Do-It-Yourselfers. You think you're getting a savings but it's really costing you more. Let me explain.

I just read a SF Business Times article about Social Print Studio who tried to sublease their commercial space in San Francisco on Airbnb.  Unless this is just a ploy for attention or something else, they just committed violations on several different levels.

These do-it-yourselfers don't seem to have a commercial real estate broker and don't seem to have an attorney overseeing them as both would have advised them differently from day 1 which would have spared them the black eye of this mini scandal.

No competent commercial real estate broker would have advised this company to break zoning laws by signing a lease in this industrial building in the first place which is mistake #1.  Bringing a sublease to market without engaging aforementioned broker for advice was mistake #2.  The broker would have referred the client to their lease and saved them the embarrassment of all this.  Mistake #3 is living in the property - a big no-no per Planning.  Mistake #4 is using Airbnb.  Sheesh - this shows how clueless these business executives are and could have ALL BEEN AVOIDED.

Do yourself a favor and seek out the advice of your trusted commercial real estate broker, counsel, and accountant.  You may think you're saving a few bucks by handling you real estate, legal, and accounting matters yourself but in essence, you're costing your company, employees, and investors so much more.

The Twitter tax break - was/is worth it?

The SF Business Times is reporting here that the City just lost out on $34 million in taxes in the Twitter/MidMa tax zone. One car argue that creating this tax break  was essential in attracting tenants like Twitter and Zendesk to a challenging part of the City but some can argue otherwise.

The MidMa / Civic Center region benefits from 1. immediate access to BART and Muni public transportation along Market Street 2. buildings possessing large floor plates which are attractive to tech firms seeking spaces that can house as many employees on one floor as possible and 3. a central location still close to SOMA and Downtown and 4. one of the only places left for tech companies to locate in SF.

Where else would Twitter, Zendesk, and others have gone?  The Peninsula?  Oakland?  Possibly, but it's harder to attract talent to these regions.  The City is so desirable that these companies cannot afford to be anywhere else.

Maybe the loss of tax revenue afforded merchants, residential landlords and others upside but did the City make a mistake?

If demand for this type of office space, type of building, and location keep increasing, then we can look back on the tax break as somewhat of a mistake as the revitalization and lease-up would have occurred anyway, without the tax break.  Only time will tell.