Twitter is valued at around $8 billion dollars– but does that kind of economic clout bring along with it the ability to revitalize a neighborhood? The social media giant recently relocated to a new home in the mid-market district of San Francisco, keeping the company in the city of its birth. However, in order to stay put (instead of moving abroad), the micro-blogging company received a payroll tax exemption from the city, valued at $22 million.
Their fancy new digs include a rooftop garden, skee-ball machines, a yoga room, and a cafeteria, dubbed The Birdfeeder, because what else would the cafeteria of Twitter be named?
Twitter is inspiring other technology firms to move to the area, including Dolby Laboratories, which announced the purchase of a $110 million piece of the building in June. This was the vision of building developer Shorestein Properties LLC who imagined Twitter as the tent-pole of gentrification in the area with hopes that other high tech firms would follow suit.
With the city and renovators working together the neighborhood could be a nest to incubate technology in the city. The more the city encourages development of this kind the further the city’s reputation as a tech hub will grow, even if it’s just 140 characters at a time.
More photos:
[Twisted Sifter]
Images: @Troy Holden, via Flickr.
