San Diego County commercial real estate broker. I provide leasing, sales and development analysis of commercial and investment properties. And #CRE news!
That's a pretty good use of AI for cleaning up a property marketing photo. It messed up the lettering in the Mexican restaurant name, but you don't really notice it.
L.A.’s Notorious Trio of Graffiti-Covered Skyscrapers Finally Finds a Buyer
New owner is expected to spend more than $1.2 billion to acquire and complete a project long seen as a symbol of downtown’s decline.
Work at the site stalled in 2019, when its former Chinese owner ran into financial trouble after pouring more than $1 billion into the residential, hotel and retail development.
https://t.co/chi9oLS2wz by @KCarliniKing@pkwsj via @WSJ
Tech exec bets on downtown San Diego with purchase of 2 office towers
A former SoftBank executive has purchased downtown office towers 1 Columbia Place and 2 Columbia Place with the stated goal of boosting the local economy.
Golden Columbia LLC purchased 1 Columbia Place, a 27-story skyscraper at 401 W. A St., and 2 Columbia Place, a 12-story tower, at 1230 Columbia St.
https://t.co/IPuCbAZvwJ by @jbruin via @SDUT
Historic Spreckels Building, Theater in Downtown San Diego will be auctioned off
Baroque-style landmark listed online, with bids starting at $5M on March 23 https://t.co/c9PHNa4Vr5
https://t.co/iFTSEEHK9U by @jbruin via @SDUT
SBA to block green card holders
Small-business loan program to tighten eligibility March 1
Last year, it tightened a requirement that businesses applying for loans must be 100% owned by U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents, up from a 51% standard.
https://t.co/qYsggbwb8T by @Maetron via @SDUT
ICE buys warehouses for mass detention network, rattling locals
The Trump administration has moved to acquire industrial buildings in at least eight states. @DHSgov bought two this month: one in Maryland for $102 million and another in Arizona for $70 million.
https://t.co/wxzKoemN6A by @jocwapo@dmac1 via @washingtonpost
The @CityofSanDiego could save a ton of money if it relocates City Hall
A new study estimates that the city could save more than $325 million, over 20 years, if it buys a new City Hall building instead of fixing the existing one. The report also looks at the overall economic impact of a completely redeveloped Civic Center.
The report — prepared by urban planning firm @U3Advisors https://t.co/2BKafnrf1P is nearly two years in the making, building on the Prebys Foundation’s @prebysfound initial commitment in April 2024 to fund a big-picture vision for the city’s Civic Center real estate.
https://t.co/FDhL4dTdkf by @jbruin via @SDUT
Prominent La Jolla-area hotel sells at discount
The Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego La Jolla has been sold to a Los Angeles-based investment company for $111 million—slightly more than half the price of just four years ago.
https://t.co/j7bfaMx3J7 by @LoriWeisberg via @SDUT
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2026. 🥂
As we step into 2026, the focus in commercial real estate is clear: stability, innovation, and strategic growth. After a year of transition in 2025, we are looking forward to helping our clients navigate the opportunities this new year brings.
Wishing you and your business a prosperous and successful 2026!
#CommercialRealEstate #CRE2026 #NewYear #RealEstateInvesting #SanDiego
WOW!
Canada’s $1 Billion Question: Do Property Rights Still Exist in British Columbia?
Provincial court ruling says indigenous groups can reclaim ownership of land taken from them scores of years ago.
The ruling has roiled the wealthy districts of the greater Vancouver area, one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world. Its scope has shocked businesses, homeowners and community leaders, who fear that it nullifies the principle of “indefeasible title,” the legal term for absolute certainty of land ownership, setting a precedent that threatens billions in real-estate investment.
https://t.co/TIfE9J7KOL by @vipalmonga via @WSJ
Vacancies for San Diego life science office space hit record highs. Here’s who’s taking advantage
Asking prices for rent have fallen for 13 consecutive quarters
The region’s core cluster vacancy rate is a record 31.2%, up from 20.4% a year ago
https://t.co/QT5rRUYgKO via @SDUT
Commercial Real Estate Is Getting Too Cheap to Ignore
After years of low returns, some portfolio managers are rethinking their commercial-property holdings
Poor commercial real estate. Fewer investors want to touch it after being burned by falling property values in recent years. They have better options anyway. Why settle for 7% annual returns on real estate when Nvidia is delivering 70%?
