Exploratorium a step closer to waterfront site
September 25th, 2009 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, North Beach/ Waterfront, Tenant Activity, Zoning & City Hall Issues
San Francisco Chronicle
By John Cote
September 24th, 2009
Picture Courtesy of Socketsite
The Exploratorium is a step closer to getting a new home now that the city’s Port Commission has approved a 66-year lease to move the interactive children’s science museum to the waterfront, making it just a short walk from the Ferry Building.
The lease deal for side-by-side Piers 15 and 17 marks a major milestone for the proposal to move the renowned museum from the Palace of Fine Arts to the Embarcadero, where it would be readily accessible to pedestrians and ferry, BART and Muni passengers.
“It’s such a great location,” said Jennifer Sobol, project manager for the port. “It will be so easy for schoolkids and families to get there.” [More...]
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...]
Norcal Waste takes 20,000 square feet at 50 California Street
January 30th, 2009 Filed Under Financial District, North Beach/ Waterfront, Tenant Activity
50 California Street has signed up a real and credible tenant of significant size in San Francisco’s financial district during a period of otherwise relatively slow leasing activity. Norcal Waste, currently housed at 160 Pacific but with subsidiaries scattered across the Bay Area (including some composting and landfill operations), has leased almost 20,000 sqft as reported today by the San Francisco Business Times.
This lease is significant to office tenants here in San Francisco for two reasons. First and foremost, any lease of this size signed in the financial district during our current recession is newsworthy because most tenants are waiting for future pricing declines before taking space if they are able to. That being said, trying to time the market is not advised and if the right opportunity presents itself you have to be prepared to strike, and it sounds like this space is a great fit for Norcal.
Secondly, as you will discover in the story by J.K. Dineen below, there is some back story to how this deal happened including a signed Letter of Intent that did not lead to a lease at a different location. I know nothing about how this process unfolded but I do know that over the past few months, as the market has declined, it has become the norm for tenants to ask for rental rate reductions [More...]
Real stats, real numbers: 2008 market wrapup
December 29th, 2008 Filed Under Financial District, Mission Bay, North Beach/ Waterfront, Showplace Square, South of Market, Tenant Activity
As the year grinds to an end and we look back at the recent damage that has been done to our great Country’s financial markets I thought it would be beneficial to my clients to publish some real data. We are all well aware by now of what has happened to the stock market, the unemployment rate, and of course the equity of some of our most famous corporate institutions. How all of this will have an affect on San Francisco’s commercial real estate rental rates and vacancy numbers has yet to be determined however.
What we do know is that in the most general of senses rental rates are dropping, building values are dropping, vacancy rates are increasing, sublease space is increasing, and the velocity of deals happening in the marketplace is at a minimum. The uncertainty surrounding what 2009 will bring and what affect the bailout will have on the economy has left most of us doing whatever we can to cut costs and be efficient moving forward. This mentality applies even to those companies with strong [More...]
Office rents continue to drop, recent leases give teeth to the decline
December 12th, 2008 Filed Under Development Updates, Financial District, Mission Bay, North Beach/ Waterfront, Showplace Square, South of Market, Tenant Activity, Yerba Buena, Zoning & City Hall Issues
The well acknowledged market slowdown in San Francisco’s financial district has finally started to show itself in the form of actual lease transactions. Predictions that rental numbers were headed South have been around for quite some time of course but now the theories have some teeth. Tenants have been pushing very hard on landlords for more concessions and lower numbers, landlords have been actively cutting rates and increasing concessions to appeal to tenants, but the truth is activity is slowed as a whole, which means there are fewer tenants to pursue.
The majority of tenants that have decisions to make have been pushing back the date in which they plan to make those real estate location decisions. That being said some tenants have a lease expiration now, and some tenants may see this as the best time to grab a lower rental rate while the opportunity exists. Wells Fargo made some very intelligent and well documented real estate space decisions following the dot com era, and their recent commitment to 55,000 square feet at 45 Fremont may once again prove to be brilliant timing. [More...]
San Francisco Office Update: End of August Vacancy Report
September 3rd, 2008 Filed Under Financial District, Mission Bay, North Beach/ Waterfront, Showplace Square, South of Market
The information below represents a breakdown of the number of buildings currently advertised as available here in San Francisco. For the sake of this explanation, I use three broad submarkets and search for spaces available in a variety of sizes. Visit the “Current Vacancies & Market Stats” tab at the top of the page for a downloadable version of this information.
South of Market Vacancies as of August 31, 2008:
- 27 buildings have spaces between 5-10K sq.ft.
- 19 buildings have spaces between 10-15K sq.ft.
- 17 buildings have spaces between 15-25K sq.ft.
- 15 buildings have spaces between 25-50K sq.ft.
- 12 buildings have spaces between 50-100K sq.ft. [More...]
San Francisco Office Update: Elastra takes 16,733 square feet at 75 Broadway
July 31st, 2008 Filed Under Financial District, North Beach/ Waterfront, Tenant Activity
According to Costar, a web service that tracks tenant activity across the country, Elastra has inked a deal to take new space in San Francisco. The lease is for 40 months and 16,733 square feet. Elastra will be leaving 201 Spear Street and moving over to 75 Broadway, also known as the Golden Gate Commons.
In my opinion this is an interesting move for a San Francisco tech tenant in the sense that they are getting physically further away from the ballpark, which is ground zero today for internet based companies. Elastra is in the world of cloud computing, which is becoming increasingly popular as companies require more flexibility with their information, faster and less expensive scaling, and security fears diminish. I have no inside knowledge of this transaction, and I wonder if the move North was motivated by price, or possibly a need to start connecting with the types of companies that are traditionally located in the Financial District. 75 Broadway is a wonderful building, a great place to do business, and is located in a neighborhood I think very highly of. Perhaps the move is simply motivated by executives who want a pleasant place to go everyday? [More...]
