San Francisco’s Newest National Park Topping a Highway to Open This Summer

© James Corner Field Operations

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https://www.archdaily.com/979962/san-franciscos-newest-national-park-topping-a-highway-to-open-this-summer

Presidio Tunnel Tops is San Francisco’s upcoming national park destination, set to welcome visitors starting July 17th. The project reconnects the park formerly split in two by the Doyle Drive by creating new landscaped land over the highway now moved underground. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the firm behind New York’s High Line, the project brings 5.6 hectares (14 acres) of new parkland to the Bay Area, featuring trails, picnic areas, and scenic views over the city as well as a nature play area for kids.

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© James Corner Field Operations

In 1993, the seismically unsafe Doyle Drive required replacement and plans were put in place to construct the highway into tunnels and use the tops for new parkland. The design was shaped through community engagement and the participation of over 10,000 people, including community organizations, health leaders, and park planners. Presidio Tunnel Tops is part of a strategy to bring more national park experiences to the Bay Area and will become a gateway to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and broader National Park System.

© James Corner Field Operations© James Corner Field Operations

The project signed by James Corner Field Operations features a variety of amenities, including a Transit Center and Visitor Center that increase the site’s accessibility, together with a campfire circle and a pavilion. The The new parkland is home to 180 species of plants native to the Presidio. One of the project’s highlights is the Outpost, a nature play area for children featuring play structures inspired by the natural elements of Presidio and built from fallen tree trunks, boulders and other natural materials.

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Bjarke Ingels Group and James Corner Field Operations’ River Ring Proposal Approved by City Council

The post San Francisco’s Latest Nationwide Park Topping a Freeway to Open This Summer season appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Flour & Branch’s stuffed cookies.

Flour & Branch

After Lauren Arnsdorff, Owner of Flour & Branch, was laid off from her corporate job at eBay, she decided to turn her childhood dream of opening up a bakery into reality. Inspired by her childhood memories and nostalgia, Arnsdorff prides herself on creating indulgent treats made with love, grown-up sensibilities, refined techniques, and the highest quality of ingredients.

Flour & Branch was launched in back in October 2020, but as with most businesses during the pandemic, this bakery went on a rollercoaster of a ride in efforts to open the doors of its first-ever storefront.

Three months after Flour & Branch launched its website, they began to sell their goodies on Goldbelly, Feastin and local delivery channels. By the first year, they had been featured in publications that include Food Network Online and on Rachael Ray’s television program. Fast forward a few years — which included a full remodel, jumping through lots of pandemic hoops and more — and Flour & Branch has a brick and mortar location.

Located on 3rd street in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, Flour & Branch is a charming bakery and cafe that also features a curated selection of gifts.

The always-freshly baked selection of goodies ranges from stuffed, over-the-top cookies like the Nutty Butter with white chocolate, macadamia nuts, and peanut butter; and artisanal “mallows” — decadent marshmallow treats filled with Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, and whole mini marshmallows — to their famous Mashugana Stuffed French Toast made with cream-marinaded chocolate babka and challah bread, stuffed with peanut butter chips and cookie butter; and a selection of incredibly flaky French pastries like the twice-baked frangipane croissant.

Fruity Pebble Mallow.

Flour & Branch

We chatted with Lauren Arnsdorff, Owner of Flour & Branch on her new storefront and journey to opening its doors. Here’s what she had to say.

Talk a little about your background and what got you into baking. How long has it been your passion?

My career background is actually in sales, marketing, loyalty programs, and financial services but I always loved baking. When I was a kid I remember waking up early to watch the Food Network so I could copy down the recipes and practice. About 15 years ago I convinced myself I would make the best cookie (to my standards) and since then, I’ve created literally hundreds of cookie recipes and other bakes.

What was the catalyst in your decision to open Flour and Branch?

I opened Flour & Branch in October 2020, but at the start of 2020 I was overseeing all marketing for eBay’s financial services products full time. I was actually laid off from eBay in January 2020, and by that time I had already been taking private bakery orders and would spend my early mornings, nights, and weekends baking.

