This can be a smart move. The bank I work for sold our main building in Downtown Chicago to a real estate firm. Big building 37 floors half a city block by a full city block. This got the bank out of the renting, cleaning maintenance etc. The real estate firm was much better at renting out unused floors etc, keeping the place running smoothly. Personally I think the govt should get out of real estate, get those properties on the tax rolls etc.
I agree. I don’t think the government functions effectively as a leasing office. Let’s see what these private investors, who have to turn a profit, can do with it. With that said, I hope the state government is not agreeing to pay super-high rents to these private owners. Being a resident of CA, I can tell you the state government has zero fiscal sense, so they would negotiate a bad deal.