Earlier this year at an event in San Francisco, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed the idea that fully remote work could replace the value of in-office collaboration. This week, his surging company signed the largest office lease seen in the city since 2018.

In a period of doom and gloom for the commercial real estate sector, hammered by remote work and high vacancy rates in cities across the U.S., the deal offers a dose of hope. And for San Francisco, whose struggles with crime and homelessness have been well documented, it adds to a growing presence of companies involved in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence.

Since kickstarting the AI boom with the release of ChatGPT last year, OpenAI has quickly become one the world’s most valuable closely held companies. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that OpenAI is in talks to sell shares an $86 billion valuation, and it reported in August that the company is on track to generate $1 billion in annual revenue.

OpenAI is leasing two buildings from Uber, which is “right-sizing” its real estate usage, at the ride-hailing company’s headquarters campus in the Mission Bay neighborhood. An Uber spokesperson confirmed to Fortune that the deal had finally closed. (Since it’s a sublease, landlords had to give their consent, which meant longer negotiations.) OpenAI is taking 486,600 square feet in all in the four-building campus.

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, office attendance in large cities is still only about half the level seen in 2019. That’s despite a slight uptick recently and tough talk from high-profile CEOs about enforcing return-to-office policies.

As for San Francisco, it notched a record-high 33.9% office vacancy rate—nearly 30 million square feet listed for lease or sublease—in the third quarter, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper noted that about 150,000 workers could fill all the empty office space.

The lack of all those employees hurts local businesses, including retailers and restaurants. That combined with the crime problem has prompted companies to give up on the city. In August, one of the city’s flagship retailers, Nordstrom, closed its once-vibrant store.

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As the owner of the mall that Nordstrom inhabited noted, “A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area.”

The city’s “doom spiral” fears continue, but the move by OpenAI provides a bit of hope. And it helps that this year other AI firms have also leased office space in San Francisco.

As the Chronicle reported, Hive AI leased 57,117 square feet in a downtown skyscraper next to Salesforce Tower. Hayden AI leased 41,196 square feet, Anthropic leased 17,735, and Tome AI 16,887. (On Friday, Google said that it’s agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic, following Amazon saying it will invest up to $4 billion.)

That means five AI companies, including OpenAI, are leasing nearly 620,000 square feet of office space in the city. Of course, that’s still a drop in the bucket compared to amount of vacant space.

“There’s definitely a lot of hope and optimism that [AI] could be the catalyst for the next growth cycle not only for the office market, but for the San Francisco economy,” Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE’s Tech Insights Center, told the Chronicle. But it could be years before “we see this growth cycle really explode,” if it does at all, he noted.

As it turns out, OpenAI’s office deal closed just as another San Francisco tech company ended a return-to-office experiment. Expensify, with a market cap of about $215 million, said this week that it’s closing an upscale office lounge where employees could enjoy champagne or a draft beer while collaborating in a restaurant-style booth or working on laptops at the bar.

In a blog post this week, Expensify CEO David Barrett described the lounge as an experiment on luring employees back into the office, and he concluded that remote work had won. “We’re just never going back to a regular nine-to-five office culture, a staple of not just our modern culture, but also the foundation of most urban planning,” he wrote.

For his part, OpenAI’s Altman—who has become a household name in the tech world and perhaps beyond—stressed the need for in-person collaboration and noted the shortcomings of remote work during a Stripe conference in San Francisco earlier this year.

“I think definitely one of the tech industry’s worst mistakes in a long time was that everybody could go full remote forever, and startups didn’t need to be together in person and, you know, there was going to be no loss of creativity,” he told attendees. “I would say that the experiment on that is over, and the technology is not yet good enough that people can be full remote forever, particularly on startups.”

OpenAI did not immediately reply to Fortune’s request for comments.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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A closely watched lease deal between a ride-hailing behemoth and a fast-growing company that is at the forefront of San Francisco’s burgeoning artificial intelligence boom has made it over the finish line.

A spokesperson for Uber confirmed on Thursday that it has leased two of four buildings that make up its Mission Bay headquarters campus to OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT and DALL-E 2. 

In a market where few new leases — particularly for large blocks of space — have been signed in the wake of the pandemic, the sublease deal is one of the most significant transactions to have closed in recent years. 

“We are glad that in a competitive office real estate market, our employee-friendly, award-winning and sustainable buildings clearly stood out,” Uber’s spokesperson told the Chronicle. “By right-sizing our space needs we can bring our teams closer together, exercise rigorous cost management, and bring more foot traffic to the businesses of Mission Bay. This is a win-win-win.”

The spokesperson confirmed that OpenAI will be moving into 1455 and 1515 Third St., taking a total of 486,600 square feet. That’s about 40,000 square feet more than the company was reported to be in negotiations for earlier this month.

Uber’s spokesperson said that the company will continue to occupy the two other buildings on its campus, located at 1655 and 1725 Third St. The company will shift its focus to expanding its other campus in Silicon Valley.