It had been an aspiration to open the bakery by the end of 2020, so when I was laid off, it felt a bit like a sign from the universe that I was meant to “go for it”. It felt like a now or never moment, and my husband was and has been fully supportive no matter how hard it felt.

Flour & Branch

Flour & Branch

What has the process been like to open it up?

I filed for Flour & Branch’s LLC in January 2020, so as I was building my business I had to pretty much constantly pivot to adjust to the growing pandemic. By October 2020 I began operating Flour & Branch in a commercial catering kitchen which was only about 200 total square feet. Flour & Branch operated out of that space for about a year before beginnings of renovations to our storefront in October 2021.

Flour & Branch began shipping via our website, along with local delivery and pickup within the San Francisco Bay Area, and then expanded onto Goldbelly shortly after. We almost immediately grew out of the space we were in, but it took my husband and I almost a full year before we found our storefront at 493 3rd, SF.

Flour & Branch opened our storefront in December 2021, after facing major issues with broken ovens (literally all our ovens), mixers, plumbing, refrigeration, staffing, supply chain, and permitting with the city and state. I actually set up the space almost entirely on my own, so in many ways it truly feels like I’ve clawed my way here. We’ve just overcome so much to get to this point, and it’s been so incredible to hear our customers tell us how happy they are to have our bakery in their neighborhood.

What is the inspiration behind your menu of baked goods? What are your favorite flavors to bake with?

Because food is my love language and such an integral component of special moments and holidays, my favorite baked goods to enjoy and give to others are those influenced by nostalgia. When designing the menu, I started with the cookies, one by one, and literally just played with flavors and textures I loved the most.

The bakes had to feel refined, but also familiar, they had to be made with the very best ingredients (like Kerrygold butter, organic, etc.), and they had to look and feel like an amazing gift — whether to yourself or others. You’ll find nostalgic flavors (like PB&J), but elevated and more crave-worthy. Once I had cookies set, I brought on products I love to enjoy myself and couldn’t necessarily find elsewhere, along with stellar pastries. I love to combine unexpected but familiar flavors.

What are your most popular items? Talk about your famous French Toast — how did you come up with something so deliciously over the top?

Our Stuffed French Toast is definitely popular with our customers, as are our soft baked cookies. Our most loved cookies are the Chipper, Salty Sombitch, and Stuffy cookies (stuffed cookies). My mom and one of my favorite brunch spots in San Diego served this souffle french toast that I loved, so I started making my own french toast souffle casserole every Christmas and during hosted brunches. I knew early on that a version of the french toast souffle casserole would be a perfect fit for the menu’s theme, but stuffing the french toast really hit the standard.

The post San Francisco’s Latest Bakery For Nostalgia-Impressed, Foodie-Influenced Bakes appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

City leaders, arts organizations and community groups celebrated today the grand opening of Brookfield Properties’ transformative 5M mixed-use cultural arts district with ceremonies at The Parks at 5M, downtown San Francisco’s newest park.

“I am so excited to open 5M just as we are seeing more residents, workers, and visitors coming together as our City bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “From affordable housing to new outdoor space and cultural programming, this community-led project addresses a wide range of neighborhood needs that for too long have been neglected. I want to thank Brookfield Properties and the entire SoMa community for their continued work and commitment to the future of this neighborhood.”

The George

Since 5M’s groundbreaking in 2019, the billion-dollar development has transitioned four acres of underutilized parking lots in the SoMa neighborhood at 5th, Mission and Howard streets into a pedestrian oriented hub of creativity, commerce, and community. Developer Brookfield Properties has completed construction of the 25-story 415 Natoma office building, The George apartment building with 302 rental units, and The Parks at 5M. Additionally, two historic buildings were restored; the Camelline Building that is earmarked for retail and nonprofit uses and the Dempster Building, which Brookfield Properties donated to CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust) for arts and cultural uses.

The grand opening celebration marked the completion of construction of Brookfield Properties’ components and the opening of The Parks at 5M to the public.

