Dedicated to Empowering and Informing the Burlingame Community

  • Building more vacant office space?

    Some dots are so obvious to connect that it's child's play.  Take for example all the office building going on up and down the mid-Peninsula.  One wonders what the developers are thinking.  A big dot was publicized last week in Mountain View per the Merc:

    MOUNTAIN VIEW — A lender has seized through foreclosure a South Bay tech campus once touted as an “exquisite” property in fresh sign of the economic troubles facing the Bay Area office market.  The office campus, located at 350 and 380 Ellis Street in Mountain View, was seized by an affiliate of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, which is managed by New York City-based investment behemoth KKR & Co. Inc.

    The $120.6 million that KKR invested to buy the tech campus is a jaw-dropping 66% less than the $357.6 million that an alliance of investment behemoth Goldman Sachs and Bay Area real estate firm TMG Partners paid in 2021 to buy the office complex.  The Ellis Street tech campus is now worth just one-third of its value at the time Goldman Sachs and TMG bought the property almost exactly three years ago.

    I did business with clients in those buildings for years.  They are nice spaces (probably "Class A" but I'm no expert).  I just know they have a great location compared to many others in Silicon Valley.  And they lost 2/3 of their value in three years. The dot begging to be connected is this building below on Old Bayshore in dear Old B'game.  It's just one of several in progress as materials and labor costs jump and interest rates stay sticky at about 7%.  It will be a nice space as well with a giant parking garage on the left.  But will it be vacant for a while…or longer?  There are more Bayfront spaces lined up for redevelopment–the Hyatt Cinema is looking ready to fall down by itself.  At least the Broadway-California intersection is getting fixed…..wait, what?

    Bayshore office 072424

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • Legal in all 50 States: The Voice blog turns 21

    As I said last year on our 20th anniversary, the cathartic exercise continues–for me and hopefully for most of you.  As we watch the slow decline of our local control and rights driven by Sacramento and Redwood City (i.e. the county supes, ref:  La Quinta Inn Millbrae fiasco), having a place to track issues and memorialize facts and positions is ever more important.  Never forget this quote.  “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905.

    The Eagles had this to say about turning 21 

    21 and strong as I can beI know what freedom means to meAnd I can't give the reason whyI should ever wanna die
     
    You got no cause to be afraidOr fear that life will ever fade'Cause as I watch the rising sunI know that we have just begun
     
    Onward to another year hoping our B'game community and quality of life will not fade….too much.

    Posted by:

    Joe

    1 comment on Legal in all 50 States: The Voice blog turns 21

  • Top Golf: Rounding the turn?

    I stopped by the Golf Center (aka the old city dump) to check on the progress of the Top Golf project.  My completely uneducated guess is they are about to round the turn.  In golf "the turn" is an expression used to denote the part of the golf course where the front nine turns into the back nine. When you've reached "the turn," you've reached the halfway point of an 18-hole golf course. So "making the turn" means leaving the front nine and moving on to the back nine.  It's been more than five years in the works as noted here.

    It's an impressive build and the number of poles surprised me.  One can only hope it generates as much B'game revenue as some city elders are predicting.  The sooner the better!  Here's the view as of now.

    Top Golf 072424

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • ECR: How is this maneuver legal?

    Change is afoot for our beloved El Camino Real as the Axe man cometh for the Eucs.  The city e-newsletter notes that pothole repair on a systemic level (as opposed to when someone calls) as "Caltrans is currently completing pothole repair work on El Camino Real, between Howard Avenue and Sanchez Avenue. Work will take place daily, between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. One lane will remain open in both directions, but drivers should expect delays."

    One thing that will have to change as 91% of the Eucs get cut down, huge swaths of pavement get dug up at one time, trenches get dug for power/phone lines and drainage piping is the commercial parking habits of various truck drivers.  It's not just Amazon, UPS, FedEx, et al.  Check this guy out resupplying Walgreens!  There's a city lot right there, but hey, let's just shut down half of northbound ECR for half an hour or more.  How is that legal?

    ECR illegal loading

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • RWC: We don’t need no stinking parking!

    I mentioned this front-page Daily Post article in yesterday's edition to a couple people and they just did not believe me.  So here's the proof.  What can the developer and the city of Redwood City be thinking?   They have already made a mess of downtown RWC, but apparently they aren't done yet.  178 units get 6 parking spaces.  You must have a lot of faith in renters relying on Uber, Lyft and Waymo.  Could it happen in B'game?  Let's hope not. RWC apartment

    Posted by:

    Joe

    3 comments on RWC: We don’t need no stinking parking!