“The remaining buildings contain more than enough capacity for current Uber employees in San Francisco, with sufficient room to grow, and we also plan to also expand our Sunnyvale campus,” the spokesperson said. 

OpenAI has leased space in Uber’s headquarters on Third Street in San Francisco.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

The lease transaction was facilitated by Raise Commercial Real Estate and Paul Hastings.

OpenAI currently leases 40,000 square feet at 3180 18th St. and 100,000 square feet at 575 Florida St. in the Mission District. The company confirmed on Thursday that it plans to maintain a presence in the neighborhood, but did not confirm whether it would hold on to both offices. 

“We are leasing two buildings from Uber in Mission Bay, which will provide the space needed for our growing team,” said OpenAI spokesperson Hannah Wong. “We’re thrilled to continue scaling our company in San Francisco.”

The deal is a boon to San Francisco’s beleaguered office market, which according to real estate services firm CBRE recorded a 34.7% vacancy rate in the third quarter.

And while AI deals alone won’t solve the issue of high vacancy, real estate stakeholders are banking on it sparking more positive momentum in terms of leasing.

Mayor London Breed on Thursday applauded the transaction. 

“OpenAI is at the forefront of an industry that is transforming the world, and I am proud they are expanding right here in San Francisco where they first started,” Breed said. “This major investment and commitment to our city sends a message that this city is the place to be if you want to be a part of what’s next.”

Multiple sources confirmed Thursday that another AI deal that has been in the works in recent months was signed this week: Anthropic has reportedly transacted on its bid to lease 250,000 square feet in the former Slack headquarters at 500 Howard St. 

Slack owner Salesforce is an investor in Anthropic, which seeks to build more ethical AI tools. The company, which is currently located at 548 Market St., could not immediately be reached Thursday. 

Because both deals — OpenAI and Anthropic — involved sublease space, the landlords of Uber’s campus and Slack’s headquarters had to give their consent, which prolonged negotiations.

Other AI firms, including Hive AI, Hayden AI and Tome AI, signed San Francisco office leases over the summer.

Reach Laura Waxmann: laura.waxmann@sfchronicle.com

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Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers on Monday agreed on a $310.8 billion budget spending plan that will reduce investment in fighting climate change and a compromise on the governor’s last-minute proposal to speed up infrastructure projects represents throughout California.

The 2023-24 budget deal, which lawmakers will vote on in a series of bills this week, ends weeks of power struggles among Democrats that began after the governor introduced a package of infrastructure legislation at the end of the budget process, including easing his highly controversial one Approve plan to build a $16 billion tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to carry water south.

Newsom last week threatened to veto lawmakers’ budget priorities unless they approve his infrastructure plan. The two sides eventually reached an agreement that removes the Delta Tunnel project from the package but retains measures to reduce delays in other major projects due to legal challenges under California environmental law.

“In the face of ongoing global economic uncertainty, this budget increases our fiscal discipline by increasing our fiscal reserves to a record $38 billion while preserving historic investments in public education, health care, climate and public safety,” Newsom said in a statement announcing the deal late Monday night.

California’s budget deficit has complicated negotiations in the Capitol, where financial analysts expect tax revenues to fall nearly $32 billion short of funding for state programs.

The governor and leaders of the Democratic-led Legislature agreed to defer nearly $8 billion in spending, including an allocation of $550 million to build facilities for transitional and full-time kindergarten programs. Lawmakers and the governor agreed on another $8 billion in cuts, such as a $750 million payment to the federal government for COVID-related unemployment insurance debt.

The deficit marks a new era of economic challenges for California that could prevent Newsom from delivering on his expensive policy promises in his second term. The current agreement aims to maintain funding for Newsom’s key programs, including extending Medi-Cal eligibility to all immigrants regardless of legal status, while maintaining $37.8 billion in reserves.

Here’s what you need to know about six key areas of the 2023-24 budget spending plan, which comes into effect on July 1:

An uproar over infrastructure

Newsom’s plan to streamline the process of building infrastructure in California was the most controversial policy proposal in the budget negotiations.

The agreement includes a transformation of the state’s groundbreaking California Environmental Quality Act by reducing the possibility of lengthy legal challenges to major infrastructure projects. Environmental law requires an assessment of potential environmental impacts before a project is approved, but is also used strategically by environmental organizations, project opponents, and others to thwart or alter construction projects.

Some environmentalists objected to the hasty nature of the governor’s plan, claiming that he was attempting to weaken California’s environmental laws and protections without adequate time for political scrutiny and public comment.

Opponents of the controversial underground tunnel used to transport water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California emerged victorious from the budget compromise.

Former Sierra Club director Kathryn Philips last week called Newsom’s proposal an “environmental nightmare” and said it would “decimate one of North America’s largest estuaries”.

