Howard Buffett explains how his childhood experiences influenced him to become a philanthropist.
Most investors are running away from San Francisco’s downtown real-estate market, but Ian Jacobs is heading in. Call it a family tradition.
Jacobs is an heir of the Toronto-based Reichmann real-estate dynasty, which made a fortune buying properties in nearly bankrupt New York City during the 1970s. A bargain-seeking stock investor who once apprenticed himself to Warren Buffett, Jacobs has mostly avoided the family business—until now.
The 47-year-old spent much of the past year getting financial commitments from relatives and other wealthy families to snap up San Francisco office buildings, people familiar with the matter said. Now Jacobs has to prove wrong the prevailing wisdom that downtown offices, especially those in San Francisco, will never fill up again.
OFFICES AROUND AMERICA HIT A NEW VACANCY RECORD
“We know the Reichmanns,” said the head of a Latin American family office investing in the venture. “They are a very trusted partner.”
An aerial view of the San Francisco skyline on May 30, 2023, in San Francisco, California. ((Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
San Francisco is the epicenter of a national commercial real-estate collapse. The transition to work from home crushed demand for downtown office space. Landlords abandoned properties and defaulted on mortgages. Losses from the loans flowed through the financial system, hitting shares of banks and insurers.
This year is expected to be worse than the last for office space nationally. The situation in San Francisco is particularly challenged because its economy relied so heavily on technology companies that have now embraced remote work. Some say the city is headed for a “doom loop,” with rising vacancies prompting more companies to leave.
Jacobs has lined up commitments of $75 million for his first few deals, the
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