The San Francisco skyline near Jackson Square.
Photographer: Mathew Scott for Bloomberg MarketsBillionaires and CEOs Bet on Cheap San Francisco Real Estate
Designer Jony Ive, Google’s Sergey Brin and NBA star Stephen Curry are among the deep-pocketed believers in the city’s revival.
In San Francisco’s financial district, the One Montgomery building evokes the opulence of America’s turn of the 20th century gilded age. With its Tuscan columns, marble staircases and bronze doors, the Renaissance Revival landmark once housed Crocker Bank, named after one of the tycoons who built the western portion of America’s first transcontinental railroad.
These days, the property exemplifies the city’s shifting fortunes: Ghazi Shami, chief executive officer of the record label Empire, bought it in January for $22.5 million, more than 70% below its selling price only six years before.