Though Newsom and environmental groups often disagree, it’s rare for Democrats in the Capitol to openly criticize the governor. Last week, a bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers sent a letter to Newsom outlining their reasons for rejecting the proposal, including that building the tunnel would have profound health and environmental impacts in three counties: Sacramento, San Joaquin and Contra Costa.

Several other Democratic lawmakers publicly criticized Newsom during the legislative hearings for trying to get such critical legislation through the budget process at the last minute.

Newsom eventually agreed to remove the tunnel from the list of optimized infrastructure projects, according to several sources involved in the negotiations. Lawmakers also successfully urged that the state must seek to reduce impacts on disadvantaged communities in the final agreement.

More money for healthcare providers

Physicians and other medical providers have long argued that low reimbursement rates for services limit access to health care for nearly 16 million Californians, or one-third of the state’s population, who are covered by federally subsidized health insurance.

With the support of a broad coalition of physicians, community health centers, hospitals and unions, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to renew a tax on managed healthcare organizations, known as the MCO tax, to fund Medi-Cal at a time when the state is expanding the pool of eligibility. The tax is expected to generate $19.4 billion in government revenue from 2023 to 2027.

The budget provides for the first increases in reimbursement rates in more than two decades in some cases, and provides a faster timeframe for disbursing the money than Newsom proposed in May.

Legislatures and the governor are allocating $2.7 billion annually for rate increases and other investments from 2025 through 2029, including $1.65 billion for primary and specialty rate increases. The deal also includes $555 million for emergency and inpatient services and $300 million for behavioral health beds.

Although the deal represents a victory for some providers, Sen. Carolyn Menjivar (D-Panorama City) questioned why clinics serving the poorest communities were not consulted in the final negotiations.

“It was a little frustrating how the MCO breakdown came about, or what the final outcome of that was, and who got involved in the talks about who gets a piece of the pie,” she said at a legislative hearing Monday night.

Slight reduction in future efforts to combat climate change

Newsom last year praised the state’s $54 billion in investments in climate programs, but in May proposed cutting it by $6 billion as the deficit became more apparent.

Ultimately, Democrats reached a compromise, agreeing to $51.4 billion for climate programs.

The agreement will provide more than $1 billion for coastal resilience and clean energy programs and will return nearly $300 million to the State Coastal Conservancy.

Public transport funding restored

The final agreement reverses the governor’s call for a $2 billion cut in public transit after extensive lobbying by city transit authorities and Democratic lawmakers in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The deal totals $5.1 billion for transit over four years.

In anticipation of possible future cuts, Democratic lawmakers on Monday unveiled a separate plan that would increase tolls on seven state-owned bridges in the Bay Area by $1.50, by about $180 million annually from 2024-2028. generate dollars.

Money for the reconstruction of a prison

The agreement Newsom has reached with lawmakers will kick-start his comprehensive plan to revitalize San Quentin State Prison into a rehabilitation-focused facility and officially begin the process of renaming it the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Despite early opposition from lawmakers who opposed Newsom’s proposal and criticism from the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office that the plan lacked necessary details, the final budget includes what the governor had aimed for: about $380 million for the Reconstruction of certain parts of San Quentin. The plan calls for the prison to be completely transformed into a Norwegian-style facility focused on vocational training and other programs to better prepare individuals for rehabilitation, thereby reducing recidivism.

San Quentin’s transformation builds on Newsom’s multi-year initiative to overhaul the state’s criminal justice system, which he began in 2019 with an executive order that temporarily halted the death penalty and closed the prison’s execution chamber.

Lawmakers have also negotiated an agreement with the administration that will give the state Police Training and Standards Committee more time to comply with part of a law passed in 2021 that introduces a decertification process for officers who commit misconduct.

An increase in state funding for child care

The current agreement includes a big win for low-income families who receive government support to fund childcare.

Currently, families earning more than 40% of the state median income are required to pay a monthly childcare fee that ranges from $36 to almost $600 — up to 10% of their income. For example, a family of four earning $6,950 a month would pay $518 a month in family fees. These fees were waived during the pandemic but were scheduled to resume on October 1.

The current budget agreement would waive fees for all families earning less than 75% of the state median income and cap all fees for families earning more at 1% of monthly income.

However, the agreement does not authorize the legislature’s target of a $1 billion increase in home childcare rates over 2023-24. Instead, a total of $2.8 billion will be approved to fund payment increases across all childcare and preschool providers over a two-year period. The details are the subject of ongoing collective bargaining with the Child Care Providers Union, which represents California’s 40,000 child care providers at home.

Contributors to this report were employees Hannah Wiley and Jenny Gold, and Sacramento Bureau chief Laurel Rosenhall.

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With Alex Wood and Ross Stripling both currently on the injured list, the Giants have three traditional starters in their rotation.

Sean Manaea, who was moved to the bullpen earlier in the year due to poor performance, has made numerous appearances for relief. The Giants have resorted to multiple bullpen games and have two games next weekend with a starter listed as a TBA.