Community Programming Begins this Spring at The Parks at 5M

A major community benefit is the new $20 million privately-owned public park that features a performance area, undulating landscaped knolls patterned after Northern California landscapes, a children’s playground, and a dog run framed by the new and historic buildings. Two striking 30-foot-tall 3-dimensional sinuous steel canopies serve a dual purpose as works of art and to calm breezes. The Parks at 5M are the City’s largest ground-level privately-owned public open space (POPOS) at 26,100 sq. ft. — nearly the size of six basketball courts. Brookfield is providing security on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Beginning this spring, community programming for the Parks at 5M will feature a mix of events, performances, art and food curated by Brookfield Properties, arts and cultural nonprofits and other innovators such as CAST, Kultivate Labs and, Off the Grid. Film screenings, performance art, dance and fitness classes, live music, art exhibits, and Filipino cultural celebrations are among the activities being planned.

“The Parks at 5M help fulfill a civic need for more open spaces in the neighborhood for residents to play, socialize and celebrate,” said San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents this area of ​​SoMa. “The diversity of offerings and opportunities here created a special place that benefits people of all ages and backgrounds.”

“5M underscores our commitment to the neighborhood and our belief in how melding creativity, cultural arts and commerce in unique ways builds stronger communities,” said Swathi Bonda, Sr. Director, Development for Brookfield Properties. “It is a place that binds us together to relax, have fun, learn and work — grounded in programming for the arts, music and cultural activities.”

Bonda said that new tenants, programming and residents will bring energy to the site. The Dempster Building at 447 Minna Street is home to arts nonprofits PUSH Dance Co. and Women’s Audio Mission. The Dempster Building also has a floor for Pop Up Art projects and a black-box theater. Thumbtack, the modern home management platform, recently signed a lease at 415 Natoma and residents are moving into The George. Brookfield Properties said that it expects to announce new leases involving food, nonprofits and local retailers in the near future.

Today’s ceremony featured a ribbon cutting and performance by PUSH Dance Co.

“Arts and culture play a central role in preserving the fabric of a neighborhood,” said CAST CEO Moy Eng. “CAST is pleased to be partnering with Brookfield in this effort to secure and steward a cultural space where artists and creatives can continue to thrive in SoMa. Arts and culture organizations—groups like Women’s Audio Mission and PUSH Dance—are so essential to our city because they’re pushing the boundaries of creativity and equity while also creating community cohesion. At 447 Minna, we want to ensure artists have a place to grow within the community, to interact with local residents, and add to the neighborhood vitality as a whole.”

415 Natoma, San Francisco Kohn Pederson Fox Architects

The unique configuration of 5M’s parks and buildings are designed to bring people together in an exchange of ideas. The expansive lobbies for 415 Natoma office building and The George open to the parks to promote lively street level interaction.

“5M is inspired by SoMa and its network of alleys, 5M’s design weaves together a tapestry of neighborhood history, arts, and business with new public space at the center,” said SITELAB urban studio Principal Laura Crescimano, which partnered on the master planning for 5 M.

The 415 Natoma 640,000-square-foot Class A office building features a “hospitality-driven” wall-less lobby with curated retail, food and beverage options; large floor plates; and over 27,000 square feet of outdoor terraces. The building was designed by renowned architect KPF.

“415 Natoma welcomes the public at its base with an open lobby, integrating seamlessly into the ground plane. The layered and split massing of the towers addresses the surrounding built context with a façade that employs a variety of textures, patterns, and colors,” said Trent Tesch, AIA, KPF Design Principal.

Image by Steelblue

Brookfield Properties began leasing units at The George in January. The new 20-story rental apartment building features 302 apartments, including 211 market rate and 91 BMR middle-income homes. The George has the highest percentage of middle income BMR units on site in City history. It features a double-height public lobby with integrated retail and co-working library; artwork in common areas by local women, BIPOC artists and other artists; 24/7 concierge service; a 16th-floor profitable clubroom and open-air amenity deck with sweeping views of Potrero Hill and the San Francisco Bay; state-of-the-art gym; and much more. More than 4,600 SF of retail is planned in a cafe zone along pedestrian-only paseo on North Mary Street.

