Pyramid’s steep path from civic eyesore to icon
December 27th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Chronicle
By John King
December 27th, 2009
The Transamerica Pyramid is San Francisco’s tallest and best-known tower. It’s a registered corporate trademark, a fixture on postcards - and proof that snap judgments on buildings can often be wrong.
Construction began 40 years ago this month over the loud objection of anyone who was anyone in urban design. The city’s top planner called the proposal “an inhumane creation.” The Washington Post’s critic recoiled at “a second-class world’s fair Space Needle.” Progressive Architecture magazine warned the impact on San Francisco would be “no less reprehensible than … destroying Grand Canyon.”
Instead, the 853-foot-tall tower that opened in 1972 has become a civic icon. [More...]
S.F. real estate story line: Flight to quality
December 18th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
December 18th, 2009
San Francisco office tenants are increasingly gravitating to downtown’s most prestigious trophy towers, taking advantage of desperate landlords to lock in cheap rents, according to a study by Jones Lang LaSalle.
While overall San Francisco tenants gave up 1.3 million square feet more than they leased in 2009, the city’s 49 most prominent buildings — JLL calls them the Skyline 49 — actually had about 100,000 square feet of positive absorption over the past two quarters. [More...]
Morgan Stanley to give back San Francisco buildings
December 11th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District
The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
December 11th, 2009
Morgan Stanley Real Estate, one of San Francisco’s largest office landlords, plans to give back to its lender five downtown office buildings acquired in 2007 at the apex of the boom.
The properties were part of Morgan Stanley’s $2.43 billion portfolio purchase from the Blackstone Group, the largest real estate transaction in San Francisco history.
The properties will be given to the property arm of New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a consensual transfer, a complex transaction that has been nearly a year in the making. [More...]
Brookfield Properties forecloses on 333 Bush in S.F.
December 11th, 2009 Filed Under Financial District, Tenant Activity
The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
December 11th, 2009
Brookfield Properties has foreclosed on 333 Bush St. and the cash-rich Toronto-based real estate investment trust is positioning itself to scoop up more distressed office towers over the next year.
Brookfield took ownership of the 543,000-square-foot office building Dec. 3 after a trustee sale on San Francisco City Hall’s back steps failed to produce any bidders. A Brookfield subsidiary held a junior piece of a $224 million loan on the property; Hypo Bankheld the senior piece of the debt. Brookfield Senior Vice President Bert Dezzutti, who oversees California for the company, said Brookfield has opened an office in San Francisco and is ramping up property management operations.
“It’s not how we envisioned we would enter the market, but we are comfortable with it,” said Dezzutti. “It will be for us a launching pad for a greater presence. Now with 333 Bush St. we will have a beachhead that will allow us to explore other opportunities. Our intention is to grow here, not to have a one-off building.” [More...]
Babcock & Brown Aircraft Subleases 28,730 SF
December 4th, 2009 Filed Under Financial District, South of Market, Tenant Activity
The CoStar Group
By Ryan Munneke
November 30th, 2009
Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management LLC subleased 28,730 square feet at 525 Market St. in San Francisco.
The commercial jet fleet management company will move in before the end of the year. Babcock subleased the Oracle space for $17 per square foot with two months free through October 2011.
Knickerbocker Properties Inc. XXI owns the First Market Tower, a 39-story, 1.08 million-square-foot office building at 525 Market St.