Speaking regularly at Tolbert & Copes, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said “we have the resources” to help the team when needed.

“Obviously Webb and Cobb did a great job for us at the head of the rotation,” Zaidi said. “DeSclafani was solid. He’s had a few crooked numbers for us lately, but we love the fact that he’s coming in and throwing strikes. The way we play defensively with his skills, we assume he will continue throwing the ball well. But yeah, with Wood and Stripling in the IL, fourth and fifth were more up in the air. Manaea really acts as a starter. He gave us four or five innings every time he got up there. We started opening for him to take the pressure off a bit. Sometimes guys actually get into the swing of things better and are better able to work their way into a game after an opening game. And that’s one of those things that you can’t fix unless it’s broken.”

Since moving to the bullpen, Manaea has a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings in five games. He made three consecutive goalless appearances before conceding four earned runs at Coors Field on Wednesday night.

“Maybe we’ll keep him in that role, maybe we’ll bring him back into the starting XI,” said Zaidi. “Then to your point: Kyle Harrison, Tristan Beck – who’s just on the pitching team and did a good job for us – Sean Hjelle and Keaton Winn also in Sacramento. So we have other options if Alex Wood and Ross Stripling need a little more time to come back.”

The biggest name Zaidi mentions in this series is Harrison. The top left-handed pitcher in baseball currently has a 3.55 ERA in 12 starts at triple-A. Of all the River Cats’ pitchers, he’s the longest pitcher measured by pitch count, but he still hasn’t pitched in the fifth inning.

Zaidi has said in the past that Harrison needs to demonstrate better attacking zone proficiency before being considered. This season, Harrison has rushed 34 batters in 38 innings while struggling with a tighter zone imposed by the automated ball and strike system.

Still a strikeout machine at 15.6K/9, Harrison is working on a new slider that he can place in the zone more often.

“We’d definitely like someone like Kyle Harrison to come up and grab one of those spots and throw more front of the rotation than middle or back,” Zaidi said. “But we just have to see how he starts. There are many reasons to be optimistic, but we still think he needs to work on a few things.”

Aside from the pitching team, the Giants are as healthy as they have been all season. With a full batting order, San Francisco secured a three-game win over the Rockies at Coors Field.

But with clean health, the Giants have the good problem of a full roster. Catcher Joey Bart, who is serving rehab at Sacramento, may not have a clear path to returning to the Giants roster if everyone stays healthy. Neither does Luis Matos, the midfielder destroyed the triple-A pitch.

Matos bats .375 and has 11 multi-hit games in 19 games with the River Cats. When asked about the Giants’ intentions for the Aug. 1 close, Zaidi mentioned Matos — not as a trade chip, but as a piece the Giants may need to clear to make room.

“We’re at a point now where we really want the engine of this team to come from our own house,” concluded Zaidi. “Luis Matos is playing really well in Triple-A. We really don’t have room for him at the moment. If he keeps producing, maybe we’ll try to create one. We have a pretty strong team and a strong squad.”

Listen to the full interview above. You can listen to any KNBR interview on our podcasts page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Catch Tolbert & Copes weekdays from 2pm to 6pm on KNBR 104.5/680 and live stream on KNBR.com.

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Biden declares “America will not default” and says he’s confident the budget deal will come through with Republican lawmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has expressed confidence that the US will avoid an unprecedented and potentially catastrophic debt default and says talks with Republicans in Congress have been productive. Biden made his remarks as he headed to Japan for a world summit. He will return on Sunday hoping to agree to a final deal. “I am confident that we can reach an agreement on the budget and that America will not default,” Biden said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. He said he and lawmakers would come together “because there is no alternative”. Spokesman Kevin McCarthy agreed, although he was more combative, saying Biden “finally backed down” and came to the negotiating table.

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The BP subsidiary agrees to a $40 million fine and measures to reduce pollution at the Lake Michigan refinery

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (AP) — Federal officials say a BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control the release of benzene and other pollutants at its Whiting oil refinery in northern Indiana . The measures announced Wednesday settle a civil case against BP Products North America Inc. It was filed by the US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. They describe the penalty as the highest ever imposed under the Clean Air Act for pollution from a structure. In addition, the company will invest approximately $197 million in improvements. Officials said the refinery on Lake Michigan near Chicago violated pollution limits.

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Twitter is deleting inactive accounts, including those of people who have died, angering those who are still grieving

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk announced last week that Twitter would “delete accounts that have had no activity at all for several years.” The move sparked outrage from people who feared they could lose tweets from now-inactive accounts, including those of deceased users. Some users reported that profiles of deceased loved ones disappeared – or the message “Account suspended” appeared in them. Musk said affected accounts would be archived, noting that releasing abandoned accounts was the reason the accounts were being deleted. However, most of the details remain unknown. In 2019, Twitter attempted to implement a similar policy and received the same backlash.