  • The Broadway intersection is a train wreck

    Last September we got early evidence of how bad the new Broadway-California Dr. intersection alignment is as noted here.  Its unpopularity was immediate and is growing.  The "people just need to get used to it" approach isn't working in the face of more evidence that it's even more dangerous than before.  The latest incident on Monday created a giant mess–65 feet of mess– as a car carrier full of cars got clipped by a Caltrain as it tried to navigate the too-tight turn left onto southbound California Dr.  The major intersection was closed for more than an hour.  The incident report may determine if a SamTrans bus was in the way or the driver just realized he couldn't make the turn or he just ran out of time.

    Before anyone says 65' car carriers shouldn't be travelling on Broadway or California, remember we were the City of Cars (e.g. Auto Row) even before we were the City of Trees.  Car sales taxes are an important part of the B'game financial stability.  We need to make it easier, not harder, for auto businesses to operate.

    The California Dr. project has only made things worse for all.  The odd layout with parking in what feels like the middle of the street is just plain weird.  People who do park there feel it innately and you can tell by how close they park to the bike lane bollards and how many fold in their mirrors.

    A letter to the DJ editor the following day made a few suggestions some good, but several are not likely to make a real difference.  Among them are:

    1. Conspicuous signage to alert drivers of the unique geometrics of the crossing;  There is no amount of signage that will communicate in milliseconds what the problem is for a driver to understand and react to while driving 25 mph.
    2. Longer clearing period; This could help.  The City should work with Caltrain to make the track clearance phase immediate and snappier.
    3.  Longer warning bell period:  The warning period is adequate.  If you make it longer, then it will create more congestion as trains will lock up the intersection for a longer period of time.  This is not a solution.  And just wait for HSR to come through–oh, nevermind.
    4. Restriction of trucks:  This is not realistic.  How do you sign this?  Where do you put reroute signage for truck operators to follow?  And in the end, how do you enforce this – you can’t.  We can’t have BPD out there being hall monitors, especially when we need more enforcement elsewhere in town.
    5. Restrict left turns from Carolan Avenue:  This is worth a look!  It might only be a band-aid, but worth studying.

    The Daily Journal article on the collision (some locals are refusing to call it an "accident" since these are becoming so common as to be a "feature") puts a lot of hope on the grade separation, but we know that is still deca-millions from being funded.  In the meantime, can we just put California Dr. back the way it was?  Give the SamTrans and truck drivers a break as well as our first responders.  At  least the fire station is close–if the trucks can get up California Dr. when there is nowhere for people to pull over.

    Broadway carrier collision

    Notice how far over the left turn lane is from where it used to be.

    Broadway triangle

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • Climate Observations: Google, CalFire and You

    This is a placeholder post for when we get to the point where we cannot replace our gas stoves or gas water heaters or gas furnaces or gas barbeques.  Hopefully that day is still a few years away, but the smart bet is the climate fanatics will eventually get us.  When we complain about the costs (many hidden including the soft costs of your time), we will be told to suck it up.

    In the meantime, two types of events are taking place.  There are 3,543 wildfires of more than 10 acres burning right now in California per the CalFire incident page.  Your barbeque is a problem, but Sacramento (looking at you, Newsom, even though I know you are busy thinking about a promotion) still hasn't addressed the real need for more manpower, equipment, forest surveillance, etc.  Year after year, same old story and the news media always acts surprised.  Massive amounts of smoke, emissions, and cancelled insurance policies that end up as a State (read us) liability via the FAIR program.

    And then there are these two tidbits buried in the business news this week:

    Google and Microsoft have vowed to slash emissions by the end of the decade, but new disclosures show their numbers are moving in the wrong direction.   Google’s overall emissions increased by 13.5% from 2022 to 2023, according to its annual sustainability report released Tuesday. They are up by nearly half since 2019. A recent disclosure from Microsoft told a similar story. Its total emissions were up by 29% between 2020 and 2023.

    Big Tech's servers are using so much electricity that they are doing direct connections to power plants with "behind-the-meter" access.  Some observers are worried this will destabilize the grid and it certainly won't make it any cheaper.  Stay tuned so we can alert you when to start hoarding gas appliances. 

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • Graduation Requirement: Let’s have the Legislature go first

    Sometimes you have to laugh at the Sacramento hubris otherwise you will just cry.  Such was the state of affairs last week when the wise folks in Sac added "personal finance" to the required high school curriculum.  From the Merc:

    Last week, California became the 26th state to require high school students to take a stand-alone, one-semester financial literacy course when Gov. Gavin Newsom approved Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s bill, AB 2927.  The personal finance course will teach students a range of topics, including banking, budgeting, loans, insurance, investing and credit.

    Schools will be required to offer the course by the 2027-28 school year, and the course will be a graduation requirement for the class of 2030-31.

    “We need to help Californians prepare for their financial futures as early as possible,” Newsom said in a recent statement. “Saving for the future, making investments and spending wisely are lifelong skills that young adults need to learn before they start their careers, not after.”

