The VC buying up prized real estate in SF says not to “listen to agitators”

VC Neil Mehta, the Greenoaks Capital co-founder tied to a growing number of building purchases across several blocks of San Francisco’s once-glittering Fillmore Street commercial district, defended himself on Monday via an op-ed in The San Francisco Standard, saying the moves are solely about revitalizing a “city that has given me more than I could ever give back to it.” 

The piece aims to push back at local politicians, including SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who recently held a rally on the street, telling onlookers and reporters that Mehta’s buying spree will displace longtime small businesses. (Peskin is also running for mayor of SF.)

Mehta – who definitely underestimated the blowback from the purchases – further argues that he’s not looking to make a fast buck on the real estate holdings. They’re being purchased via a real estate fund that he backs through a nonprofit to which he (alone) has donated $100 million. As such, insists Mehta, he has  “zero financial interest in these properties,” “will receive nothing in return,” and any proceeds will be “reinvested in the community.”