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Apple is looking to purchase “large expanses of real estate” in the San Francisco Bay Area for its much-rumored car project, codenamed Project Titan, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google parent company Alphabet and several car manufacturers, such as Tesla and Mercedes Benz, are also on the hunt for more space, according to Hudson Pacific, one of the Bay Area’s largest landlords.

Map of Apple’s newly-purchased real estate in San Jose

“We’re seeing the Toyotas of the world, the Teslas of the world, BMWs, Mercedes. Ford now is out in the marketplace looking for space,” [Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman] said on the landlord’s quarterly investor call. “I haven’t even mentioned the 400,000 square feet that Google’s looking to take down and the 800,000 square feet that Apple’s looking to take down for their autonomous cars as well.”

While the size Coleman references is fairly big, car production plants tend to be even larger. Tesla’s Fremont, California factory is 5.3 million square feet while Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan plant, one of its smaller factories, is 2.9 million square feet. For comparison, Apple’s new headquarters is 2.8 million square feet while Google’s Mountain View campus is 4.8 million square feet.

In recent months Apple has been leasing more space repeatedly for its car project in the Bay Area. In March, Apple leased a former Pepsi bottling plant in Sunnyvale, California. The Cupertino company has also leased and purchased several smaller, secret buildings likely being used to develop Apple Car technologies. In January, Apple gained approval from the San Jose city council to develop a 4.15 million-square-foot campus in the city.

The WSJ also notes that Apple is in the process of growing its Apple Car team, which had 600 employees last year. Earlier today, it was reported that Apple had hired a former Google employee with experience in electric vehicle charging.

Article source: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/05/apple-seeking-real-estate-car/

San Franciscans have had enough with the city’s ever-growing costs of living.

One third of Bay Area residents say they are likely to leave the region in the next few years over its lack of affordability, according to a new report from the Bay Area Council.

Article source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/02/real_estate/san-francisco-residents-leaving/

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Article source: http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Bay-Area-building-boom-may-not-end-housing-7223711.php

According to Pro Teck Valuation Services’ Home Value Forecast, which provides insight into the current and future state of the U.S. housing market, job creation in San Francisco continues to increase while housing supply remains limited, causing a significant economic displacement in the Bay Area.

The report states that over the last five years, more than 500,000 jobs were created in San Francisco with limited additions to the housing supply. Accordingly, housing prices in San Francisco have skyrocketed, pushing many people farther out to find a home.

The Home Value Forecast notes that this isn’t a new problem for San Francisco but that it has been exacerbated by the real estate crash. New housing starts tanked for three-and-a-half years after 2008, the report asserts.

Prices have risen, leaving San Francisco real estate out of reach for many. Today, the average home in the metro is $1.2 million, with continued appreciation forecasted.

The report cites the Urban Displacement Project published by UC Berkley researchers, as it states, “Gentrification, or the influx of capital and higher-income, higher-educated residents into working-class neighborhoods, has already transformed about 10% of Bay Area neighborhoods. Displacement, which occurs when housing or neighborhood conditions actually force moves, is occurring in 48% of Bay Area neighborhoods, divided almost evenly between low-income and moderate/high-income neighborhoods.”

Consequently, many working-class people who work in San Francisco are forced to move outside the metro area to places such as Antioch, Calif.

Because more people are now moving away from the metro, both commute time and traffic in the area are seeing significant increases. The report cites a recent article that rated Antioch as No. 2 in the 50 worst commutes in America, only behind New York City. The article also notes that the average commute time in Antioch is 42 minutes, with 28% of commuters having travel times of more than an hour.

To read the full report, click here.

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Article source: http://mortgageorb.com/home-value-forecast-impact-of-economic-displacement-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area

Article source: http://www.pe.com/articles/percent-801046-march-inland.html