Downtown San Francisco office building sells for far below estimated value

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Local

Downtown San Francisco office building sells for far below estimated value

Tessa McLean, SFGATE
May 8, 2023



A view of 350 California St. in San Francisco. The office tower recently sold.
Google Streetview

A downtown San Francisco office building has reportedly sold for roughly 75% less than its previously estimated value, a bad omen for the sagging commercial real estate market.

350 California St., which was first listed for sale in 2020, sold to SKS Real Estate Partners for somewhere between $60 million and $67.5 million, according to a report by the San Francisco Business Times.

The Financial District building is mostly empty — Union Bank, which occupied about 75% of the building, has largely vacated the 22-story tower.

This wasn’t the first time the owners of 350 California tried to sell the property. In 2021, bidding for the building never surpassed $180 million and owners took it off the market, according to the Wall Street Journal. In 2019, the property was estimated at around $300 million, brokers told the publication.

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Written By
Tessa McLean
Reach Tessa on https://twitter.com/mcleantessa
Tessa is a Local Editor for SFGATE. Before joining the team in 2019, she specialized in food, drink and lifestyle content for numerous publications including Liquor.com, The Bold Italic, 7x7 and more. Contact her at [e-mail].

[exboyfil]

1. Probably should have taken that $180M bid

[TeamProg]

2. People in the know have been predicting a commercial real estate crash for a few years now.

I guess it's here.

[Easterncedar]

4. Converting empty office space for housing

Is unfortunately prohibitively expensive, but clearly the call for office space now so many work from home is gone.

Meanwhile, the debate in my little town is where we can let the homeless set up their tents.

[TeamProg]

5. Great point. There must be a way, though... nt

[Brother Buzz]

9. They successfully did it in SF's Civic center a couple of years back

100 Van Ness Avenue


Status Completed
Type Office (1974)
Residential (2015)
Location 100 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco

Roof 400 ft (122 m)
Technical details
Floor count 29
Design and construction
Architect(s) Albert F. Roller
Office building
Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Residential conversion
Structural engineer H.J. Brunnier


100 Van Ness is a skyscraper in San Francisco. Formerly an office building, it was converted into residential use. It is located in the Civic Center neighborhood near the San Francisco City Hall on Van Ness Avenue. The building, completed in 1974, stands 400 feet (122 m) and has 29 floors of former office space that housed the California State Automobile Association (CSAA).[3]

The building was sold by CSAA (AAA) to VNO Patson, LLC in 2008 and was leased back to CSAA until 2010, at which time they relocated to a new corporate headquarters campus near Walnut Creek. VNO Patson's interest in the building was foreclosed on by its lender and is now[when?] owned by Civic Center Commons Associates, which took title to the property in 2011. The current[when?] owner, Emerald Fund, converted the building into 418 rental apartments. It was completed by 2015.[2] The conversion was completed by the San Francisco office of Solomon Cordwell and Buenz and the interior design was completed by New York-based Irish Interior Designer Colum McCartan, founder and principal of McCARTAN.

[Easterncedar]

10. Nice

[Brother Buzz]

11. Unfortunately, they demolished CSAA's original building next door in the process

It had a drop dead beautiful lobby



I understood they salvaged a ton of it, and it's parked in a warehouse somewhere

[Easterncedar]

12. I should have gone into historic preservation

More practical than the classics, and it might have been satisfying to fight to save some of these beautiful buildings. Ah well.

[awesomerwb1]

3. Heard or read recently that there's

TONS of empty commercial space in SF and some of that space will probably end up being converted to residential but there's a lot of red tape involved with zoning etc.

[IbogaProject]

6. Physically tough to convert

The plumbing alone is a huge task. In commercial spaces there are just a few restrooms, in residential every living unit gets a kitchen and one or more bathrooms.

[awesomerwb1]

8. Yes, the very high cost of converting was mentioned

[SunSeeker]

7. Turn it into an affordable rent apartment building. That's what San Francisco NEEDS. nt