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San Francisco’s doom loop just got worse. On the heals of the Hilton Hotel in downtown defaulting on their loan, another major player is packing up and heading out. KPMG, a prominent consulting and accounting firm, has decided to vacate its prestigious, namesake $400 million office tower.

Since its grand opening in 2002, KPMG has been a notable tenant of this 25-story skyscraper, occupying over 100,000 square feet. The company’s name prominently adorns the building’s entrance, signaling its significant presence.

This departure is not an isolated event but part of a larger exodus from the city’s core, reflecting a broader, distressing trend. The departure of Alto, a shoe store, from the major downtown San Francisco Centre mall, is just another indication a growing disillusionment with the city’s business environment.

The root causes of this mass exodus are multifaceted, with businesses and residents citing escalating crime rates, an uncontrolled homelessness crisis, and the rise of remote work as primary factors driving them away from downtown San Francisco.

These issues have contributed to a sharp decline in the city’s retail landscape, with nearly 100 retailers shutting their doors since the pandemic’s onset. This staggering number represents a more than 50 percent decrease, painting a bleak picture of the city’s economic health.

Axtremus

Need more conversions from office buildings to residential apartments. Solve the "office space glut," "housing shortage," and "empty downtown" problems all at the same time.

taiwan_girl

@Axtremus said in Discount:

Need more conversions from office buildings to residential apartments. Solve the "office space glut," "housing shortage," and "empty downtown" problems all at the same time.

Never really looked at or thought about it, but do office buildings have more "inside" space than an apartment building?

Just wondering if there was a conversion, would there be more rooms without windows?

(One of my business ideas is to sell "smart" windows for interior walls. Use a super high clarity screen and have a live video feed so you would think you were looking out a window.)

Jolly

What Ax is proposing is not uncommon, but I think people need a reason to live in the downtown of a large city. If you remove too much business, does that reason still exist?

Axtremus

When converting office buildings into residences, designate some floors for shops and some floors for offices.

The demand for shop and office spaces are "low" but not "zero." Just because you convert an office building does not mean you have to remove the businesses. You can have employees and business owners who live in the residential units just a few floors away from their offices/shops.

taiwan_girl

@George-K said in Discount:

San Francisco’s doom loop just got worse

Another city with maybe a worst problem

https://www.businessinsider.com/st-louis-downtown-doom-loop-is-worse-than-san-francisco-2024-4?op=1

A vacant office building in downtown St. Louis just sold for $3.6 million — a nearly 98% discount from its 2006 sales price, signaling a concerning course for the Midwestern city's downtown area.

The former One AT&T Center, which at 44 stories is the third-tallest building in St. Louis, sold for $205 million in 2006 and recently sold for $3.6 million to the Goldman Group, a real-estate investment firm, according to CoStar News.

The steep drop in the tower's value is just one sign that St. Louis' central business district is struggling, reports say. The challenges facing it and other Midwestern hubs are perhaps graver than bigger downtowns that have been more widely depicted as abandoned or dying, like San Francisco's, according to economics and public-policy experts.

The New Coffee Room

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