relief in a fair and effective way.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#23

We haven't even seen the extent of the depression yet. Combined with congressional inaction on social spending a lot of people are going to be in very deep finanical issues. This is a systemic problem that we needed fixed 3 months ago.

The lack of continued large-scale stimulus is tragic. We need a strong stimulus package with direct monetary relief (one $1200 check is not enough), and a program of structured financial relief / rent forgiveness. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

Keynesian economy never worked. Redistributing money will just make it worthless.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#24
Still not moving back.

Seeing those empty Walgreens shelves was it for me.

Even the social programs and tolerance of the squalor is not that real, it is simply that the transient population is not affected: students and programmers. The same population that just left.

I appreciate all the optimism for San Francisco but it just seems to lack context from the mid-atlantic cities that are carcasses of an industrial era which never returned.

The brick and mortar boutiques were struggling there during the best market in the history of man kind.

This is more obvious to see when you leave. Its harder to see when your life is built around never acknowledging it and pouncing on everyone that says what they observe, on Nextdoor.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why will leases be terminating in Q2 2021 in particular?

This is mainly a concern for one year leases that were renewed this March/April/May, which won't be renewed in 2021. There are many companies which budgeted for a few weeks or months of work from home, now they're transitioning permanently and the office space they were using is no longer needed.

>This is mainly a concern for one year leases that were renewed this March/April/May, which won't be renewed in 2021

Do leases tend to get renewed in Q2?

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#26

We haven't even seen the extent of the depression yet. Combined with congressional inaction on social spending a lot of people are going to be in very deep finanical issues. This is a systemic problem that we needed fixed 3 months ago.

The lack of continued large-scale stimulus is tragic. We need a strong stimulus package with direct monetary relief (one $1200 check is not enough), and a program of structured financial relief / rent forgiveness. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

Yes, we need at least another 6 trillion. Maybe 20 trillion. Why stop there? We should quadruple the money supply maybe, we need to protect commercial real estate investors, after all.

... and then in 2021 we can all scratch our heads and wonder why income inequality is worse than ever, and despite all this spending, we didn't even make an appreciable dent in the impact of Covid-19 on public health.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#27

We haven't even seen the extent of the depression yet. Combined with congressional inaction on social spending a lot of people are going to be in very deep finanical issues. This is a systemic problem that we needed fixed 3 months ago.

> Combined with congressional inaction on social spending a lot of people are going to be in very deep finanical issues.

I would imagine people are experiencing such things already seeing as how it’s been seven months with nothing but a single $1200 check.

Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F

#29

Is this a worldwide trend? Wonder what it means for city tax incomes.

Meanwhile, in Canada…

http://trreb.ca/index.php/market-news/market-stats#commercia...

If leasing activity and sales volume are good indicators, it’s down. Though prices are up slightly…

Also that data is nation-wide, and not specifically for Toronto, which is reasonable to assume would be the hardest hit. (Biggest city, and Ontario has not controlled this as well as British Columbia.)

Post reply on HN