San Francisco considers expanding Moscone Center
June 26th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Yerba Buena, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The following article from the San Francisco Chronicle, written by James Temple, explains in good detail the likely path to Moscone Center expansion.
This is a crossover issue for those of us in the commercial real estate world because one of the buildings listed as potentially being razed to create additional convention space is 680 Folsom, which has been advertised as available for lease over the past year. 680 was going to be rehabbed with a beautiful glass exterior prior to the economic downturn that has lowered lease rates and occupancy levels across the City. [More...]
San Francisco suspends effort on Transbay District site
June 16th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The following article from the San Francisco Business Times sums up the future, or lack thereof, of a full city block at First & Folsom in San Francisco.
We have reported on this site previously, and the inability to work out development plans for the property at this time speaks to the state of the market. If you work or live in the South Financial District or Rincon [More...]
1st & Folsom bid process and a Transbay development update
March 29th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
John King of the the Chronicle discussed the latest updates this week for the First & Folsom development site in the South Financial District here in San Francisco.
The commentary is actually geared toward the veil of secrecy surrounding the bidding process, but the way King surrounds the story with historical context and also explains how the development fits into the larger submarket growth is more intriguing to me.
I am a big fan of King’s writing as I have stated and reading his work will make you smarter, as well as educate you about the future of the financial district’s vertical growth through transbay development. [More...]
Duane Morris restructures, Schwab to vacate One Montgomery
March 27th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Midmarket/ City Hall, Mission Bay, South of Market, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
Posts have been few and far between here at San Francisco Tenant Representation lately and I apologize for that. Fortunately I have been occupied assisting clients and as we have discussed, the market demands a great deal of attention on every transaction in this climate.
Below you will find a catchup list of events, developments, and transactions that have occurred over the past month or so. The biggest trend to pay attention to today, which has not quite shown itself in transactions yet, is the tendency right now for firms to put excess space on the sublease market… even if they only recently signed leases for this space. The best examples comes from 555 Mission, which is a beautiful new building trying hard to fill direct space. Two of the newest tenants to the project have already listed space for sublease, before ever taking occupancy of that space.
Economic Downturn Tests Sector Resilience Globe Street/ March 23rd, 2009
Duane Morris Restructures One Market Lease Costar Group/ March 11th, 2009
Law Firm Moving to 3 Embarcadero Center Costar Group/ March 11th, 2009
Architecture Firm Buys Historic San Francisco Building Costar Group/ February 25th, 2009
Bebo Co-Founders Buy Musto Plaza for $7.25 Million San Francisco Business Times/ March 20th, 2009
$30M Redevelopment for One Market Retail San Francisco Business Times/ March 13th, 2009
Skyline Review breaks down space availability in downtown San Francisco
February 13th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Mission Bay, North Beach/ Waterfront, South of Market, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Chronicle this past week covered a report that was created by my firm, Jones Lang LaSalle, that details the available office space in downtown San Francisco.
Our research department truly does outstanding work, and for this report the data was given a beautiful visual representation by our great graphics people. Normally I don’t cover our reports on this site, but rather I try to focus on real events that occur in the marketplace that have a direct affect on what my clients may pay in rent. In this case however I am proud to be associated with such professionalism and I am certain this type of support makes me a better agent.
Despite the associated picture only detailing 11 properties, the original piece details San Francisco’s top 30 buildings and includes written market updates and relevant recent news and information. I would be happy to supply you with a hard copy of the report, feel free to reach out to me if you are interested in getting a hold of a physical copy. [More...]
888 Brannan Street Jewelry Mart repositioned for office use
January 26th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Showplace Square, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The new owners of the long time home of the San Francisco Gift Center and Jewelrymart have begun their expected transition of the property by announcing the introduction of an office component. The Eastern Neighborhoods Plan, recently approved for implementation, allows a mixed-use to take place that drastically improves the market value of the property by increasing what the owners will be able to charge in rental rates.
