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San Francisco News

Autodesk decamps from San Rafael, moves corporate HQ to San Francisco

“For nearly 30 years, San Rafael has been an incredible home to our company. And we are thankful for the community’s support over the years,” a spokesperson told me on Thursday. Adding that there will be no layoffs or losses associated with the move.

The spokesperson said Autodesk, which also leases space at Pier 9 in San Francisco. Designated One Market Street as its new corporate headquarters in May.

The company’s annual report in May said it leased a total 116,000 square feet in San Rafael. Noting the leases there expired in December 2024. The 111 McInnis Parkway property is owned by JHS Properties, public records show.

The report stated that Autodesk’s San Francisco leases expire from December 2022 to June 2026; the company’s spokesperson confirmed that it leases 284,000 square feet at One Market and roughly 41,000 square feet at Pier 9.Paramount Group owns One Market Street.

Reducing Leases

The company, which employs 12,600 across the globe, said it was reducing its leases worldwide by 20%.

In January, Autodesk closed its brand new 117,000-square-foot office at 300 Mission St. in San Francisco. Which had only been open for about eight months, as well as another office in San Rafael at 3900 Civic Center.

Iconic Capital — a privately held wealth management firm that serves tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey — has taken a majority of Autodesk’s 300 Mission office, which it listed for sublease.

At the time, the company stated that it was rethinking its use of office space in order to support the changing needs of its employees—  in the San Francisco Business Times a survey conducted ahead of the closures showed that 55% of its workers preferred the home office.

It is a predicament shared by many tech companies in the Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco, where the office vacancy rate remains high, rising to 24.2% in the second quarter, according to research by real estate services firm CBRE.

San Francisco Banking & Financial Services News

Travis Credit Union of Vacaville welcomed Kevin Miller as its new CEO and president this year.

Miller, who moved from Chicago to California with his wife and recently adopted 9-year-old son, previously held a variety of banking roles, from large institutions to regional branch management. He most recently was chief growth officer at Braviant Holdings, a Chicago fintech focused on underserved consumers.

Travis, founded in 1951, currently has 225,000 members and $4.78 billion in assets, up 7% in the last year. It was founded by military and civilian workers at Travis Air Force Base. And today is open to anyone in 12 Northern California counties.

Here’s our Q&A with Miller, edited for clarity.

How has the appeal of a credit union changed in the economic downturn?

What you have seen over the last couple of years is more folks interested in mission- or purpose-based organizations, such as the credit union. Which is a cooperative and member-owned. We find across age demographics an increased interest in organizations that align with people’s personal beliefs or values.

What are some emergent trends in the industry?

A massive amount of consumer behavior shifted during the pandemic. People want to manage their money where and when they want — and that is through their mobile device.

As we have been used to the Amazon experience or the Netflix experience, our patience for friction has diminished. People want belongings to be easier and faster.

The last thing is how people think about a bank or credit union — that world is blending.

For credit unions, our capability of serving members is being done in a similar way to large national banks. The gap between the two is closing. I can offer the same phone experience that a much larger institution can provide because the technology is becoming more effective, efficient and affordable.

San Francisco Technology News

Good morning, Bay Area. In national news, President Joe Biden has promised to make a decision on student loan forgiveness by the end of August. When monthly loan payments are set to resume, with the president expected to cancel at least $10,000 per borrower. In employment news, a PwC survey last month polled more than 700 U.S. executives and board members across a range of industries and revealed that half of respondents said they’re reducing headcount or plan to, with 52% already having implemented hiring freezes. Turning to the hands doing your grocery shopping.

San Francisco Revenue-San Francisco Business Times

San Francisco Business Times -based Insta cart, which is inching toward an IPO, saw its second quarter revenue climb 39% from the year-earlier period to $621 million, the highest quarterly revenue in the company’s history. And outside, expect things to get Smokey today: The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an advisory warning residents regarding hazy skies and the smell of smoke coming from the Six Rivers Lightning Complex fires east of Eureka. Here’s what else is in the air this morning.

San Francisco Residential Real Estate News

Median sale price for San Francisco homes falls nearly 20% since spring

East Bay — a region that includes Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, Berkeley and Richmond — the median home sales price is down 12.5% to $1.223 million from the area’s high of $1.4 million in April and May. Compared to last July, that section of the East Bay has now seen a slight reduction in median sales price, which stood at $1.225 million in the summer of 2021.

Pandemic gains have also disappeared for homes from Lafayette to Richmond, which are now routinely going for hundreds of thousands under what they would have fetched in April, as I reported last month.

But it’s non all of a bad news for agents looking for buyers. As of early August, the average weekly mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell below 5% for the first time since April, and Carlisle noted that some agents have noticed buyer interest has these shifts is near universal,” he said.

In the inner East Bay — a region that includes Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, Berkeley and Richmond — the median home sales price is down 12.5% to $1.223 million from the area’s high of $1.4 million in April and May. Compared to last July, that section of the East Bay has now seen a slight reduction in median sales price, which stood at $1.225 million in the summer of 2021.

Pandemic Effects

Pandemic gains have also disappeared for homes from Lafayette to Richmond. Which are now routinely going for hundreds of thousands under what they would have fetched in April. As I reported last month.

But it’s non of all a bad news for agents looking for buyers. The San Francisco Business Times  As of early August, the average weekly mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell below 5% for the first time since April, and Carlisle noted that some agents have noticed buyer interest has begun to return with the decline in competition and an increase in inventory.

However, if this is part of a broader recovery in demand. He said, it has not yet shown up in the statistics.

San Francisco Commercial Real Estate News

The longtime owners of nearly 10 acres adjacent to the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station. Which  have big plans for the land.

They have proposed building nearly 500 multifamily units and townhomes on Lopes Road and Warm Springs Boulevard. About a block from each other, according to plans submitted Aug. 17 by their agent, 330 Land Company.

The two sites are owned by LLCs affiliated with the James W. Lopes, a former Fremont resident who died in 2019. Steve Reilly of 330 Land is listed as the applicant. The plans call for:

  • 212 multifamily units and 64 townhomes on 6.7 acres at 44690 Lopes Road, now site of a single-family home.
  • 213 multifamily units on 2.9 acres at 45021 Warm Springs Blvd., now a vacant site.

Real Estate Development and Growth

  • Reilly declined to comment, instead referring to the preliminary proposals submitted to the city. Both pre-applications indicated they would utilize Senate Bill 330, which provides an expedited path to approval for eligible residential projects. No formal growth application has yet been submit; The city of Fremont could not immediately be reach for comment Monday.
  • The two developments would raise hundreds of homes on land just a few minutes’ walk from the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station. Which has been at the center of the area’s commercial and residential boom since it was open in 2017. Fremont has sought to transform the Warm Springs District, to the city’s south, into a jobs and housing hub: It has been working alongside employers and developers in the region to bring more than 20,000 new jobs and 4,000 new homes online.
  • The San Francisco Business Times area is already home to employers such as Tesla, which maintains its 5.3 million-square-foot Fremont factory in the region, where it employs nearly 22,000, according to the company’s website; data storage device manufacturer Western Digital, which leases nearly 300,000 square feet there; and Thermos Fisher Scientific, which opened a major facility nearby Tesla’s in 2014.
  • A big part of Warm Spring’s growth has been Lennar’s master-plan project there: The Miami-base homebuilder received approval to raise more than 2,200 homes and 1.4 million square feet of commercial space.
    On 111 acres in Warm Springs in 2015. Lennar has progressed through several phases of the project — some homes are already occupied. While others are listed for pre-sale on the developer’s website. Lennar said previously it expects to complete the final phases of its project in 2026.