    I will add they especially need these skills if they want to start a career in politics.  Let's go back to February when two people who understand finance reiterated concerns about the mess called the state budget.  Studying "budgeting" and "credit"?  Let's let the Legislature take the course before the high school kids, please.

    Posted by:

    Joe

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  • Trees: Toughening up the ordinance; Sacramento interferes

    The B'game ordinance requiring approval to cut down a protected tree is getting an update.  The "sort-of" protected status covers all private trees in the city if they measure at least 48" in circumference when measured 54" high from natural grade.  I say "sort-of" because there are a variety of ways to get around it.  The Daily Journal piece describes some of them

    Burlingame is proposing updates to its tree ordinance, including broadening appeal rights for removal decisions, offering staff discretion over plantings and replacements based on site conditions and harsher penalties for ordinance violators.

    Burlingame, locally known as the ‘city of trees,’ has long prioritized its urban forest, but its current tree ordinance doesn’t follow present industry standards and isn’t an effective deterrent to intentional wrongdoing, Richard Holz, parks superintendent and city arborist, said.

    Note we aren't just locally known as a "city of trees", we have been awarded Tree City USA status by the National Arbor Day Foundation each year since 1980. Tree Cities must have an active tree maintenance and replacement program. They must also have an active local board which specifically deals with arboricultural issues.  But that aside, the piece picks up on the tougher penalties

    Additionally, (Assistant City Attorney Scott) Spansail proposed explicitly stating that violations of the ordinance can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor and raising fines for violators — like those who illegally remove trees — to $1,000 per violation and restitution for the tree’s appraised value, the maximum amount permitted under California law.

    Sounds good until you realize Sacramento just keep inflicting more and more ways to damage local quality of life and control.  Michael Brownrigg was on it

    Although the city has limited ability to deny tree removals for projects like accessory dwelling units or Senate Bill 9 housing, which have state-mandated zoning requirements, they can stipulate conditions of removal, Spansail said.  Councilmember Michael Brownrigg expressed frustrations around these state-mandated allowances and said that the proposed document was “a little too nice.”

    “For one, if you want to get rid of a tree, the easiest thing in the world right now is to just say, ‘I’m going to build an ADU right where the redwood is, coincidentally, and you take it out and you never build the ADU,” he said. “You might think of a penalty if that happens.”

    Unfortunately, we can think about such a penalty all we want, but it's not likely to happen.  I'm sure bully AG Rob Bonta would be sending a threatening letter to the city the minute even one ADU was stymied because of a measly old tree.  That's like reverse greenwashing.  It's 84 degrees outside as I write this at 3pm.  I'm gonna go find a shady spot under a big tree. 

    Posted by:

    Joe

    2 comments on Trees: Toughening up the ordinance; Sacramento interferes

  • High-Cost Rail – Part 162 A boring discussion

    The insane HSR money pit dig just continues on in the face of fiscal cliffs for local rail, potholes all over the state, unfunded grade separations and more taxes and bonds on the horizon.  This week the last section into LA got its environmental rubber stamp (the last one was two years ago) as noted in the Comicle:

    California's bullet train project reached a major milestone: The entire 463-mile route from San Francisco to Los Angeles is now environmentally cleared for construction.  The High-Speed Rail Authority’s board signed off Thursday on a preferred route and environmental clearance for the 38-mile segment that would carry bullet trains from Palmdale to Burbank. It was the project’s last segment between San Francisco and Los Angeles that had yet to be cleared.

    If you thought this has any effect on the overall fiscal disaster, there are a number of bridges for sale.  The Comicle reporter, Ricardo Cano, blithely repeats all of the PR missives from the Authority.  Here are a couple of the 

    Bullet train service on the Central Valley segment — 171 miles from Bakersfield to Merced — is expected to start between 2030 and 2033, featuring four huge stations.  The project is $7 billion short of completing the Central Valley segment and needs $100 billion to finish the route from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

    That will make for a lot of driving up and down I-5 to get to the four huge stations, but no worries–they won't be very busy.  And then

    Connecting Merced to San Jose will require tunneling 15 miles of tracks through Pacheco Pass in the Diablo Range. The Palmdale-to-Burbank segment will necessitate boring 30 miles of tunnels that will run along State Route 14 and underneath the community of Acton, Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

    The authority’s Board of Directors spent much of Thursday’s vote debating whether the mountainous segment and its tunnels would be able to withstand a major earthquake. Authority officials said they planned to present more details on the segment’s tunneling work early next year.

    "We are fully engaged in planning to make a plan, but don't worry.  In our universe time isn't money and even if it was, we have plenty of it–we just don't know where it is at the moment."  BART is a certifiable mess.  Meanwhile Caltrain, with a mere 49 miles, is insolvent and in need of millions for grade separations, bridge repairs and whatever else we aren't being told about until it's an emergency that requires more taxes for "equity".

    Posted by:

    Joe

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