Yet property is one of the last assets in the U.S. that looks fairly priced and could turn out to be a place to hide if there is an artificial-intelligence bubble.
https://t.co/YzllYhM8IE via @WSJ
Office-to-Residential Conversions Are Booming and New York Is the Epicenter
Over the past two decades, developers in New York have converted nearly 30 million square feet of office space into residential living, with the pace of transformation picking up in recent years.
Most office buildings were considered too wide and mechanically complex to repurpose into apartments with kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. But New York developers are solving those problems with new architectural hacks—cut-through notches, carved light wells, and strategic wall-offs of interior cores that create space for new residential floors.
https://t.co/sAN2aKlY2b by @brian_mcgill@petergrantwsj via @WSJ
Sony sells Rancho Bernardo campus to firm for $67.4M
Completed in 2009, the @Sony Electronics headquarters, referred to as Innovation Centre in marketing materials, includes the 11-story tower with 461,000 square feet of office space on a 7.9-acre site at Via Del Campo and Via Esprillo.
The electronics company spent $150 million to build the property, which was completed in 2009.
https://t.co/X9dMeHqVT5 by @jbruin via @SDUT
Optimism takes a hit as small businesses navigate elevated uncertainty
Many cite growing labor and sales concerns
Small business owners became a little less optimistic in October, according to the @NFIB monthly survey, as uncertainty over business conditions remains elevated.
The federation's Small Business Optimism Index fell to 98.2, its lowest reading since April and well below the post-election peak of 105.1 reached in December 2024. Still, small business optimism remains higher than its average of 94.9 from 2020 through 2024.
https://t.co/Qxo1IyPKhB by @chuckmcshane via @CoStarGroup
San Diego County Office construction at a standstill
Local slump since 2024 linked to high vacancy, low demand
“It’s the first time in over 10 years that we haven’t had anything currently under construction.”
https://t.co/Uv0y6r5YTl by @jbruin via @SDUT
With sale, Irvine Company exits downtown San Diego
One America Plaza, the city’s tallest, most distinctive skyscraper has sold for $120M
The 658,000-square-foot, 2.9-acre property, near Santa Fe Depot traded for less than half of what Irvine Company paid for the property nearly 20 years ago. The firm paid $285.4 million in 2006.
Built in 1991, the 34-story, 500-foot-tall office tower at 600 W. Broadway is San Diego’s tallest skyscraper. Designed by renowned postmodern architect Helmut Jahn, One America Plaza is also one of downtown’s most distinctive skyscrapers, with a roof that the new owner refers to as “the screwdriver.”
Amid Irvine Company’s retreat from downtown, the firm has doubled down on University City, where the city’s recently approved community plan has created legal space for more than 30,000 additional residential units.
https://t.co/SR0615riUn by @jbruin via @SDUT
Jamie Dimon Wants Everyone in the Office. Is a $3 Billion Building the Answer?
The CEO of @JPMorgan Chase spent six years putting his stamp on a shiny new headquarters, a skyscraper that he hopes will revive the glory of the office.
Dimon’s stance is clear. He has delivered expletive-laden broadsides against remote meetings, declaring that the only way to work is together, in person, the old-fashioned way. And so he has built one of the most expensive towers in America, extending a quarter-mile into the sky, and filled it with 19 Danny Meyer @dhmeyer-approved eateries, coffee shops, a company store, a gym and Morgan’s, the English pub where he hopes bankers will commune after-hours.
https://t.co/mham060QrI by @ajsaeedy@realchrismaggio via @WSJ