Overall, 5M will create approximately 856 total new residential units onsite and in the neighborhood, including 245 affordable residential units for middle-income households, seniors and formerly homeless families.

Brookfield Properties worked with exceptional organizations to advance the project during the pandemic. In addition to KPF and SITELAB, !melk and Cliff Lowe Associates designed the open spaces at 5M. The George residential building is designed by architectural firm Ankrom Moisan and constructed by Build Group Inc. Architectural Resources Group led the rehabilitation of the historic Dempster Building. For the 415 Natoma office building, House & Robertson Architects is the executive architect and Swinerton Builders constructed the building.

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The post 5M Blended-Use Cultural Arts District in San Francisco Celebrates its Grand Opening with the Debut of Downtown’s Latest Park appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

San Francisco loves a good mural. But in the case of the artwork on the SF LGBT center side, the city might as well hate a good mural.

The saga of the purple wall in Octavia and Market Streets has become one of the most controversial public art subjects of late. The wall stayed empty for more than 100 years until the street artist fnnch, who is responsible for honey bear art in San Francisco, approached the LGBT center with an idea for a mural for the 50th year of pride in 2020.

Fnnch’s popularity led him to raise $ 293.00 for charity in 2020, according to the California News Times. Fifty percent of the sales of many of his bear pictures go to charitable organizations. For every $ 600 painting by Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence that you see in a window, for example, the organization received $ 300. In a statement on Instagram, he said $ 20,000 was raised specifically for the LGBT center. But the ubiquity of his artwork sparked a citywide backlash, and his transplant status in San Francisco led to allegations of gentrification. The problem was compounded when a confrontational video appeared on social media about repainting the LGBT center mural after it was destroyed. In the video, he claimed to be an immigrant and stated that he was from Missouri.

Now, a week before Pride starts, the mural has been replaced with a new piece of art by queer artists Juan Manuel Carmona and Simón Malvaez, whose artwork has been on display in El Rio, Blondies and next to the Painted Ladies. The new work of art was created through a union of one of the city’s most legendary drag queens, Juanita MORE !, who introduced the two artists to the LGBT center. They expressed an interest in painting the wall with a collection of strange historical icons and local guides, and conceived not only a work of art, but also an educational series on the characters depicted that will run throughout the year.

“We decided to use the colors of the flag of progressive pride and turn each color into a character that means something important to both of us in our queer history,” says Malvaez.

The artists Juan Manuel Carmona (left) and Simón Malvaez in front of their newly unveiled mural in the Castro entitled “Queeroes”.

Mariah Tiffany / Special for SFGATE

“We picked characters who were masters in town. We wanted locals who did something for the community and especially for San Francisco, ”says Carmona, who quotes living legends like Sister Roma and Honey Mahogany, and of course MORE !, as well as historical figures like Harvey Milk and Frida Kahlo.

Malvaez grew up in Tijuana and spent time in Mexico City before moving to San Francisco three years ago. Carmona was born in Texas, then lived in central Mexico before moving to San Francisco about 10 years ago and working in a bar at Castro while attending art school. Her greatest influences come from the rich tradition of political art in Mexico.

A close-up of the newly unveiled “Queeroes” mural shows Sister Roma in detail.

Mariah Tiffany / Special for SFGATE

“As a team, I would say that our biggest influences are the Mexican mural. It may sound a little clichéd, but the style that Frida Kahlo made, and Diego Rivera, and [David Alfaro] Siqueiros and how they represented their reality and were political with their art. I think we do similar things in today’s society and who we are and who we represent, ”says Malvaez.

“We are queer Latino artists in San Francisco. If we wanted to define what our style is, it is exploration between LGBT communities. All of our murals have rainbows or a drag queen or some kind of representation of those communities that we belong to. And our interface to our Latin American heritage, ”says Carmona.

Their identity as immigrants shapes the new art, as does their reaction to the viral video by fnnch defending the previous mural.

