50 Beale Street Trades Hands as Rockefeller JV Acquires Office Tower

September 19, 2012

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor The Rockefeller Group recently announced the acquisition of a class A office property in San Francisco’s South Financial District. A joint venture that the company created with Mitsubishi Estate New York has closed a deal securing the 50 Beale Street tower as the third acquisition the partnership has completed since [...]

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The Rockefeller Group recently announced the acquisition of a class A office property in San Francisco’s South Financial District. A joint venture that the company created with Mitsubishi Estate New York has closed a deal securing the 50 Beale Street tower as the third acquisition the partnership has completed since its creation. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 23-story office tower was built to serve as the Bechtel Corporation’s headquarters. Designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, 50 Beale St. stands at the intersection of Beale Street and Mission Street just two blocks from the massive upcoming Transbay Transit Center. When completed, the Transbay development will cost $4.2 billion in the hope of producing the “Grand Central Station of the West”.

50 Beale is a 662,060-square-foot complex that just completed extensive renovations. The building now holds LEED-EB certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The facility boasts an occupation rate of around 90 percent and a tenant roster featuring big names such as Bechtel and Blue Shield of California. According to the Rockefeller Group’s president and chief executive officer, Kevin R. Hackett, the company is “very pleased to partner with Mitsubishi and to expand our holdings to San Francisco.”

The Rockefeller Group is a company dealing with developing and owning real estate assets while also acting as an investment manager and operator with an extensive history in the field. The company goes as far back as the development of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Mitsubishi Estate New York is the investment arm of Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd, an entity dealing with comprehensive real estate development and investment.

According to projections made by industry analyst Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, San Francisco’s vacancy rates are considerably lower than the national average. On the backdrop of a general downward trend, the city is set to see its vacancy rates go even lower by the end of 2012, something that is illustrated by the development of 50 Beale Street.