There’s An Unprecedented Amount of Security Locking Down SF This Week. Here’s Why.

All week, San Francisco is hosting APEC, the most significant gathering of world leaders in the city’s history. The Four Seasons Hotel, along with all major luxury hotels close by, are hosting several high profile delegations, resulting in heightened security measures. My colleague, who works for the fire department, says San Francisco has never seen an event like this in its 247-year history. What is APEC?  The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation was established in 1989 to leverage the U.S. to advance economic

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The Appeal of the Branded Residence

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Property markets world wide may be somewhat in flux, but one segment is anticipated to grow in the next few years: branded residences. These properties are the result of a partnership between a developer and a brand, creating residences that can be sold to buyers. Hotel groups like the Ritz-Carlton and The Four Seasons are all on board, which gives luxury buyers the option of homes in desirable locations close to these hotel brands, often with linked services. Here’s what else

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Remembering The Embarcadero Freeway

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San Francisco’s Embarcadero, the eastern waterfront, is the city’s historic harbor area. The three-mile stretch is the result of engineered sea walls originally installed to create an accessible port for ships. In the latter part of the 19th century, the Embarcadero and the iconic Ferry Building were among the busiest transit hubs in the world. But within a few short decades, America’s embrace of car culture would change the area dramatically. Today, I’m looking back at the Embarcadero Freeway and

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Long-Anticipated IKEA Comes to Downtown San Francisco

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San Francisco’s very first IKEA is on schedule to open August 23 on Market Street, which is exciting in itself. But in a city that was rattled to the core by the pandemic, the opening of this 87,000-square-foot Swedish home goods giant is huge. The media is calling it “different from any IKEA store seen before” and asking whether it will single-handedly “fix San Francisco’s downtown woes.” Dramatic, to be sure, but let’s dive into the sentiment behind that question.

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The AI Boom Turning San Francisco’s Hayes Valley into “Cerebral Valley”

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The pandemic narrative held that everyone was leaving San Francisco, but to some, that just meant more opportunity. Rents were falling, great properties were up for grabs, and it drew a specific sort of techie—those at the forefront of the artificial intelligence movement. Now, the San Francisco neighborhood of Hayes Valley is home to a growing number of AI start-ups, research labs, and collaborative work-live communities. In fact, the neighborhood has earned the nickname “Cerebral Valley,” and the communities it’s

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