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Target is struggling with spending downturns and theft that could cost the retailer more than $1 billion this year

NEW YORK (AP) – Target reported another quarterly profit decline and issued a cautious sales and earnings outlook for the current period. The discounter is struggling with rising costs and more cautious consumers. Still, Target’s first-quarter financial results on Wednesday beat Wall Street expectations and the company reiterated its annual sales and earnings guidance. Target is among the first major U.S. retailers to report first-quarter earnings. Retail industry analysts will be watching how persistently high inflation and the credit crunch are affecting shoppers.

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Elizabeth Holmes will be sentenced to 11 years in prison on May 30 after refusing her attempt to remain free

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes remains at large until Memorial Day weekend before turning himself in to authorities on May 30. That would be the start of her more than 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in a blood test scam. A federal judge set Holmes’ revised arrest date after her attorneys suggested it in a filing filed Wednesday. This comes after a federal appeals court late Tuesday denied her request to be released from prison while she seeks to overturn her conviction on four counts of fraud and conspiracy. The penalty also includes a $452 million refund. Holmes, 39, will leave her two young children behind when she reports to jail.

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The EPA rule would enforce the cleanup of toxic waste dumped near coal-fired power plants

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening a regulation to control and clean up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A Wednesday proposal would require safe disposal of coal ash dumped in hundreds of older landfills, “old” ponds and other inactive sites currently unregulated at the federal level. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the plan would hold polluters accountable for controlling and disposing of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that can contaminate groundwater, drinking water and air and has been linked to cancer and other health problems. The plan follows an EPA proposal last week to introduce new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants.

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Minnesota lawmakers strengthen quota protections for warehouse workers

Minnesota lawmakers passed legislation that gives warehouse workers who are required to meet productivity quotas more protections, a move aimed at helping employees at companies like Amazon. The safeguards were part of a broader omnibus bill passed Tuesday night by the Minnesota Senate by a 34-33 vote. The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 70 to 61. The bill would require employers to provide each warehouse worker with a written description of any quotas. Among other safeguards, it prohibits employers from firing workers or taking adverse action against them if they fail to meet a quota that has not been communicated to them.

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The abortion pill case goes to the Court of Appeals, on the way to the Supreme Court

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Appellate judges who have advocated abortion restrictions in the past are hearing disputes over access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion. The case will likely end up in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has already intervened to maintain the availability of the drug mifepristone while litigation continues in court. Three judges of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals listened to an argument that is expected to last at least two hours on Wednesday afternoon. It is about the initial approval of mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000 and actions by the FDA to make the drug more accessible in later years. The judges will not decide immediately.

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The Biden administration is investing in carbon capture, increasing pressure on industry to report results

The Biden administration announces a $251 million investment in carbon capture and storage projects in seven states. The goal is to reduce the pollution that drives climate change. The announcement comes a week after the Environmental Protection Agency published new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, which could force them to use carbon capture and storage to cut emissions. Although the EPA has said carbon capture is “sufficiently proven” to control pollution, some still question the technology’s ability to work on a large scale, including US Climate Change Commissioner John Kerry.

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The S&P 500 rose 48.87 points, or 1.2%, to 4,158.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 408.63 points, or 1.2%, to 33,420.77. The Nasdaq Composite rose 157.51 points, or 1.3%, to 12,500.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 38.32 points, or 2.2%, to 1,774.50.

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It is said that art cannot exist without a reaction from the viewer. Today Good price or no dice The Corolla Wagon carries an artistic mural that is sure to evoke some reaction from viewers. Let’s see if the price will be the same.

Racing Tech 5 | Nascar garage 56

Do you have a special talent, something you can do better than anything else? This outstanding talent has long been building the 911 for German automaker Porsche. Other models come and go, but the 911 is so well planned it’s here to stay.

The 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera We saw each other on Friday and appeared to be a loyal member of this long-standing family. It had many kilometers under its belt and a sheet of vinyl covered most of its body. Both elements factored into the seller’s asking price of $15,000. Both also factored in the extraordinarily narrow 52 percent Nice Price win the car received in our vote. By the way, making smart decisions about the cars we’re considering is a talent and I think you all own it.

Speaking of talent, Toyota has done a damn good job as an automaker over the past few years. The company is vying with Volkswagen for the title as the leader in car production while delivering some wild (Corolla GR) and odd (not-so-royal Crown) products.

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Of course, Toyota did not build its reputation on its products themselves, but on the quality of those products, which was unmatched for a long time. The Corolla line has long been a good example of this. The small sedans, coupes and station wagons, generally not overly exciting or innovative, became the backbone of the Toyota lineup because of their relentless value and reliability.

Today 1993 Toyota Corolla Wagon tries to add some whimsy to this mix and maybe put a smile on the faces of all who see it.

