Posts for Tag: economy

Jack London Square quick visit

Took a walk down to Barnes and Noble in Jack London. Decided to snap a few pics along the way.

Here's a few shots of the area right outside of B&N.

Next took a walk down to check out the new Jack London Market. Last shot is of Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon near the base of the Jack London Market; an old school bar - 126 years old to be exact!

Here are some shots of the new Jack London Market itself. Still not yet open for business as the economy has derailed some of the tenants that were hoping to move in this summer. As such, final interior work has been greatly delayed as the landlords figure out who is going to occupy the lower market floors, as well as the upper office space. When we first were looking at office space a year ago, word was that office space would top $4 per square foot. Fast forward a year later, that number is down to about $3 but still no takers. One of the reasons is that they want to rent large blocks of space (25K minimum) instead of opening it up to smaller tenants. I give them another 3 months before that attitude and the price changes.

Exterior shots of the Northern side including shots from the top of the stairs.

Eastern side with the roll up doors for food vendors to bring in their goods.

The interior of the ground floor where all the small market vendors will be situated.

Shots of the Amtrak station and walking bridge across from the Eastern side.

Southern side of the building. Third shot is of an art piece done by Roger Stoller, a Silicon Valley product designer turned sculptor.

Western side of the building with a similar set of stairs to the Northern side.

Interior shots of the second floor. This is where the many restaurants and coffee shops will be. As you can see, very unfinished.

An evening at Santana Row

We were visiting friends yesterday in the South Bay for dinner and a movie. We ended up hanging out at Santana Row before the movie (specifically for Pink Berry). I'm actually quite amazed at how many people were there eating, drinking, shopping, etc. Guess the recession hasn't really hit Santana Row that much. I've noticed attendance at other mix-use malls like Emeryville's Bay Street has gone down compared to a few years ago.
 
I was thinking how much this place reminded me of a Vegas theme hotel, specifically the Venetian. Maybe it was the live music, the promenade, or the formulaic restaurant/bar/clubs. Actually, it was probably all the girls in skimpy dresses sloppily/drunkenly coming out of the bars.

Finally... the government gets it!

When asked whether he left open the option to pressure a bank CEO to resign, Geithner responded, "Of course. Of course.

On the heels of Rick Wagoner's ouster, Tim Geithner made this statement in an interview with CBS.  Though not as adamant as I would prefer, it still sends a message to executives of companies who are receiving government assistance.  If they couldn't run a good business while playing with their own money, what makes us think they are going to do any better when the money isn't their own?

I assume this is a misprint...

Sprint's CEO awarded $2.6 billion bonus

I assume that's a typo and it's $2.6 MILLION and not BILLION.  Even still, I don't really have an issue with any CEO's pay as long as the company doesn't get government assistance.  If Sprint can absorb whatever losses they've had AND pay him a bonus, that's their prerogative.  My rule of thumb is that any company that receives a bailout needs to have their executive ranks whacked because if those executive were doing a good job, they would never have needed a bailout to begin with.

UPDATE: CNET has fixed the typo.