San Francisco gets emptier and emptier, Musk finds it 'tragic'

San Francisco, Feb 18

Tech leaders and internet stars are lamenting that the downtown San Francisco's real estate market has deteriorated and the city is getting "emptier and emptier", with Elon Musk calling this as "tragic".

File hosting service Dropbox's chief financial officer Tim Regan said that they were relatively quick to market with subleasing plans.

However, "the market has deteriorated, with many companies reducing their real estate footprint", said Regan.

San Francisco has been among the slowest US markets to rebound from the pandemic as tech companies did not open their offices and promoted remote work amid mass layoffs.

Regan said during the company's quarterly call this week that they no longer assume the company "will sublease additional space in San Francisco in the next few years".

Podcaster Elijah Schaffer tweeted that San Francisco is getting "emptier and emptier".

"Last time I went, a man was urinating on the Twitter building and the only people on the street were angry press trying to snap photos of @elonmusk," he posted.

"Sad what's happened to this town and scary they think they know best for the world," Schaffer said.

Musk replied: "Tragic. I hope SF (San Francisco) comes back from this emptiness. It is such a beautiful city with so many amazing people".

In a video attached to his tweet, Schaffer said that so many businesses have closed in downtown San Francisco near his office, which is also shut.

Musk said last month that office rentals in San Francisco will further drop. Twitter has its headquarters in the city.

David Sacks, Co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures, tweeted that he got offered office space in San Francisco for the same price as 2009.

Musk replied: "It will go lower".

Amid global recession fears, San Francisco stands to lose the most as work-from-home in the last three years of the pandemic at tech companies and expensive real estate has stalled the city's growth.