According to the ad, the seller bought this car for his new sister. However, this sister’s reaction after giving birth was to get herself a brand new SUV. I don’t know about you, but if I were a brand new baby I’d rather be driving around in this fancy and expressive art car than a boring old SUV.

The seller doesn’t say who decided to use this Corolla as a canvas, but the multicolored mural looks both eye-catching and professionally done. The artist’s name is on the rear fender, but it’s just not legible in the ad. Hopefully the next owner doesn’t mind the ad.

The next owner will apparently be the third of the car. The first of them has credited the car with over 227,000 miles, while the seller, who is the second owner, claims to have added only about 1,200 of the car’s current 229,234 miles. Complete maintenance records of mileage are included with the car.

Apart from the unique paintwork that you never lose in the parking lot, the car is also well equipped. It’s rare to find a gear stick in a small station wagon, but that’s exactly what this car has. This five-speed manual gearbox is mated to a 1.8-liter 7A-FE SOHC in-line four. Installed transversely and with drive on the front wheels, this results in 115 hp and just as much torque.

As you’d expect from a ’90s Toyota, the seller says this car “never causes problems.” However, they note that they have “updated and pre-fixed things” to keep it that way.

As well as the promised mechanical condition, the interior appears to be in fantastic condition for its age and mileage. The cloth upholstery looks clean and apart from some obvious wear and tear on the steering wheel and gear knob everything else seems to be fine. The only major gripe here is the Toyota designers’ odd decision to have the engine temperature and fuel gauges read with the same swing, rather than the more aesthetically pleasing counter-sweep. Wow, this is going to annoy me all day.

Honestly, that’s pretty much the only annoying part of this whole car. The great paintwork and bodywork underneath appear to be in good condition and it should show that there are still plenty of kilometers to go despite the hard wear the odometer has already put through. A clean title and the seller’s kind hope that we all have a nice day are just extra smiles this car brings. Let’s see if the $3,799 price tag does the same.

What do you say, is this Corolla art car worth what it looks like? Or is that too much money for something that stands out from the crowd?

You decide!

San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslistor go Here when the display disappears.

Help me with NPOND. Call me remslie@kinja.com and send me a fixed price tip. Remember to include your Kinja grip.

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By Jennifer Smith, Chief Reporter at Dailymail.Com

15:12 02 November 2022, updated 17:40 02 November 2022

• David Bonola, 44, accepted a plea deal from Queens prosecutors on Wednesday
• He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, not murder, and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison with five years of supervised imprisonment
• Bonola brutally stabbed the Gaal multiple times in their home while their teenage son was upstairs in his room
• The couple had an on-off affair which she tried to end; Bonola snapped and stabbed her 50 times
• He placed her mutilated body in a duffel bag and dragged it down the street before dumping it by the side of the road
• Gaal’s husband and their two sons have yet to comment publicly on the plea deal, but the prosecutor’s office insists they have been consulted throughout

Artisan lover of murdered Queens mother Orsolya Gaal has been handed a love deal that sends him to prison for 25 years and convicts him of manslaughter not murder, despite cutting her to death and stuffing her body in a duffel bag.

David Bonola, 44, accepted a deal from Queens prosecutors meaning he pleads guilty to first-degree manslaughter. On November 19 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

After his release – which could happen sooner with good behavior – he will be cared for for five years.

Gaal’s family has yet to comment publicly on the verdict, but the prosecutor’s office insists they were consulted throughout the trial.

Her husband Howard Klein refused to answer questions outside the family home on Wednesday morning.

The verdict is a significant concession for prosecutors. Bonola stabbed Gaal more than 50 times while her teenage son was upstairs at her home in Forest Hills, Queens, and then dragged her body down the street in her son’s holdall.

It was a shocking and gruesome crime that terrified the neighborhood and led to a multi-day manhunt.

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David Bonola is shown in court today and pleads guilty to manslaughter Orsolya Gaal Gaal’s body was found in her son’s hockey bag, dumped on the side of a freeway not far from their home in Queens

After his arrest, it turned out that the couple were having an affair. Gaal’s husband was out of town at the time of her murder and Bonola had gone to the house to try to rekindle their romance.

He attacked her in the basement, stabbed her 50 times, and then waited well into the night to drag her body out of the house and dump it near a freeway.

The couple flirted on social media in the months leading up to her death, having met when she hired him to do hands-on work around the family home.

The prosecutor’s office has yet to explain why the charges were downgraded from murder to manslaughter. A spokesman told DailyMail.com that Gaal’s family had been consulted about the plea and that they agreed to it.

“That was the agreement between the defender and the people. Victims were consulted along the way,” they said.

In a statement, DA Melinda Katz: “By pleading guilty, the defendant has accepted responsibility and will be held fully accountable for his criminal actions.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the family of the victim and hope today’s request will enable them to begin healing.”

