The Presidio of San Francisco boasts miniscule office vacancy rates compared to city as a whole
The San Francisco Presidio neighborhood is experiencing low office vacancy rates as companies are drawn to the area's landscape.
Padlet CEO Nitesh Goel said a walk through the offices makes it clear why he made the Presidio his company's home base.
"We are a creative product. We felt that our space needs to be something that inspires creativity," he said.
Goel's company creates collaboration software for schools around the world. Right now, it's on the smaller side.
"About 30-35 people here, but worldwide, we have around 65-70 people," he said.
However, size-wise, Padlet is right in the sweet spot for an office in the Presidio. And the Presidio's office landscape itself, is having a moment.
There is just under 1.1 million square feet of office space in the Presidio, and in Q3, only 15,894 square feet were vacant, giving the Presidio an office vacancy rate of 1.4%, according to a recent Cushman & Wakefield report.
San Francisco's Q3 office vacancy rate was 33.6%, per that report.
"It's certainly the most unique submarket in San Francisco, and honestly, one of the most unique submarkets in the country probably," said Robert Sammons, Sr. Director of Research for Cushman & Wakefield. "It's a small submarket, just over 1,000,000 square feet. Take Salesforce Tower, for example, that's 1.4 million square feet in one building. So, you do have to put it into perspective a little bit."
Mark Zuffo is the Commercial Leasing Manager for the Presidio Trust.
"We're looked at by more companies as a first-choice way more often than we used to be, which is fantastic," he said. "We've got much more square footage that we are leasing out to, so there are more people here. There are different industries that have decided that this is where they want to be."
One of those companies is Wedgewood Weddings, which moved to the Presidio about five years ago.
"It's been fantastic," said CEO Bill Zaruka. "You have this unbelievable physical space with the views and park-like setting, but it's right in the middle of an urban environment. You get the best of both worlds."
Zaruka said they have about 30 full-time employees, and another 30-40 part-time employees who work in the Presidio office.
The low office vacancy rate throughout the area is translating to success for businesses operating within the Presidio, too. Laura Ozyilmaz is the executive chef at Dalida, a restaurant that opened about 2 ½ years ago.
"We have 120 seats. Sometimes we feed up to 500 people a day," she said. "People who work here and have offices here in the Presidio, they'll have celebrations with us and bring family for dinner."
Like Goel, she said she finds creativity from the surrounding landscape. She frequently uses fresh food grown within the Presidio in her kitchen, such as Nasturtium flowers.
"We feel so proud to use such a beautiful product from the Presidio," she said. "I mean, it's one of the most beautiful places you can be in San Francisco."
Zuffo said in a way, the Presidio does sell itself. It's a national park site within the city, with a campus-like feel, with smaller office footprints. But he said the collective effort to preserve it and propel it helps, too.
"The rents pay for the Presidio. That's every dollar that we generate goes back into the Presidio to renovate more buildings and keep it as beautiful as it is now," he said.
Zaruka gives credit to the Presidio Trust.
"They really understand public-private partnership. I think they're doing right by the park, in terms of their focus and the leadership," he said.
Goel also agreed, one of the big perks is how the Presidio is taken care of.
"It's always beautiful. The Tunnel Tops is great. Probably one of the most beautiful places in America right now," he said.
He already moved his company once within the Presidio.
"What I hear is, the number one reason why people move out of the Presidio is that they grow and there are no other buildings that can house them," Goel said.
He is hopeful Padlet can continue growing, without him having to look for a new home-base outside the Presidio.