Oh, man. I lived across the street from an apartment complex in Oakland for about 5 years that had a beautiful ground floor corner commercial real estate unit t

Oh, man. I lived across the street from an apartment complex in Oakland for about 5 years that had a beautiful ground floor corner commercial real estate unit that was empty the entire time. Sure, Oakland and all that. But other spots in the neighborhood would see commercial places show up, last months (or years!) and then leave. This place was perpetually empty. Talking to some shop owners in the area, they would say, “Oh yeah, that location is way too expensive”. The ultimate reason was this. It was more beneficial for the landlord to have this vacant spot for 5 years than to, god forbid, lower the rent to something the market felt was reasonable. Weirdly, in the last few months we lived in that area, the unit was converted to residential (?!). A contractor came in for a few weeks to build a better bathroom and kitchen. It still had the huge glass picture windows and glass door you see in traditional storefronts but someone put up curtains and one of those cheesy “welcome!” mats out front. I just can’t believe it was more financially advantageous to have 0 rent for 5 years and then renovate vs just having any tenant.