Towering plan for new S.F. skyline unveiled
November 19th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
By John King & John Cote’
November 19th, 2009
The recession hasn’t stopped San Francisco’s city planners from thinking big.
The Planning Department released an ambitious set of proposals Thursday to turn the blocks around the Transbay Terminal into a commercial and transportation centerpiece of the region over the next two decades.
The 145-acre “Transit Center District” would redraw San Francisco’s skyline with a half-dozen towers taller than almost any in the city, including one stretching at least 100 feet higher [More...]
Lease expirations to slam San Francisco
November 16th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Midmarket/ City Hall, South of Market, Tenant Activity
San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
November 13th, 2009
A nascent recovery in San Francisco’s leasing market could be swamped by a wave of empty office space hitting the market in the next two years.
Consolidations by several large tenants — including Wells Fargo, Levi Strauss, Charles Schwab, Williams Sonoma and JP Morgan Chase - will result in the return of nearly 1 million square feet to the office market during the course of 2010, according to a forecast by Colliers International.
Wells Fargo will vacate 350,000 square feet at 155 Fifth St. in June 2010. In opting to renew at Levi’s Plaza at 1255 Battery St., Levi Strauss will shed about 200,000 square feet of its current 550,000-square-foot headquarters. William-Sonoma’s consolidation into the Icehouse on Union Street will result in about 75,000 square feet of vacant space at Mariposa Square on Florida Street and Wamu Card Services, now JP Morgan Chase, will give back about 105,000 square feet at 123 Mission St., according to Colliers. [More...]
Shared spirit in 1 Kearny’s styles from 3 eras
November 12th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District
San Francisco Chronicle
By John king
November 10th, 2009
The newest building on Market Street in San Francisco isn’t really a building at all. It’s a 10-story bookend with a coat of brick-red terra cotta and crisp black metal.
It’s also the third piece of an architectural collage started in 1902 - a triptych that manages to distill a century of design and cultural trends into a single building that covers less than half a block.
The largest piece of what’s now called One Kearny came first, a 12-story burst of French Renaissance ebullience designed by William Curlett. There’s a regal granite base, the emphatic thrust of sandstone and then, at the summit, a steep two-story roof clad in red clay tiles and punctuated by florid dormer windows. [More...]
Shorensteins prevail in bid for S.F. building
November 9th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District
San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
November 6th, 2009
The Shorensteins are jumping back into the downtown market with the $25 million purchase of 188 Spear St., the first property the legendary family real estate investment firm has bought in San Francisco since 2005.
Prudential Real Estate Investors is in contract to sell the 147,000-square-foot office property to Shorenstein for $170 a square foot, a 56 percent drop from the $385 a square foot or $56.9 million that the city assessed the south financial district property for last fiscal year. The only other Class A financial district building to sell this year, 250 Montgomery St., traded for $172 a square foot — also a 56 percent drop from its previous sale in 2006. [More...]
