Blue Shield Heads to Oakland

By IvyLee Rosario

610 City Center, Oakland

San Francisco—Blue Shield of California is relocating its headquarters in 2019 to 601 City Center in Oakland, Calif. from its current location at 50 Beale St. in San Francisco. The move is designed to reduce administrative costs as well as provide a new, state-of-the-art facility for 1,200 employees and strengthen the company’s position for long-term, sustainable growth.

The 601 City Center building is being developed by Shorenstein Realty Services on behalf of a joint venture between a Shorenstein investment fund and MetLife. Construction on the 24-story high-rise begins in 2017 and will be ready for occupancy in the third quarter of 2019. The property, located in Oakland’s business district, will be LEED Gold Certified and will encompass 600,000 square feet of space.

Blue Shield will occupy 200,000 square feet at the 601 City Center. The company estimates that this lease could save at least $26 million over the same term of occupancy compared to San Francisco.

Blue Shield will also be opening a new office in San Francisco with a conference center, event space and sales department. The Foundation, an independent organization funded entirely by contributions from Blue Shield, will remain headquartered in San Francisco.

“Blue Shield has called San Francisco its home since the health plan was founded 78 years ago. We are proud of our relationship with San Francisco, dedicated to its communities and committed to keeping the Foundation headquartered in the city,” said Paul Markovich, president & CEO of Blue Shield, in prepared remarks. “However, Blue Shield’s mission challenges us to evaluate our resources in a way that furthers access to affordable, quality health care.”

JLL’s Tom Maloney represented Blue Shield in the lease transaction. The landlord was represented by Tom McDonnell of Shorenstein Realty Services and John Dolby and Dane Hooks of Cushman & Wakefield.

Image courtesy of Shorenstein website