Right off the Ninth Street and Civic Center exit on U.S. Highway 101, a billboard shows a clear message from Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami. "Thinking about moving to Miami?" the billboard reads. "DM me."

Frank Lanza/Special to SFGATE, Feb. 19, 2021Updated: Feb. 19, 2021 2:02 p.m.

Right off the Ninth Street and Civic Center exit on U.S. Highway 101, you may see an unexpected request.

Fashioned to look like a tweet, the billboard shows a clear message from Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami. "Thinking about moving to Miami?" the billboard reads. "DM me." (A similar one was reportedly placed in the South Bay, though SFGATE did not immediately confirm this.)

The billboard, the Miami Herald reported, is being funded by Shervin Pishevar, a prominent investor with a 13,000-square-foot property in Miami Beach.

Pishevar was accused by at least five women of sexual misconduct following a rape allegation that led to his arrest in the United Kingdom. The charge was later dropped by London police. He left Sherpa Capital, the venture capital firm he co-founded, shortly after the accusations were made public in a Bloomberg report.

Alexis Ohanian, former Reddit CEO and husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, was also involved in the planning of the billboard.

Miami's mayor, like many other city officials, is vying for the tech class to make their way to his city.

With tech companies pivoting largely to remote work — and downsizing their Bay Area offices as a result — the pandemic has presented an opportunity for some to abandon the high cost of living in the Bay Area and move elsewhere.

That said, concerns over a San Francisco exodus are not entirely founded. Per KTVU, USPS data revealed that while some are leaving San Francisco, a good portion of the leavers are merely fleeing to other parts of the Bay Area.

There's also a larger push throughout the state to leave California, propped up by Facebook groups and other small, ad-hoc networks.

Already, Texas has secured its place as one of the key states for the tech exodus. Multiple tech companies, including Oracle and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, have already announced plans to move their headquarters to the Lone Star State.

Miami and South Florida have also emerged as one of the more popular destinations for the Bay Area tech class to decamp to during the pandemic.

Suarez's message has been met with support from VCs, Bitcoin evangelists and other Silicon Valley types. At least a couple of proponents for Miami have already proclaimed Suarez "the GOAT" — the greatest of all time — on Twitter for his efforts to reach Bay Area populations.

Last month, Social Capital CEO and Warriors co-owner Chamath Palihapitiya said of Suarez: "I have to admit it, the hype is real."

"It’s amazing to see the outcome when you focus on competent governance and common sense leadership," he said in a tweet.

The mayor has also become something of a folk hero for tech mavens. Earlier this month, he appointed a VC-in-Residence with the goal of "support[ing] Miami's founders, investors and community leaders." He's also personally investing in cryptocurrency, and has supported paying employees with Bitcoin.

His push to appease and capture a specific demographic of Bay Area resident seems to show no signs of slowing down. After all, this is the first time a mayor has called prospective movers to slide into their DMs.

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