Presidio Trust Raked in Record $182M Last Year

A federal trust in charge of the Presidio national park in San Francisco is operating in the black, as President Donald Trump looks to gut the agency.

The Presidio Trust achieved record earned operating revenue of $182 million last year, while reinvesting $58 million in net operating income back into the 1,500-acre park at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, the agency reported.

The trust released the financial figures as it prepares to respond to an executive order from Trump calling for eliminating the agency’s functions and reducing its personnel “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The trust plans to respond by March 5.

Trump’s order said its goal was to “minimize government waste and abuse.”

But the Presidio Trust, which works in partnership with the National Park Service to manage the Presidio, has not received a dime from Congress since 2013.

Instead, it relies mostly on income from businesses and residents who rent the former military buildings it has rehabilitated in the park, the trust said in a news release.

The trust also earns revenue by operating historic hotels, a historic Army golf course, and by operating most of the utilities within the Presidio. All of it is reinvested into the park.

The unique powers granted to the Presidio Trust, in the 1996 law that created it, allow it to operate with the financial flexibility and savvy of a private business, while sticking to its mission to keep the Presidio open and free as a national park site.

Since 2013, the Presidio Trust has generated more than $1.1 billion in value to taxpayers since it stopped taking annual appropriations in 2013, according to the release. Since then, it has generated more than $350 million in net operating income.

Operations within the park include electrical, wastewater, drinking water, and telecommunications utilities maintenance, plus miles of roads, trails and sidewalks, in addition to hosting more than 9.5 million free visits in 2023.

At the same time, the trust says it has leveraged more than $750 million in private funding to renew and improve the buildings and lands of the Presidio as a result of its public-private partnerships.

Trump’s order also targeted the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace for potential elimination. While the immediate effects of the order remain unclear, it’s expected to face legal challenges.

State Sen. Scott Wiener criticized Trump’s order as legally dubious, calling the Presidio Trust a “national treasure” and vowing to contest the action.

The former military base has restaurants, a golf course and a hotel, as well as museums, schools, campgrounds and hiking trails, according to its website. The park, originally an 18th century Spanish fort and later a U.S. Army post, was decommissioned in the late 1980s.

Its 2 million-square-foot commercial portfolio in 2023 was expected to grow to 2.5 million square feet.

— Dana Bartholomew