The Silicon Valley Success Story Every RE Investor Should Know

You've probably heard of the Silicon Valley legends; Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, Steve Jobs. You've definitely heard of their companies and the others that started and grew there; Intel, HP, Apple, Google, AMD, Cisco, eBay, Netflix, Facebook, on and on. But there's one guy and his company that you probably haven't heard of who's behind all those companies being there; the developer who turned orchards and farmland into the center of the universe for tech companies.

His name is John Arrillaga Sr. and he's the 77-year-old co-founding partner of the valley's pioneering developer, Peery Arrillaga. His rags to riches story is one we should all learn from. Luckily for us Fortune mag just did an extended feature on him, his company and what they built. Arrillaga is a very humble and reclusive guy but when your son-in-law is Mosaic creator, Netscape co-founder and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen word will eventually get out.

No spoiler-alert needed here, read the article linked above. There is however another reason to think about Silicon Valley in terms of real estate and that is jobs (jobs not Jobs). Employment is what drives population growth and household formation, two things near and dear to every apartment building investor (as well as other CRE and sfr investors but hey, I'm a multifamily guy). Have a look at the graphic below to see the impact of tech jobs around the US. Along with energy, tech is one of the main drivers of economic growth in the country and if you're looking for another investment market I'd check out the blue dots.

Note: Clicking on the images will take you to the source articles.

Good hunting-