“I’m an immigrant, so I took it a little more personally. As someone who has experienced immigration, I find that disappointing, ”says Malvaez.

“We have nothing against the previous artist. It’s very unfortunate what happened, but it’s also an opportunity to have more eyes on us and a wider audience to deliver a message of love and the strange heroes, ”says Carmona.

The newly unveiled mural in the Castro with the title “Queeroes” by the artists Juan Manuel Carmona and Simón Malvaez.

Mariah Tiffany / Special for SFGATE

Fnnch doesn’t seem to have any malice about replacing his artwork. In an email to SFGATE, he announced that he had recently spent time with Carmona and Malvaez before he knew they were going to paint the mural. “They are both wonderful people and I am a fan of them and their art. I look forward to seeing your mural at the SF LGBT Center. I am honored to have contributed to the start of this rotating wall program, ”he wrote. He also addressed the controversy in an Instagram post.

As for the future of Carmona and Malvaez’s work, they hope that their emphasis on community personalities will prevent them from facing the same vandalism that the honey bears committed. But in addition to providing a visual reminder of the city’s strange history, hopefully the mural will serve as an educational tool.

“The mural is the first step in this project. It’s bigger than that. The center will keep reporting on these characters we wanted to celebrate, but we’re also inviting the people who see these murals to show us their own strange symbols and influences, ”says Malvaez.

“To celebrate this during pride, it is important that we show people that they are not alone. I think part of the Centre’s identity is this sanctuary where you can actually be free and be who you are. We hope this mural will evoke this in people. We also have heroes, we are not alone, ”says Carmona.

The post The story of San Francisco’s latest and most controversial mural within the Castro appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

From two blocks away, REEF Technology’s “ghost kitchens” appear through a maze of palm trees like a technicolor aluminum herd, sleepily huddled in a parking lot next to a Metromover overpass at the apex of two of Coconut Grove’s busier streets.

Yet, as you get closer, a buzzing hive of tourists, foodies, picnic tables, bougainvillea planters, and UberEats and GrubHub scooters coming and going somehow miraculously have brought this formerly vacant asphalt polygon back to life.

REEF, whose headquarters is a few miles away in downtown Brickell, calls what I’m standing in the middle of “proximity as a platform”. And if Miami’s current political class has anything to do with it, the start-up’s pandemically turbo-charged, on-demand logistics model could set a new national template for smart, sustainable cities and the future of everything from restaurants to retail to healthcare delivery forever.

It could also keep tipping America’s innovation power balance geographically from Silicon Valley to South Florida for years to come.

One of REEF Technology’s 200 ‘ghost kitchens’ around the country providing on demand food prep, … [+] cooking, and remote delivery services for aspiring and celebrity chefs

Courtesy of REEF Technology

Late last month, Miami’s now-celebrity Mayor Francis Suarez and its five City Commissioners officially passed a one-year pilot ordinance that formally acknowledges and legally zones what are technically called “mobile operation units”, or MOUs for short—which in addition to REEF’s current ghost kitchens has the potential to ignite an infinity of other deconstructed, on-demand businesses built around revitalizing wonky slivers and triangles of underutilized urban real estate into pop-up, neighborhood hubs for curated, locally-sourced goods, services, and experiences.

According to REEF, other tech-driven, app-based businesses that Miami’s new law eventually could green light include last-block retail delivery depots, mobile medical and wellness clinics, vertical farmers markets in neighborhoods lacking fresh food, electric vehicle charging stations, and micro-mobility stations for bike and scooter shares—all of which by REEF’s calculus has the potential to unleash a hidden real estate logistics ecosystem in hundreds of neighborhoods around the country for the principal benefit of its residents.

“With policies like these, Miami is setting a global example on how to work in partnership with technology start-ups and innovators while also meeting the evolving needs of the community, creating a win-win,” says REEF’s founder and CEO Ari Ojalvo. “By working collaboratively with city leaders like Mayor Suarez and City Commissioner Ken Russell, and the support of the rest of the Commissioners, along with businesses and community groups, start-ups like ours can reimagine and rebuild our urban spaces for people, not just cars, and help our cities become more sustainable and inclusive centers of community and opportunity.”  

