Blog
Twitter HQ Landlord Paid San Francisco Over $4,000 In Fees After Musk’s Team Installed ‘X’ Sign On Roof
Aug
Twitter HQ Landlord Paid San Francisco Over $4,000 In Fees After Musk’s Team Installed ‘X’ Sign On Roof
Topline
The owner of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters paid the town $4,447 in fees this week after the social media company—now often called X—constructed and unexpectedly removed a glowing “X” sign atop its roof, the town told SME, as billionaire Elon Musk’s surprise rebrand of the platform draws scrutiny from each users and native permitting officials.
Employees install lighting on an “X” sign atop the corporate headquarters, formerly often called Twitter, in … [+]
Key Facts
Property owner Shorenstein needed to pay the San Francisco Department of Constructing Inspection and city Planning Department $3,686 in enforcement fees after the sign was constructed and removed without initially consulting the departments, DBI spokesperson Patrick Hannan told SME.
A permit for the removal of the sign, which was allowed to be secured after it was taken down this Monday, cost the owner one other $761—that allow covers all of the work performed on the sign, including its construction, Hannan noted.
The sign was removed Monday, a couple of days after the town sent the property owner a notice claiming its construction was unpermitted and presented questions of safety.
“Once the permit is accomplished the notice of violation can be abated,” Hannan told SME, meaning the town won’t pursue further motion.
Musk and Shorenstein couldn’t be reached for a comment.
Surprising Fact
Musk mocked the constructing’s landlord last week, claiming it called law enforcement concerning the sign. The billionaire has clashed with the property owner before: It sued the social media firm this December and last January over claims Musk’s company didn’t pay around $3.4 million in rent for each months.
Key Background
The X logo was put atop the Market Square headquarters last Friday and provoked an investigation from the town of San Francisco. An inspector visited the constructing that day and Saturday but was denied access to the roof. He was told the structure was “a short lived lighted sign for an event,” in keeping with a department filing. A notice of violation was issued against the property owner before the sign’s removal. Greater than per week ago, staff also removed several letters from the Twitter sign attached to the side of the constructing, but police interrupted the work because of confusion about permitting and since the property owners weren’t informed of the sign change, in keeping with the San Francisco Standard and a neighborhood NBC station. Musk has faced pressure for various other changes to the constructing. Former Twitter employees alleged in a lawsuit that management ordered them to make unsafe modifications to company office space that violated local and federal laws. The alleged violations were investigated by the Department of Constructing Inspection, though it’s unclear what became of them. The corporate also installed bedrooms for workers in its offices shortly after Musk bought Twitter last yr, prompting the town to analyze whether it was complying with constructing codes.
Tangent
Musk’s rebrand of Twitter into X, lower than a yr after he bought the corporate for $44 billion, signals the beginning of Musk’s transition into making X an “every thing app” that features much more features than posting for followers and messaging friends. The shift has accompanied a spread of other sudden and often-controversial changes for the social media platform: Musk has loosened the positioning’s content moderation rules, lifted a ban on former President Donald Trump and offered up blue verification checkmarks to paying users.
Further Reading
‘X’ Sign Abruptly Removed From Twitter HQ Following Complaints (SME)
Glowing X Logo Above Twitter HQ Triggers Latest Conflict Between Musk And San Francisco (SME)
