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One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

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Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#11

Post by MrFoof »

Two Class B office buildings totaling ~150,000 ft2 in Boston just sold for $4.1M, when in 2016 they had previously sold for $16M https://archive.ph/AADPP.

Here's the location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ezkNUEPAVCJJ2rps8 Things to note:

* Within HALF A BLOCK of Boston Common

* Within one-to-two short blocks of THREE subway stations serving THREE of the four subway lines

* A Dunkin' Donuts 30 seconds away on foot, with multiple other cafes within a block.

So prime transit location for workers. However the occupancy of the building has been crud for a long while (hence being sold), and hence why it went for nearly 75% off in the auction.

And before anyone goes, "but what about the condition", take a look for yourself (https://i.imgur.com/rubVC88.jpg not all photos are the building). It's certainly not bad! No, it's not like a top-end Class A skyscraper such as 101 Huntington or 200 Clarendon (or newer stuff I've not been in), but it's far from garbage! It certainly appears to be Class B space, and I say that as someone who actually built out offices (as an employee, not an architect) for two companies about 10-15 years ago!

The sale price works out to just $27.33/ft2. The monthly rent for Class B in 2022 was $32-38/ft2. So these just sold for the (EDIT) one year's rent of Class C space. Yikes! Someone took a bath!

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There's no office demand. Period. Boston has no shortage of vacant office space right now either, and even the buyers of these two buildings are looking to repurpose them.

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#12

Post by mistrial9 »

MrFoof wrote: post #11

Two Class B office buildings totaling ~150,000 ft2 in Boston just sold for $4.1M, when in 2016 they had previously sold for $16M https://archive.ph/AADPP . Here's the location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ezkNUEPAVCJJ2rps8 Things to note: * Within HALF A BLOCK of Boston Common * Within one-to-two short blocks of THREE subway stations serving THREE of the four subway lines * A Dunkin' Donuts 30 seconds away on foot, with…

great market info and very relevant comp to SF in so many ways; especially enjoy the implication that yes, long-term capital holders do in fact measure value by "the distance to the donut shop."

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#14

Post by MrFoof »

mistrial9 wrote: post #12
MrFoof wrote: post #11

Two Class B office buildings totaling ~150,000 ft2 in Boston just sold for $4.1M, when in 2016 they had previously sold for $16M https://archive.ph/AADPP . Here's the location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ezkNUEPAVCJJ2rps8 Things to note: * Within HALF A BLOCK of Boston Common * Within one-to-two short blocks of THREE subway stations serving THREE of the four subway lines * A Dunkin' Donuts 30 seconds away on foot, with…

great market info and very relevant comp to SF in so many ways; especially enjoy the implication that yes, long-term capital holders do in fact measure value by "the distance to the donut shop."

Dunks is a New England institution with a pretty fanatical following, at least for the coffee.

To put things into perspective, until very recently, the Back Bay subway and commuter rail station had TWO Dunkin' Donuts inside the station, within ~100 feet of each other, one on each side of the platform (on the floor above the platforms). One was smaller than the other, but you could literally hit someone in the other line with a thrown donut they were that close.

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#15

Post by astrange »

MrFoof wrote: post #14
mistrial9 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

great market info and very relevant comp to SF in so many ways; especially enjoy the implication that yes, long-term capital holders do in fact measure value by "the distance to the donut shop."

Dunks is a New England institution with a pretty fanatical following, at least for the coffee. To put things into perspective, until very recently, the Back Bay subway and commuter rail station had TWO Dunkin' Donuts inside the station, within ~100 feet of each other , one on each side of the platform (on the floor above the platforms) . One was smaller than the other, but you could literally hit someone in the other…

SF also used to have two Starbucks across the street from each other near Moscone.

But really, isn't that just one shop that happens to have a railway running through it?

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#16

Post by MrFoof »

astrange wrote: post #15
MrFoof wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunks is a New England institution with a pretty fanatical following, at least for the coffee. To put things into perspective, until very recently, the Back Bay subway and commuter rail station had TWO Dunkin' Donuts inside the station, within ~100 feet of each other , one on each side of the platform (on the floor above the platforms) . One was smaller than the other, but you could literally hit someone in the other…

SF also used to have two Starbucks across the street from each other near Moscone. But really, isn't that just one shop that happens to have a railway running through it?

They were actually owned by different franchisees!

The spaces were significantly different as well. The one that shut down was so small it couldn't even physically accommodate the equipment to make the sandwiches!

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#19

Post by extragood »

MrFoof wrote: post #16
astrange wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SF also used to have two Starbucks across the street from each other near Moscone. But really, isn't that just one shop that happens to have a railway running through it?

They were actually owned by different franchisees! The spaces were significantly different as well. The one that shut down was so small it couldn't even physically accommodate the equipment to make the sandwiches!

I'm sure there are valid reasons for doing that, but whenever I see multiple franchises within spitting distance of one another, I can't help but be reminded of Gob Bluth's "market research" for a 2nd banana stand in Arrested Development:

> Did you know that more frozen bananas are sold right here on this boardwalk than anywhere in the OC?

And of course he goes on to cannibalize the family's original business.

Re: One in five Silicon Valley office buildings is vacant

#20

Post by quickthrowman »

MrFoof wrote: post #11

Two Class B office buildings totaling ~150,000 ft2 in Boston just sold for $4.1M, when in 2016 they had previously sold for $16M https://archive.ph/AADPP . Here's the location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ezkNUEPAVCJJ2rps8 Things to note: * Within HALF A BLOCK of Boston Common * Within one-to-two short blocks of THREE subway stations serving THREE of the four subway lines * A Dunkin' Donuts 30 seconds away on foot, with…

> The monthly rent for Class B in 2022 was $32-38/ft2.

That is not the monthly lease rate. All commercial property lease rates are quoted as dollars per square foot per year.

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