Facebook | Calco Commercial, Inc.

Category: Facebook (4)

Sep

CRE News: Tech still critical to Bay Area Real Estate Economy

According to Bisnow, “tech and life sciences companies made up 67.1% of total office leasing activity in Silicon Valley and 64.6% in San Francisco for 2017 through midyear 2018.” With nearly daily headlines of Facebook and other tech giants snapping up huge swaths of space in San Francisco and its surrounds, it is no surprise that the Bay Area’s tech leasing activity is approximately 40% higher than the nation.

Tech, media, and e-commerce firms, both large and small, understand that in order to be competitive and attract talent, they need a physical presence in the Bay Area. San Francisco Bay Area continues to hold the title for most tech jobs in the United States. Real estate professionals project that tech will continue to expand in Silicon Valley, although solutions to issues such as affordable housing/cost of living will need to be explored to retain the skilled labor force necessary for start-ups and big tech.

Jul

Tech CRE News: Will Facebook Stock Plunge Hurt Bay Area?

Source: San Francisco Chronicle
By: Roland Li
Date: July 26, 2018

Facebook’s recent share plunge was one for the stock-books as the $119 billion decrease officially became the largest drop on Wall Street, even surpassing Intel’s $90 billion one-day drop in 2000. Facebook is one of the Bay Area’s largest employers and drives a local economies–what does this severe decrease in stock value mean for the Bay? According to the The Chronicle, the plunge will not “hurt the Bay Area economy.” Coupled with their “$42.3 billion cash reserve,” and with a planned 20,000+/- jobs being added to the security team, Facebook will continue to “boost the local economy.”

Other economists worry that the drop in price could indicate a pending correction in the market. However, with Amazon’s massive increase in Q2 earnings, it may be too early to predict if Facebook is suffering from an overall market dip, or its own public relation woes.

According to Gary Schlossberg, a senior economist at Wells Fargo and quoted in the Chronicle article, the market has experienced a “mild deterioration in some of the fundamentals driving the market. The question is: how much will U.S. growth slow and with it earnings growth? A lot of strength in earnings has to do with corporate tax cuts. We need to see how aggressively the Fed will move interest rates. There could be a gradual turn toward ad less friendly environment for the stock market.”

Time will tell.

Oct

Tech CRE News: Q3 Tech Office Leasing Market Still Going Strong

According to Bisnow, 2017 thus far has clocked the most leasing transactions since 2014, with tech giants like Facebook and Dropbox both inking large leases in San Francisco.

Low vacancy rates coupled with limited new construction (or new projects hitting the market pre-leased), the San Francisco market will remain restricted for the foreseeable future. However, “despite the challenging rents and diminishing availability, tech will remain a stronghold in San Francisco.” San Francisco has become synonymous with tech, and for now San Francisco is still the place to be for giants and start-ups alike.

Oct

Tech CRE News: R&D office vacancy rates hit all-time lows on Peninsula

The Silicon Valley Business Journal has reported that office vacancy rates of 7.5% on the Peninsula are at the “lowest since the turn of the century.” The article notes that the low vacancy rates have been aided by Facebook leasing “135,000 square feet at 162 Jefferson Drive in Menlo Park,” and the 101,000 square foot lease renewal by Shutterstock in Redwood Shores.

Facebook-Menlo Park Office

With decreasing vacancies, comes higher costs, and the Peninsula Area does not fall short on expensive rents. According to the article, R&D space averages $4.67 per square foot per month, a .9 increase from Q2,” with Menlo Park demanding the highest rents in the county averaging “$7.65” per square foot for R&D & office space.