REEF’s neighborhood hubs also have the potential to create thousands of well-paying engineering, technology, creative, and logistics jobs in local communities while simultaneously helping small, independent businesses to grow more efficiently and reach wider markets with less overhead compared with the slow, precarious cliff-jump of expanding through traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts.

Perhaps most importantly, Miami’s newest piece of legislation is another loud, cracking shot across the bow of traditional innovation hubs like Palo Alto, Boston, and Austin about the city’s global ambitions to become the most technology, disruption, and venture capital friendly destination in America when it comes to legislation, zoning, tax policy, and business regulation—particularly on the backside of the pandemic which has set South Florida’s real estate and commercial office markets on fire.

“It’s incredibly important as we recover from COVID that Miami comes out swinging,” Mayor Suarez tells me, “Particularly in the case of innovation and how we as a city define ourselves because we believe that the tech economy and the knowledge-based economy are the future of the world economy. So for Miami to position itself right now after the pandemic with legislation like this, delivering local meals, supporting the start-up technology community, and expanding the capabilities of our small restaurants that are still struggling is a win-win for business and our community and shows that we can originate innovative ideas and public-private partnerships here in Miami that are scalable worldwide.”

REEF founder and CEO realized years ago that America’s parking lots were not realizing their real … [+] estate highest and best use in the communities where they were located. During COVID the start-up partnered with cities and health clinics to turn their parking lots into on-demand testing sites

Courtesy of Reef Technology

If you ask Ojalvo, Suarez’s vision of worldwide scalability wasn’t part of his company’s initial business model, however—though I suspect the 40-year old entrepreneur would be happy to take the compliment.  

REEF’s ‘proximity-as-a-platform’ business model got its start back in 2013 when the company formerly was called ParkJockey, providing hardware, software and management services to parking lot owners and management companies.

Over time, however, Ojalvo epiphanized that parking lots weren’t actually serving their highest and best use just temporarily storing cars. So he asked himself a simple question: What if all those thousands of acres of flat, strategically-located, and horrifically-underutilized real estate could be re-positioned for the benefit of local communities in cities all over America?

What if parking lots could become urban farms and pop-up restaurants and logistics hubs to help local businesses reach more customers with fewer operational friction points while returning greater, more sustainable value to their property owners?

REEF is now Florida’s only billion dollar unicorn start-up and the largest operator of mobile, … [+] neighborhood logistics hubs in America. The company recently completed the acquisition of DHL with the help of $700 million in new funding from SoftBank

Coutesy of REEF Technology

Nearly eight years later, Ojalvo’s parking lot epiphany now comprises a global ecosystem of more than 5,000 asphalt swatches, garages, and otherwise empty plots across 45 U.S. States, all seven Canadian Provinces (plus two Territories), and the UK, along with a team of 15,000 full-time employees, making the Miami-based start-up the largest operator of mobility and logistics hubs and neighborhood kitchens in America (200 at last count including 15 in Miami that are now legally zoned thanks to the city’s new ordinance).

REEF also just recently closed a $700 million round of fresh funding from a syndicate led by SoftBank and the Mubadala Corp along with investment firms Oaktree, UBS Asset Management, and the European venture capital firm Target with the intent to scale to 10,000 new locations across North America and transform the company’s real estate holdings into the world’s largest sustainable network of “neighborhood hubs” over the next three years.

From a start-up standpoint, if REEF’s vision sounds grandiose, it is. Transforming the habits by which products and services are fulfilled for consumers doesn’t happen overnight (ask Jeff Bezos). From a practical standpoint, however, the company’s fundamental business model sits on solidly simple footing despite its nine-figure valuation and global intentions—all of which have been accelerated by the on-demand, stay-at-home delivery economy spawned by the pandemic.