As you will see below in the article from the San Francisco Business Times, the SOMA/ Showplace Square area in which 888 Brannan is located suffers from high vacancy numbers yet it enjoys high rental rates at the same time. These two numbers normally work against each other but the uniqueness of these neighborhoods create a marketability to tech tenants and smaller tenants that is not comparable to other submarkets. Also, the great majority of available space is tied up in large properties that are still undergoing a transition and not necessarily suitable for a 5-25K sq ft user, 370 Third and 1355 Market Street being the best two examples.
From a tenant’s perspective this is welcome news. [More...]
Friday Updates: Condos sales slow, Soma Sale, Transportation 2035
January 23rd, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Mission Bay, South of Market, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
This website is designed to gather information that is relevant to my clients doing business in San Francisco. Normally we cover tenant relocations, construction updates, and indicators such as vacancy rates and pricing adjustments.
Occasionally however I link to stories that are important to those that spend time in the City, but that may have an effect on us in a different way. Below you will find residential, pedestrian, and streetcar coverage. Plus a link to a great explanation of the latest updates to the Regional Transportation Plan. Enjoy!
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Condo developers in S.F. hurting for buyers (Chronicle)
New streetcar to link parking lot development (Examiner)
Market/ Octavia bike lane will stay for now (StreetsblogSF)
Regional Transportation Plan: A 2035 Blueprint (Transbay Blog)
Universal Electric buys two SOMA properties (Costar Group)
Federal building face-off, Giants parking lot & 110 The Embarcadero
January 21st, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Midmarket/ City Hall, Mission Bay, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The San Francisco Chronicle has two writers that cover aspects of commercial real estate either full time or part time and the paper has produced three very interesting news stories over the past week.
John King, who runs a regular column called “Place” on Tuesdays in the Chronicle, reported this week on the contrast between the newly opened (relatively speaking) federal building on Seventh and Mission and the former federal building across the street that opened in 1905. The discussion is not just about structure, but about style and cost as well. In today’s world, City leaders are cognizant of public perception regarding use of tax payer dollars, and new state financed properties are designed to be as efficient and sustainable as pricing allows. His article is worth your time as King [More...]
Tishman Speyer writes down property values, San Francisco included
January 16th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market
The parent company of the entity that owns several downtown San Francisco office buildings has chosen to write down the values on a large number of their U.S. holdings, as reported by the Costar Group this week. Tishman Speyer, which has ownership control over 595 Market and One Bush Street decreased the worth of the overall portfolio by more than 10%. Tishman is also finishing the construction on 555 Mission Street which was not mentioned in the article. Despite having done a great job with this building they do still have quite a bit of vacancy in a decllining market.
This action on behalf of Tishman is reflective of what our commercial properties are facing on a much grander scale. Downtown San Francisco properties are valued and sold on a cap rate basis, which means potential investors see rental income as a return on investment. Recently rents have declined, and vacancy has gone up. Therefore when a building gets “valued” in today’s economy it is likely the computed value will have decreased as well. This is somewhat similar to what happened in the housing market where property values decreased to prices lower than what was owed on the mortgage, resulting in foreclosures. Will that happen in our great city to any of our beautiful office buildings? Stay tuned… [More...]
Friday Updates: Schlage approval, Transbay video, Doyle Drive, NMTC to SOMA
December 20th, 2008 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
It has been a busy week in San Francisco. The majority of the action as usual is sitting behind the scenes, overwhelmed by the Nations coast-to-coast financial meltdown.
Below you will find links to stories that may have missed the front pages, but will certainly have an effect on how we move forward as a City over the next decade. The Doyle Drive update is of particular interest to me as it shows good signs of the City making smart progress.
NMTC Fund Launching Warehouse Conversion (Globe St.)
Transbay Transit Terminal Ground Breaking Video (Socketsite)
Office rents continue to drop (SF Tenant Representation)
Environmental report, approved for Doyle Drive (Chronicle)
Approved (Finally): Schlage Family Housing (Curbed SF)