Gaal’s husband Howard did not respond to questions about the plea deal Wednesday morning. He has not discussed the murder, which Bonola presented in court on manslaughter charges Wednesday. He worked for Gaal’s family in their home. Bonola will be found guilty of manslaughter in court on Wednesday. He worked for Gaal’s family in their home. Gaal’s husband Howard Klein has yet to respond to the verdict. They are shown with their two sons, one of whom was at home when his mother was stabbed more than 50 times in April. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz was in court Wednesday to see Bonola plead guilty. Her office insists the victim’s family was consulted and that they agreed to the conviction that Gaal was murdered at her home after attending a Lincoln Center show with friends. She rode the train home, then stopped for a drink before walking back to her Juno Street home. There Bonola attacked. He dragged her body and dumped it on a park path, then fled and was arrested four days later

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From left, refugees Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu and Bac Duong. (Courtesy Orange County Sheriff’s Department.)

One of the three inmates who brazenly escaped from the Orange County Jail in 2016 accepted Tuesday, April 11.

Jonathan Tieu, now 27, admitted taking part in the escape from the Santa Ana Central Men’s Prison and admitted helping to kidnap a taxi driver while Tieu and his fellow escapees were on the run.

Tieu was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison – but given the time he had served while awaiting trial, his release was ordered.

When asked by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary S. Paer what he intends to do after his release, Tieu – who was first arrested when he was 15 – said he would “go home and see my mother . …

“I’m going to give her a big ole kiss and a hug,” Tieu said. “It was a long time.”

“This should be a wake-up call,” the judge told Tieu, noting he could face a possible life sentence if the case went to trial. “I hope I never see you again.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t,” Tieu added.

Tieu was arrested in 2011 and charged with murder and attempted murder for the killing of 19-year-old Scottie Bui and injuring another man following a confrontation between rival Asian street gangs in Garden Grove. Tieu was not charged with firing the shots and was not suspected of being a member of a street gang. But he was accused of engaging in the deadly confrontation with friends who were gang members.

His first trial in the murder case ended in early 2015 with a hung jury.

In January 2016, while awaiting the retrial, Tieu joined the prison escape with Hossein Nayeri and Bac Duong. Prosecutors said it was Nayeri, who became one of Orange County’s most notorious inmates over the past decade, who recorded the escape using a contraband cellphone.

Over several months, inmates cut 1/2-inch steel bars to access plumbing tunnels and made makeshift ropes from bed sheets, which they laid out to access the roof through a vertical opening. They sneaked onto the roof at least twice before escaping and also used the bed sheets to roll up backpacks full of supplies, including real rope, that a Duong friend had brought right outside the prison.

In the early hours of January 22, 2016, the three men used the ropes to lower themselves from the five-story prison and slipped into a Santa Ana neighborhood. The fugitives contacted Long Ma, an unlicensed taxi driver, who testified that the men pointed a gun at him after driving them to Rosemead.

Ma said he was held against his will for five days as they moved between hotels. The cab driver said tensions between Nayeri and Duong exploded in a Bay Area motel room in a fight – prosecutors said it was over whether to kill Ma. The cab driver credited Duong with saving his life and said he persuaded Duong to drive her back to Orange County and turn himself in.

Nayeri and Tieu were arrested a day later in San Francisco, ending a massive week-long manhunt.

According to Nayeri, Ma was a willing accomplice who agreed to take the fugitives out of Southern California and find them a home where they could hide from law enforcement for $10,000. Nayeri’s lawyer claimed Ma changed his mind when he realized he could make more money by handing over the fugitives — the reward for their capture had swelled to $200,000 (others shared the money). The taxi driver, while testifying at Nayeri’s trial, contradicted his testimonies at previous trials and during police interviews, including his description of the reported firearm and who allegedly wielded it.

At a previous trial, Duong was found guilty of prison escape and kidnapping and stealing a van while the three men were on the run. Duong is serving a 20-year sentence on fugitive charges and an attempted murder conviction that landed him in prison in the first place.

At the time of the escape, Nayeri was awaiting trial for conspiring with two high school friends to kidnap, torture, and sexually mutilate a marijuana dispensary owner who they believed was worth a nonexistent million dollars buried in the Mojave Desert. He has since been convicted of kidnapping and torture and sentenced to more than two life sentences without parole. He also received an additional two years and eight months last month for his role in the escape; He was acquitted of the kidnapping charge.

Changes in state law after Tieu’s first murder trial resulted in that case being referred to juvenile court. Tieu was eventually convicted of a lesser assault, according to his attorney, Mark Fredrick. It is not clear what sentence he received for the assault conviction.

The lawyer said that at the time of the prison escape, Tieu was “really just a kid” who had spent years in prison and fallen under the influence of “someone as charismatic as Mr. Nayeri”. After being re-arrested, Tieu essentially told authorities he just wanted to meet some girls and have a beer, the defense attorney said.

“He’s a very smart boy who has done some very stupid things,” Fredrick said. “But now he has the world in front of him.”

