Plan for new Transbay Terminal in, under budget

April 22nd, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues  

San Francisco Chronicle
By John King
April 22nd, 2010

The iconic tower intended to come first is nowhere in sight, but San Francisco’s new Transbay Terminal is ready to go.

There are still plans for a 5.4-acre park that will rest atop three levels of shops and bus platforms, 70 feet in the air. The architecture retains the glassy futurism of the concept selected with fanfare in 2007.

Now, after two years of tweaking, the completed terminal design will be presented today to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. Officials say the first stage of construction - demolition of the existing terminal at First and Mission streets - should begin in August or September.

Under this scenario, the $1.189 billion terminal would open for bus service by 2017. An additional $400 million will be spent to build a shell beneath ground that will eventually house a train platform and concourse. [More...]

Deloitte nears big lease in San Francisco

April 9th, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, South of Market, Tenant Activity  

San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
April 9th, 2010

Consulting giant Deloitte & Touche has signed a preliminary agreement to lease 180,000 square feet at Tishman Speyer’s 555 Mission St., a deal that would fill up most of the remaining empty space in San Francisco’s newest office tower.

Under the 15-year agreement Deloitte would occupy 10 floors throughout the middle and upper levels of the building. Landlord Tishman Speyer would pony up most of a $12 million cash “kill fee” Deloitte must pay to terminate its existing lease [More...]

S.F. investor Sierra Maestra pays $4.3M for 153 Kearny

March 26th, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Midmarket/ City Hall, Tenant Activity  

The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
March 26th, 2010

Local investor Sierra Maestra Properties has acquired the 153 Kearny St. in San Francisco, a 54,000-square-foot office building that was emptied out and repositioned for residential condos during the economic boom only to be left mostly vacant when the housing market crashed.

The price Sierra Maesta Properties paid for the Class B building was not disclosed, but sources familiar with the transaction put it at about $4.3 million, a rock-bottom price of $80 a square foot. The seller was Amalgamated Bank, which foreclosed on the property. The prior owner was Ray Tonsing, who spent three years entitling the building for downtown lofts. He subsequently had a change of heart and unsuccessfully attempted to unload it as an office building for $18.5 million in 2007 when that market was peaking. [More...]

Citigroup Center going back to lender

March 5th, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Zoning & City Hall Issues  

The San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
March 5th, 2010

Broadway Partners is preparing to hand One Sansome St. back to Prudential Real Estate Investors, the latest in a series of highly leveraged downtown San Francisco owners who are voluntarily giving distressed properties back to the lender.

In late March, Prudential will take title to the 550,000-square-foot tower, called the Citigroup Center, and has brought on the Barker Pacific Group to manage the property, according to multiple sources familiar with the transaction.

The deal comes on the heels of Morgan Stanley’s decision to transfer five office buildings to AREA Property Partners and Hines’ calculated move to default on 333 Bush St., which paved the way for Brookfield Real Estate Finance to take ownership. In recent months, nine downtown San Francisco office properties, totaling more than [More...]

SFMOMA, city reach land agreement, allowing for museum expansion

February 22nd, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, Tenant Activity, Yerba Buena, Zoning & City Hall Issues  

The San Francisco Business Times
By Sarah Duxbury
February 22nd, 2010

The city and SFMOMA have reached a land agreement that is critical to the art museum’s planned expansion.

Under the agreement, announced today by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office, the city will give SFMOMA the existing fire station on Howard Street. In exchange, the museum will build the city a state-of-the-art fire station on Folsom Street, a deal that essentially translates to a $10 million gift from museum leadership to San Francisco, the mayor’s office said. [More...]

The 222 Second Street Scoop

February 16th, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, South of Market, Zoning & City Hall Issues  

222 2nd Street Rendering (Looking south on Second)Socketsite
February 16th, 2010

While truly plugged-in people have known about the proposed development of 222 Second Street on the corner of Howard for well over two years, details for the proposed 26-story development are now online via a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

As proposed, the project would be a rectilinear tower of diminishing bulk from the building base to a height of approximately 350 feet. At the fifth floor, the north façade of the building would be set back 5 feet from Howard Street and the west façade would be set back approximately 20 feet from the westerly property line. At the 17th story, the east façade would be set back 24.5 feet from Second Street, and the South façade would be set back 44.5 feet from Tehama Street. In addition, the fifth floor would include a further 5-foot recess, or “reveal,” on all four facades, [More...]

49 Stevenson sells for $24.2 million

January 11th, 2010   Filed Under Development Updates, South of Market  

San Francisco Business Times
By J.K. Dineen
January 11th, 2010

Taiwanese real estate investor Steven Pan has finalized the purchase of 49 Stevenson St. for $24.2 million, the latest sign that San Francisco’s long-dormant investment market is starting to come to life.

The $190-a-square-foot sale price represents a 40 percent decline for the value of the property, which the city currently assesses at $41 million. The seller was Invesco.

The sale price would be consistent with the other two similar second-tier downtown buildings that have sold in the last six months. In November the Shorenstein [More...]

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...]


free hit counter