REEF leases the parking lots and real estate it operates, upgrades it with basic infrastructure (i.e., ADA compliant ramps and essential utilities), and either leases it out to other occupants or operates the pop-up businesses themselves, including designing, outfitting, and mobilizing all of the trailers and shipping containers required to do so in a kind of temporary, asphalt raft-up—typically going operational within a few months.

In the case of REEF’s ghost kitchens, the company usually houses a half dozen restaurants on each of its lots and covers all of the operating costs, food safety permitting and health licenses, staffing, marketing, raw material deliveries, food prep, delivery management, and even manages the chefs doing the cooking. Full-time employees also are given vacation time, health insurance, paternity leave, and in some cases stock options.

In return for REEF’s real estate and back-of-house support, the company’s restaurants and brand partners pay a revenue share of gross profits off the top ergo if REEF’s partners don’t make money REEF doesn’t make money—so everyone has the same incentive to keep things running smoothly, maintain quality, and project brand consistency.

REEF has chosen to operate behind the scenes efficiently as opposed to burn cash on front facing … [+] marketing unlike WeWork

Getty Images

From a real estate, sharing economy standpoint, if all of this whiffs a little like WeWork as well, it should—at least on face value.

Leasing someone else’s un-used stuff (i.e., a parking lot), carving it up into smaller, shinier pieces, and re-leasing the parts at a profit—a.k.a “arbitrage”—is well known in commercial real estate to be potentially risky business. It was partly responsible for the Great Recession and why WeWork’s still a mess today no matter how much new capital gets pumped into it.

Yet, REEF’s business model differs in several important ways.

First, nothing about the company is particularly overt or outwardly flashy with banners, promotions, signs, or logos at its sites shouting “who we are” (like WeWork). All of which says a lot about REEF’s core business philosophy. It doesn’t overspend. Nor is its purpose to replace brick and mortar storefronts through remote operations and delivery systems, but rather to help those businesses to better adapt to the future through technology and reach the end consumer more efficiently and effectively.

The second difference with WeWork is that REEF typically provides not only the physical real estate for its tenants (i.e., the arbitrage), but also the expertise, networks, business support, and labor to allow them to scale, increase revenues, and compete with larger, legacy brands through outsourced operations as well.

“REEF levels the playing field,” says the company’s Head of Communications, Mason Harrison. “For small businesses this kind of model is essential to giving local brands what the big companies already have: the tools and resources for rapid expansion into bigger markets. As a policy framework for the future, we’re full-throated supportive of what Miami is doing by setting a new standard and rethinking the vast swaths of under-utilized space that already exist in every city to help to make that happen.”

Francis Suarez attends Time 100 Next at Pier 17 on November 14, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by … [+] Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

All of which brings us back to Miami’s new MOU ordinance, America’s most famous Mayor, and why any of this matters in the first place.

While red-tape, zoning announcements generally aren’t needle movers when it comes to flash mob media, Miami’s new legislation sends a much louder message about the political and legal intentions of the city to provide a fertile environment for the next generation of disruptive, technology-based start-ups to get off the ground.

“Through Miami’s new legislation, REEF is providing the first legislative platform for innovative new food brands to scale and thrive,” says REEF’s Ojalvo. “And now Miami has created a clear policy framework for regulating delivery-only kitchens, making it easier for these types of food concepts to expand their reach into new neighborhoods while putting vacant, underutilized real estate that’s a drag on local property values to better use. Ultimately, it creates a paradigm for every other city in the world to make it easier for brands to reach customers.”  

Equally as important, says Ojalvo, is that Miami’s new legislation also establishes a center of gravity for other future phases of tech-driven, on-demand innovation, which in turn attracts the capital and infrastructure to bring those visions to life. Silicon Valley and Austin started doing something similar decades ago—bit by bit revising and restructuring small, seemingly meaningless zoning, financial, and business regulations to turn their cities into the technology and venture capital epicenters of the world.