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Defending NFC West champions San Francisco 49ers have some key decisions to make as the offseason progresses.

Apparently one has already been done. 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke to the media Monday from the site of NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona and indicated that they will pick up the fifth-year option on wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s contract for the 2024 season.

This is by no means a surprise. Aiyuk, a 2020 49ers first-round pick, comes off a 2022 breakout campaign for San Francisco. He recorded 78 receptions for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns while catching 68% of his goals.

If exercised, the 2024 option on Aiyuk’s rookie deal will cost $14.1 million. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, this has led to teams actually calling San Francisco to trade in for the young star receiver. At this point, San Francisco has no real interest in moving Aiyuk.

After back-to-back NFC Championship Game appearances, it makes little sense for San Francisco to lay down one of its most important weapons. However, the question certainly arises as to whether the 49ers can afford to sign Aiyuk long-term.

San Francisco 49ers salary cap and star players

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The weekly compilation of the San Francisco Bay Area metro’s biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates, and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit?

Email joseph.gordon@bisnow.com

Southline, a 370K SF life sciences development in South San Francisco, obtained a $373M loan to finance the construction of the project’s first phase, from developer Lane Partners. The investment partners on the project include an affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Real Estate group.

The loan was closed by Square Mile Capital Management, and Bank OZK provided the senior portion of the loan.

“We continue to invest into purpose-built lab developments in the strongest life science markets in the country and Southline fits squarely within this objective,” Square Mile Capital Managing Director Eric Cohen said in a press release. “We are thrilled to partner again with Bank OZK, as well as affiliates of Goldman Sachs and Beacon, to help create what will be one of the Bay Area’s most prominent new life science projects.”

Southline is a transit-oriented development located adjacent to the San Bruno Bay Area Rapid Transit Station. The first phase of the project will contain six stories of lab and office space, along with a six-story parking garage and amenities such as a fitness center, conference facilities and a restaurant.

Sacramento Bridge

SALES

San Diego-based Badiee Development sold a two-building industrial portfolio containing 308K SF of Class-A industrial space to BentallGreenOak last week. Cushman & Wakefield’s Jeff Chiate, Rick Ellison, Mikey Adey, Brad Brandenburg and Matthew Leupold represented Badiee in the transaction.

The sale consisted of Metro Air Park Logistics Center’s first phase in Sacramento.

“Metro Air Park Logistics Center is a core state-of-the-art logistics project positioned in a highly sought-after industrial and growing housing submarket in the Sacramento region. Driven by ongoing population growth — particularly from in-migration from the nearby SF Bay Area — Sacramento’s industrial market fundamentals remain strong,” Chiate said in a press release.

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Pinole Square, a 91K SF retail property in the Tara Hills Drive area of ​​Pinole, California, traded hands last week. Balboa Retail Partners purchased the property from a private family investor located in the Bay Area.

Newmark’s Nicholas Bicardo and Cheyne Bloch facilitated the transaction. The purchase price was not disclosed.

“Pinole Square is a prime retail site that offers tremendous short-to-mid-term redevelopment opportunity along the I-80 corridor,” Bicardo said in a press release. “We have sold several retail assets similar to Pinole Square on the West Coast over the past 12 months and continue to see significant demand from capital for well-located retail sites.”

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EKN Development Group and Appellation announced plans to open a luxury boutique hotel in Petaluma in 2026. The hotel will contain 93 rooms in the city’s downtown.

“From the beginning, we intentionally designed this hotel to pay homage to the integral role that food and wine play in Petaluma,” EKN Development Group CEO Ebbie Nakhjavani said in a press release. “We chose Appellation to bring this project to life because they uniquely put the culinary experience at the forefront of the guest experience and can offer a local Sonoma County perspective. Under Charlie and Christopher’s leadership, we know they will deliver the best in the industry.”

PEOPLE

Savills expanded its Bay Area project management team, adding Kristen Raymond to its roster as an associate director in San Francisco. Raymond will build on the firm’s project management capabilities and strategic advisory services in the Western region and across North America. Raymond previously held managerial roles with Presidio Bay Ventures.

Raymond brings over 20 years of construction project and real estate development experience across the public and private sectors. She specializes in large-scale projects, emphasizing core and shell, tenant improvement, renovation and modernization.

“The strategic growth of our project management capabilities in key markets has mirrored the continuing evolution of our clients’ needs,” Savills Vice Chairman and Head of Project Management Michael Glatt said in a press release.

THIS AND THAT

Sunset Development Co. and DSD Renewables partnered for Phase 2 of a renewable energy and solar installation at the Bishop Ranch office park, making the city of San Ramon home to one of the largest solar and energy installations in the country.

The second phase of this project will add 35,000 solar panels across Bishop Ranch’s office buildings, slated for completion in the first quarter of 2024. The project is expected to produce over 22 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, expected to offset the property’s energy usage by 90%.

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