San Francisco has held one of the top spot since 1997, holdingthird place since 2000. Other cities making the list includeWashington, DC and New York in a tie for first place, followed byBoston, Chicago and Los Angeles respectively. Kingsley Associates,a real estate research firm, conducted the survey in early Octoberamong AFIRE members.

"Our perspective on the San Francisco market is as the largestowner of Class A office buildings in the Financial District," saysGlenn Shannon, President of Shorenstein Company. "We do not own anyproperty in the San Francisco submarkets that rose to prominenceand have now fallen back as part of the technology boom and bust.The recent problems of many technology companies have hadrelatively modest impact on most Financial Districtproperties."

"While rental rates have fallen back to about 1998 levelsbecause the "push" from technology demand has disappeared,occupancy remains solid and net rents remain attractive," addsShannon. "The overall Financial District direct vacancy is around7% and in our own portfolio it is less than 2%. Most importantly,San Francisco is and will remain one of the premier US businesscenters. We are a city of diverse businesses with a well-educatedworkforce, world-renown universities and a high quality oflife."