Business reporter for San Francisco Chronicle: Real estate, development, downtown, San Francisco things. Formerly with SF Business Times; SF Examiner; Mission Local; El Tecolote. 💌 laura.waxmann@sfchronicle.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mk432nhm422wScoop: Months after revealing controversial plans to turn a Safeway in #SanFrancisco’s Marina District into a massive housing project, the developer behind that effort is proposing to transform a Trader Joe's Joe’s in an affluent part of Oakland into a pair of towers for seniors. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/housing-towers-trader-joes-oakland-22199857.php22 Apr 2026 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk432nhm422whttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mjfkb3tobs2gExclusive: After years of sitting mostly empty in Union Square, @BarneysNY's former flagship may be getting a second act. #SanFrancisco billionaire investor Michael Moritz is said to be eyeing the iconic building at Stockton & O’Farrell. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/union-square-michael-moritz-22201393.php13 Apr 2026 18:57 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjfkb3tobs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mivzfoedvs2pThe real competition in downtown #SanFrancisco isn’t tower vs. tower. It’s project vs. timeline. Who’s ready when tenants are? #realestate #design #architecture #office #tech @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/downtown-office-tower-race-22162316.php07 Apr 2026 14:45 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivzfoedvs2phttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mijiakm6rk2aAs #SanFrancisco pushes to turn its struggling downtown into a 24/7 neighborhood, a quieter effort in nearby Chinatown is envisioned to create lasting economic and cultural activity: The Empress of China building's sale to a nonprofit with plans for a new museum. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-chinatown-empress-of-china-22160596.php02 Apr 2026 15:06 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mijiakm6rk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mi2h74etbc2sThis aging #SanFrancisco SRO in Chinatown teetered on the edge of decline. Today, its $9M rehab stands as both a quiet victory and a pointed lesson: preserving existing affordable homes may lack flashiness of new construction, but it is no less urgent. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/housing-preservation-chinatown-san-francisco-22094757.php27 Mar 2026 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi2h74etbc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mi2gojaqbc2sNEW: On Treasure Island, where the fog curls over the Bay with predictability & #SanFrancisco skyline feels within reach, something unusual disrupted the orderly neighborhood this week: a self-driving robot, the size of small refrigerator, gliding methodically across a parking lot. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/ev-electric-charging-robot-xcaddies-22153594.php27 Mar 2026 15:28 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi2gojaqbc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mhh2f7a4bk25Exclusive: Downtown San Francisco’s newest office tower is mostly empty despite improving market conditions. Its sole tenant is eyeing an exit. Now, the developer is in the process of turning over the overlooked high-rise and centerpiece of ambitious $1B '5M' plan to new owners. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-office-tower-empty-22085499.php19 Mar 2026 22:28 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhh2f7a4bk25https://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mh734xeypc2xExclusive: Juul paid $400 million for this #SanFrancisco tower. A new deal values it at a fraction of that. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/juul-sf-tower-22079377.php16 Mar 2026 18:20 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh734xeypc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mgprrznmmk2aThe owner of the Caltrain railyards in #SanFrancisco is advancing a plan that would turn the 20-acre property into a dense high-rise neighborhood with an 850-foot skyscraper, thousands of homes and millions of square feet of commercial space. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/housing-towers-railyards-caltrain-21967855.php10 Mar 2026 16:23 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgprrznmmk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mgpme3xc7c2eNEW: Eight Midwestern universities are opening a shared innovation hub in #SanFrancisco, establishing an unprecedented foothold near the city’s fast-growing artificial intelligence corridor in Mission Bay. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/universities-startup-hub-sf-21976382.php10 Mar 2026 14:46 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgpme3xc7c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mfnljulovc2oWhile details of the pending deal to sell the Transamerica Pyramid remain unclear, its European buyer's entrance into the market could be a quiet but potent bet that the building, and San Francisco’s office market, still have another chapter to write. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/transamerica-pyramid-sale-21938906.php25 Feb 2026 02:00 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfnljulovc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mfnlif33pk2oFor the second time in half a decade, #SanFrancisco’s iconic Transamerica Pyramid will be sold. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/transamerica-pyramid-sold-shvo-21938592.php25 Feb 2026 02:00 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfnlif33pk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mfcma2nhmk2s#SanFrancisco's new zoning plan requires a minimum # of homes to be built on select sites. The rule seems to be working as intended: A plan for ≈100 luxury homes in an upscale area has been scrapped. But is it now too expensive to build denser housing there instead? @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/lake-street-inner-richmond-presidio-21361096.php20 Feb 2026 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfcma2nhmk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mf3jz4glyc2rNEW: #SanFrancisco's retirement system, SFERS, is ready to flee troubled Mid Market, setting sights on the Financial District. Could a last min intervention by downtown Supervisor Matt Dorsey keep 100+ office workers in an area that desperately needs them? @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-mid-market-vacancy-21357200.php17 Feb 2026 21:45 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf3jz4glyc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3megpumsfnk2hThe Trump administration has given the #SanFrancisco Housing Authority 30 days to verify the citizenship status of an unspecified list of tenants who are receiving rental assistance from the agency, which began reaching out to households last week. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/trump-immigration-public-housing-21339836.php09 Feb 2026 15:04 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3megpumsfnk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3me7brqvq722tExclusive: Weeks after the San Francisco Centre mall closed the book on four decades in the city’s downtown, the property at Fifth and Market streets is on the verge of selling to new owners — probably at a deep discount. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/san-francisco-centre-mall-21334005.php06 Feb 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3me7brqvq722thttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mdnx6i66ls2bAnthropic has landed as expected. One of the artificial intelligence sector’s marquee companies closed a deal Friday to occupy all of 300 Howard, in what is expected to be one of largest single-tenant office leases signed in downtown #SanFrancisco since the pandemic. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/anthropic-downtown-building-lease-21324597.php30 Jan 2026 18:38 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdnx6i66ls2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mdm34bvjyk2mScoop: San Francisco’s office recovery is increasingly being written by artificial intelligence, with two AI companies moving toward significant leases in Showplace Square — a neighborhood that previously symbolized the city’s tech-era pullback. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/tech-sf-office-leases-21322603.php30 Jan 2026 00:43 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdm34bvjyk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mdm2zt45gc2mExclusive: Major shakeup at iconic Transamerica Pyramid is underway, leaving in doubt the future the NY real estate entrepreneur whose management of the $1B project has been celebrated as one of few recent successes in downtown #SanFrancisco. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/transamerica-pyramid-michael-shvo-21285390.php30 Jan 2026 00:42 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdm2zt45gc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mcx2uxtwqc2lI’ll be on KQED Forum this morning discussing the closure of the California College of the Arts, Vanderbilt University‘s takeover, and what it means for #SanFrancisco‘s cultural and economic future. Tune in at 9am 📡 @kqedforum.bsky.social https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912696/what-the-closure-of-california-college-of-the-arts-and-vanderbilt-expansion-mean-for-the-bay-area21 Jan 2026 16:13 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcx2uxtwqc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/laura-waxmann.bsky.social/post/3mcirpoqvxs2rMovement on #SanFrancisco's notoriously stalled Oceanwide Center. Control of the project was just transferred at auction from its troubled developer to a lender. This is a big moment for downtown's office market. The foreclosure clears path for new developer/investor to step in. @sfchronicle.com https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/notorious-stalled-downtown-towers-auctioned-21297260.php15 Jan 2026 23:52 +0000at://did:plc:gbuzbs4bvvpg5ug3o7scyhpf/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcirpoqvxs2r