Investors Buy $28M SF Google Building and $193M Half Moon Bay Hotel

Institutional and out-of-state buyers are expanding their commercial footprint across the San Francisco Bay Area even as rising residential rents place mounting pressure on tenant legal aid programs. In transactions reported Monday, Florida-based 1754 Properties paid nearly $28 million for 40 Jessie St. in downtown San Francisco and UC Investments acquired the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay for $193 million, while neighborhood retail saw Second Summit open at 583 Haight St. and San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel program confronted nearly 4,000 projected eviction filings.

1754 Properties Pays Nearly $28 Million for Google-Leased Building

Florida investment firm 1754 Properties, led by CEO Joe Smith, closed at the end of October on a six-floor office building at 40 Jessie St. in San Francisco for nearly $28 million alongside Vander Capital Partners. The transaction values the building at roughly $10 million more than the $17.6 million that Long Market Property Partners paid when purchasing it from Golden Gate University in 2023.

The building at 40 Jessie St. is occupied entirely by Google, which acquired prior tenant Fitbit in 2021, under a lease that runs through 2030. About 60% of the structure is designated lab space. Smith cited San Francisco's artificial intelligence leasing momentum and an office vacancy rate that has fallen below 30%—calling it the strongest leasing market in 12 years—as reasons to build a larger Bay Area office portfolio after five years of capital flowing in the opposite direction.

UC Investments Buys Half Moon Bay Ritz-Carlton for $193 Million

Along the San Mateo County coast, the University of California's investment arm, UC Investments, purchased the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay for $193 million. The coastal resort was placed on the market after the city declined tax relief for its previous owner, who had accumulated an unpaid $2 million hotel occupancy tax bill.

UC Investments oversees a systemwide investment portfolio valued at $300 billion and holds delegated authority from the UC Board of Regents to execute individual real estate purchases without a separate regents vote. The acquisition follows UC Investments' purchase last year of the 331-room Residence Inn Berkeley adjacent to the UC Berkeley campus for $175.8 million.

Eviction Filings Near 4,000 as Right to Counsel Budget Reaches $21 Million

While commercial valuations rebound, rising residential rents have driven a sharp increase in San Francisco eviction notices. After reaching a decade high of 3,600 eviction filings in 2025, filings are projected to hit close to 4,000 in calendar year 2026, according to Gail Gilman, executive director of the Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC). San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel (TRC) program was designed to handle around 2,500 cases annually.

The Board of Supervisors approved a $3 million funding increase on Tuesday for the TRC program, raising its total budget for the next fiscal year to around $21 million in hopes of representing an additional 400 households. However, an October report by the city's budget and legislative analyst found that EDC—the largest TRC grantee, with an annual budget of around $23 million including more than $10 million in fiscal 2025 TRC grants—provided full-scope representation to just over 600 clients in fiscal 2025, falling nearly 30% short of its goal of 838 while providing limited representation to more than 1,300 clients. Five other grantees, including BayLegal with a target of 560 full-scope clients, exceeded their goals.

EDC attorneys start at a salary of $83,000—below San Francisco's $90,750 low-income threshold for a single individual—and carry caseloads of 15 to 25 cases after the organization lost 10 attorneys this calendar year. EDC litigation and policy director Ora Prochovnick estimated the TRC system would need 20 additional attorneys to close the 1,000-case gap between design capacity and demand, while Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development spokesperson Anne Stanley confirmed the city will require quarterly grantee reporting.

Second Summit Brings Outdoor Gear Consignment to 583 Haight St.

In San Francisco's Lower Haight neighborhood, former construction engineer Jeffrey Conocenti has transformed a storefront at 583 Haight St. that stood vacant for seven years into Second Summit, the city's dedicated used outdoor gear consignment shop. Inspired by Reno's Gear Hut—which opened in 2019—and his own 13-day, 211-mile hike along the John Muir Trail two years ago, Conocenti spent nine months renovating the former salon space before opening earlier this year.

Under Second Summit's consignment model, sellers receive between 50% and 70% of the sale price, with prices dropping every two months if an item remains unsold, giving Bay Area climbers and skiers a local alternative to driving four hours to Tahoe Gear Exchange or seven hours to Bishop's Mammoth Gear Exchange. Boosted by an initial consignment of 750 pieces from James Dong—whose Sutter Street rental shop Last Minute Gear closed in 2025 after four years—Second Summit's inventory grew from 750 pieces to 2,200 in July, dipped to 1,800 after a social media post, and now totals 2,500 pieces, with the shop open Thursday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.