The San Francisco Chronicle today picked up the story about
how “a simple state agency” is moving its $3 billion operation east from San
Francisco across the Bay to Oakland.
The newspaper carried the article by Victoria Colliver on
its front page, one of the few times that news about the state stem cell agency
has made such a splash in its hometown paper during the last 10 years. The story followed yesterday's piece on the California Stem Cell Report, which carried the first published
details about the move.
Most of what the Chronicle reported was familiar to our
readers but Colliver also had this from Kevin McCormack, senior director for
communications for the agency.
“The lease is up now, and this is now one of the hardest real estate markets in the country. We’re a simple state agency, and we don’t have that kind of money. ... San Francisco is just unaffordable to us.”
McCormack said it would have cost the agency $1.5 million to
pay for the equivalent space (20,000 square feet) that it now has in San
Francisco. Instead, it found a home in Oakland with 17,000 square feet for
$697,560 a year. The agency has about 55
employees.
Colliver’s story began by saying that the stem cell agency
is “the latest victim of San Francisco’s ski-high rents.”
The Chronicle quoted Todd Rufo, head of economic development
for San Francisco, as saying, “…(W)e’re disappointed to see them go….”
No coverage has yet surfaced in Oakland area media outlets,
according to a Google search this morning.
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