Originally Posted by
Grumble
It’s not hysterical narrative when office space vacancy is at 40%, and building owners are walking away from their mortgages. The owner of the building the Hilton is in just walked away from almost $700m in equity and threw the keys on the counter because, in their own words, “this city is uninvestible.” Couldn’t sell the building, couldn’t make money, walked away. Not the only one either.
Look, I've lived here (as an adult )for 26 years. I witnessed the 2000 dotcom collapse, the 2008 meltdown, and now covid. This city has seen worse times and has always recovered. I wouldn't like to be a commercial landlord downtown right now, but if there's one thing that's true about the City By The Bay, it's that it always recovers and reinvents itself. That reinvention may result in a downtown that's much more housing -intensive than it has traditionally been. But it will take time and there will be pain points along the way. We're seeing some of those pain points right now.
Despite its issues, it's still perched amidst one of the most beautiful natural environments I've ever seen. It's still a place of discovery, invention, and curiosity. Housing is crazy expensive here not because everyone is fleeing, but because people still want to come here and make a life.
And we've still got some pretty incredible restaurants, which was the whole point of this thread. If you don't care to try them, that's cool.. That just means more tables available for the rest of us
