Pinterest Pays $89.5 Million To Abandon Upcoming Lease In San Francisco

Things are going so great in California that Pinterest just paid $89.5 million to cancel its 490,000-square-foot lease at the upcoming 88 Bluxome project in San Francisco.

The company blames working from home as a result of the pandemic as the reason for abandoning the lease - but we're sure the state's rising taxes, impending real estate market crash and conversion of the property to a temporary homeless shelter in March likely helped contribute to the decision making.

Either way, Pinterest wanted out of the lease so badly they were willing to fork over a hefty sum to ensure they would not be held to it. The company's total lease obligations for the property would have amounted to $440 million.

Pinterest's CFO told the San Francisco Chronicle: “As we analyze how our workplace will change in a post-COVID world, we are specifically rethinking where future employees could be based. A more distributed workforce will give us the opportunity to hire people from a wider range of backgrounds and experiences.”

Pinterest appears to be following in the steps of companies like Facebook, who has also embraced the idea of remote work for its staff. Facebook aims to have half of its company working remotely "within a decade", CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said.

To us, it appears to be more of a statement about San Francisco's real estate market than about Pinterest. After all, the company was the first and only lease commitment "in San Francisco’s 230-acre Central South of Market district, where numerous large commercial and residential projects have been approved after the city raised height limits last year," the Chronicle said.

They were to help contribute to 30,000 new jobs and 20,000 new residents in the district, which the city hoped would fuel more than $2 billion in public benefits. The project is "now in doubt". The proposed 88 Bluxome project was supposed to start construction this year, but current plans for the project are now "unclear".

And in peak San Francisco fashion, the city converted the tennis club currently on the lot to a homeless shelter in March.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/pinterest-pays-895-million-abandon-upcoming-lease-san-francisco

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Melbourne residents have been issued a grim warning about the city’s tough stage four restrictions, with concerns the lockdown could be extended beyond the September 13 deadline.

Though Victoria’s COVID-19 case numbers dipped below 100 on Saturday for the first time in two months, Premier Daniel Andrews said the figures were still “too high” for Melbourne to move down to stage three.

“At 100, 94, at 114, whatever the number, we simply could not open up,” he said on Sunday.

“Those numbers would explode, we would finish up and perhaps an even worse situation than we have been in recent months. We cannot fritter away all that good work and sacrifice.

“Once we see these numbers fall further, we will be able to talk in more definitive terms. We all wanted this second wave to be defeated but it needs to be defeated properly.”

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/coronavirus-victoria-melbournes-stage-4-lockdown-could-be-extended/news-story/bd61c3570c0401bcf838442f65be77da

Trump Goes After Failed Democrat-Run Cities As Violence Erupts In Chicago And NYC

President Trump emphasized at the Republican National Convention last week that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is ignoring the surge in violent crime across major US metropolitan areas.

"When there is police misconduct, the justice system must hold wrongdoers fully and completely accountable, and it will. But what we can never have in America — and must never allow — is mob rule," the president said. "In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson, and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, and New York."

With 64 days left until the Nov. 3 election, Trump is once again making the implosion of Democrat-run cities a centerpiece of his campaign against Biden.

"This election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life, or whether we allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it," Trump said at the convention.

The continuing violence seen in Democrat-run cities, like Chicago and New York City, is alarming and explains why city-dwellers are fleeing for suburban life.

To Trump's point, at least 40 people were shot, including ten fatally, during another weekend of soaring gun violence in Chicago, America's murder capital.

The city's most recent shooting occurred Sunday afternoon at the Lumes Pancake House in the 11600 block of Western Avenue. Five people were injured, and one died after an unidentified person in a white SUV opened fire at diners enjoying a weekend meal at the outdoor restaurant, reported NBC Chicago.

RIGHT NOW: Six people shot, one fatally at Lumes Pancake House on Chicago’s South Side, police say.

Victims were apparently eating outside in white tent when someone fired. Officers believe it was a targeted attack. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/O4AHjPO0G5

— Steven Graves (@StevenGravesTV) August 30, 2020

In response, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tweeted Sunday: "4 police officers shot: 2 in Democrat St. Louis, 2 in Chicago."

Giuliani continued, "@realDonaldTrump has offered both Federal assistance. Hidin' Biden finally stated his basement. but said nothing about this violence at DNC. "Silence is assent." (Biden, DNC, 2020.) "

4 police officers shot: 2 in Democrat St. Louis, 2 in Chicago.@realDonaldTrump has offered both Federal assistance.

Hidin’ Biden finally issued a statement from his basement.

but said nothing about this violence at DNC.

“Silence is assent.” (Biden, DNC, 2020.)#BackTheBlue

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) August 30, 2020

As for the city formerly governed by Giuliani, New York has yet to release official data of violent crime this weekend, but the union representing 50,000 active and retired NYPD police officers in the city said "25 people were shot from Saturday morning to 7 am today. That makes 58 people shot this week. That's a 100% increase in shooting victims from the same week last year."

25 people were shot from Saturday morning to 7am today. That makes 58 people shot this week. That’s a 100% increase in shooting victims from the same week last year.

— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) August 30, 2020

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-goes-after-failed-democrat-run-cities-violence-erupts-chicago-and-nyc