“One of the great challenges with creating new businesses is that regulations are often slow to catch up,” Ojalvo explains. “Most cities have regulations governing brick and mortar establishments and food trucks, but no existing framework in place for what falls in between. With this policy Miami is setting a global example and showing that it is willing to take bold steps to support and champion innovation. This is our hometown, and it is also where we incubate and pilot new products and initiatives—from restaurant brands to robot delivery—and maintaining the support of the community as we’ve experimented and innovated has always been incredibly important to our growth. The City of Miami and its leadership are showing that they are serious about supporting startups and embracing innovation. Combined with all the highly talented people moving to Miami right now as a result of the pandemic, this cooperation between public leaders and the private sector should be a model for every city in the world to follow.”  

Fortunately for Ojalvo that political support so far appears to be unwavering, although no one in the tech world is debating that Miami’s a little late to the party. At rate the city’s catching up, however, people are already wondering when Magic City’s going to mint its second billionaire unicorn (REEF was the first).

“Legislation like this tells the tech world that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to be the innovation capital of the world,” says Mayor Suarez. “It’s a signal to the rest of the world that if you come here with innovative businesses and technologies we’re willing to innovate as a city around you and your technology to make sure that it works, that it’s given the support it needs to thrive, and that Miami is one of the most business friendly environments for the knowledge economy in America and the world. We continue to look for opportunities in the crypto space, in the biotech space, and attracting and building the best high-end educational, engineering, and STEM facilities in partnership with the private sector and with companies like REEF.”

The future of neighborhood logistics is here and it’s spectacular

Courtesy of REEF Technology

As for the future of proximity-as-a-platform, ghost kitchens, and pop-up last-block retail hubs, the smart money doesn’t seem to be betting against REEF’s new micro-logistics, on-demand economy. If anything, it’s consolidating.

In part thanks to SoftBank’s funding, REEF recently partnered with international logistics giant DHL, last mile delivery start-up Bond, healthcare services provider Carbon Health, and EV charging start-up Get Charged. Along with robotics startup Cartken, REEF recently began carbon-free autonomous deliveries in Miami.

The company is also tapping into the growing Millennial demand and political tailwinds for more sustainable, walkable, and connected cities, including turning some of its locations into sustainable, neighborhood, carbon-neutral hubs for grocery, food, and package delivery, using e-cargo bikes and low speed vehicles to fulfill orders from temperature-controlled shipping containers directly to customers’ homes.

REEF also is already fielding inquiries from data and telecoms companies to support 5G expansion and host remote cloud computing hubs that can power the connectedness of every neighborhood and city in the U.S. on a micro level to the world.

“Data and infrastructure is a huge part of our neighborhood hub (concept),” Ojalvo recently wrote in Tech Crunch. “It’s like electricity. Without electricity and connectivity, we don’t have the world that we want to see.” 

Pop-up vertical farming on site in action

Couresty of REEF Technology

More experientially, REEF is partnering with vertical farming companies like Crate to Plate on urban, hydroponic agriculture initiatives in empty lots which use recycled shipping containers to achieve the same production as an acre of farmland, using less energy and 96% less water than traditional methods. A single 40’ shipping container, for example, has the potential to produce over 3 tons of leafy greens every year for the surrounding community, says Ojalvo, which could revolutionize food deserts for communities that don’t have access to fresh, healthy produce.

Finally, this summer, REEF is launching the first of its experiential, open-air entertainment experiences in Austin, opening up an entirely new sector for the company’s pop-up logistics and operations capabilities.

Welcome to America’s next tech hub . . .

Courtesy of REEF Technology

As for Miami as America’s next great tech hub?

“Miami is competing with global tech and innovation hubs for talent and companies,” says Ojalvo. “This legislation is really just the beginning of a journey towards reimagining underutilized urban spaces, and creating a zoning framework that supports mobile, modular and micro enabled zoning that can create more vibrant and walkable neighborhoods while also continuing to seed Miami as a global epicenter for innovation.”

Translation: Austin, Boston, and Silicon Valley should expect more shots across the bow.

The post Miami Simply Rolled Out Its Latest Pink Carpet To The Tech World. Are San Francisco And Austin Paying Consideration? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.