?????????????? This week in Bay Area business: CRE hires and buyers, AI leases, a bumper condo sale, and startups heading to Texas

Real estate firms cutting staff. Real estate firms poaching staff.?

Market watchers continued to receive mixed messages in the Bay Area this week.?

There were plenty of negative headlines – and a few green shoots for people in need of an optimism boost.

A blockbuster condo resale in San Francisco is the biggest since before the pandemic. While a new report underlined the scale of AI leasing in the city.?

Elsewhere, there’s startups heading to Texas, biotech pitchfests and a veritable dearth of new hotels.

All this and more in another week in Bay Area business.

Famed S.F. real estate firm cuts senior staff amid portfolio woes by Sarah Klearman

Shorenstein implemented a round of layoffs, cutting longtime senior staff as its real estate portfolio struggles. Seven executives across its San Francisco and New York offices were cut, a Business Times analysis determined.

Read the full story.

Cushman & Wakefield scoops up multifamily team from by Hannah Kanik

戴德梁行 brought in a new multifamily brokerage team from CBRE to lead its Northern California Multifamily Capital Markets team.

Here’s the full story.

S.F.'s Millennium Tower tallies biggest downtown condo resale in years by Ted Andersen

San Francisco's luxury condo market just got a major boost of optimism with a penthouse sale at the 58-story Millennium Tower.

"It's huge," said Gregg Lynn of Sotheby's International Realty who has worked as a listing agent in the tower for years,

"What this really suggests is that downtown is on the move. Buyers are coming back."

Read the story and see inside the condo.

Chevron isn’t the only oil giant stepping back from the Bay Area by Mark Calvey

BP will shed 5% of its global workforce in a cost-cutting move that includes shuttering its Bay Area venture arm and relocating the five investment professionals. The cutbacks come as bp appears to be stepping back from renewable energy to focus more on its oil and gas roots.

Read the full story.

AI firms keep gobbling up office space, adding momentum to S.F. recovery by Doug Sams

The artificial intelligence sector is chipping away at San Francisco’s historically high office vacancy. AI firms could hold as much as 5.5 million square feet by the end of 2025, according to commercial real estate services giant JLL. Is it time to party like it’s 1999??

Read the story.

The week in real estate

• John Muir Health more than doubles footprint at Bishop Ranch
• Wells Fargo CFO says office CRE fundamentals ‘remain weak’
• This banking giant is set to grow an S.F. office by nearly 30%
• Climate risks create existential threat for residential properties
• Oakland office market continues to struggle as vacancies rise
• Clean energy startup in talks to develop Alameda Point R&D facility?
• Historic Oakland office tower once home to WeWork seized by lender

Executive profile: Why this crypto CEO thinks regulation is great by William Hicks

Nathan McCauley went from rural Indiana to a $3 billion crypto bank at Anchorage Digital . He told us about regulation, Trump, stablecoins and the future of crypto.

Read the full profile.

Why these S.F. startups are seeking funding . . . in Texas by Sara B.

Three local startups – Fazeshift (YC S24) , Safebooks AI and SLY – have been selected as finalists in South by Southwest's annual pitch competition.

Meanwhile a slew of people from the Bay Area venture scene will serve as competition judges including: Tipatat Chennavasin of The Venture Reality Fund / The VR Fund ; Brian Dixon of Kapor Capital ; Marcos Fernandez of Fiat Ventures ; Gail Christine Gannon of Ensanté and 美国加州大学伯克利分校 ; Mohanjit Jolly of Iron Pillar ; Mo Jomaa of CapitalG ; Afik Malik of PodiumVC ; and Mike Sherbakov of The Veteran Fund .

Read the full story.

At biotech's biggest conference, UC Berkeley sows off startups by Ron Leuty

美国加州大学伯克利分校 is going all-out to showcase the ideas of entrepreneurial students, researchers and founders at the J.P. 摩根 Healthcare Conference. And industry movers, funders and VCs are all ears.?

Read the story.??

Bay Area, California hotel production plummets by Alex Barreira

New hotel development fell sharply across California in 2024. The decline was particularly acute in the Bay Area. San Francisco didn’t have a single new hotel in 2023 or 2024.

Read the full story.?

ICYMI here’s what else you need to know

• Former Oakland mayor to face charges
• After UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing, San Francisco beefs up security around biotech's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
• Viewpoint: California's economy will survive the LA wildfires
• Batteries were supposed to be green gold: Why did the sector run out of juice?
• The week in AI
• Oakland 'green cement' startup Brimstone planning to build new factory with large federal grant

Nominations

Deadlines for four of our most popular awards programs are fast approaching. But fear not, there's still time.

Help us celebrate the people, companies and deals that matter. Make a nomination today.

Real Estate Deals of the Year

What was the most important real estate deal of 2024? Who are the most important people and companies in the real estate sector right now?

Make your nominations here by eod January 17, 2025.

Best Places to Work

Do you know the Bay Area's best workplace culture? Love where you work? Celebrate the Bay Area's best places to work.

Make your nominations here by eod January 17, 2025.

Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business

Who are the most powerful and empowering women in Bay Area business? If you know any outstanding female leaders in the Bay Area business or nonprofit community now’s your chance to shine a light.

Make your nominations here by eod January 31, 2025.

Moonshots and Doom Loops ?????????

This weekly Bay Area business? round-up is written by Simon Campbell, special projects editor at the San Francisco Business Times.

Reach out with news tips, questions or comments: [email protected].

Stay safe and have a great week.