The Hayes Point skyscraper project in San Francisco, at 540 feet tall, is one of the only major building projects caught in the uncompleted stage as the city’s economic outlook and crime statistics have become severely disconcerting.
The developer of a $1.2 billion skyscraper in the City By the Bay has halted construction because the city’s lawlessness and poor economic conditions have failed to attract enough prospective buyers.
Initially, the plan included 290,000 square feet of office space and 333 residences.
CBRE, a real estate brokerage, reports that the office vacancy rate in San Francisco hit a record high of 31% in June. This comes after the city ordered X CEO Elon Musk to remove a new illuminating sign from the company’s headquarters.
The project has been put on hold until markets stabilize, according to Lendlease’s executive general manager Arden Hearing.
The Hayes Valley neighborhood in San Francisco has reportedly lost many notable businesses, including Reddit, Uber, Block, and the city’s largest Whole Foods, which closed a year after opening.
Hearing also said that they would keep an eye on the market and examine options for a potential restart. They indicated that they won’t be relaunching until 2024 at the earliest.
According to the study, housing prices in the 94013 area code, where the Hayes Point skyscraper is located, have dropped by 12% year-over-year.
Tony Lombardo, CEO of Lendlease Global, explained the decision to halt investing in the sector during the previous several months at the company’s results conference on Monday night. The decision to cease was made to “de-risk it adequately” before investing further money.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey claims that the area is almost unique in having economic issues right now.
He said the city is in a horrible financing market right now, and that’s not exclusive to Hayes Point.
The mayor said, “Hayes Point is a particularly vital initiative, not just to my district but to the rest of the city’s whole,” due to the project’s strategic position.
