San Francisco Historic Office Building Changes Hands

By Mihaela Coste

901 Battery St., San Francisco

Newmark Knight Frank represented The Swig Co. and Medley Partners in the sale of a 89,904-square-foot office building in the North Waterfront-Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco to Shorenstein Co. Financial details were not undisclosed.

Located at 901 Battery St., the four-story asset is home to a diverse group of tenants in technology communications and architecture. The property is situated in a submarket that has a combined vacancy rate of 5.6 percent and where new leases are signed in the $70 to $80 per square foot range. MUNI and Golden Gate Transit are less than one block from the property, while BART and the Ferry are both a 10-minute walk away. In the neighborhood, there are also many of the city’s best restaurants and retail boutiques.

Significant improvements

Originally built as a cigar manufacturing warehouse in 1923, the property was redeveloped into a creative office space, with ceiling heights ranging from 13 feet and 8 inches to 15 feet and 10 inches, large and expansive windows and views of the San Francisco Bay. The $5.4 million improvements made by The Swig Co. and Medley Partners, which acquired the property in January 2013, include lobby and façade renovations and state-of-the-art tenant improvements. 901 Battery St. includes a separate 4,100-square-foot parcel used as a parking structure, which can be entitled and developed.

“There was strong demand for this property given the great repositioning work the seller had done,” said Kovac in a prepared statement. “They recognized the opportunity to leverage the building’s unique features and take greater advantage of an established submarket that is getting increased attention from technology companies and venture capitalists,” he added.  “Shorenstein has the ability to substantially increase the yield in the near-term by capitalizing on market rents as leases expire.”

Kyle Kovac, Michael Taquino, Daniel Cressman and Mandy Lee of NKF represented the seller. With this transaction, the team has closed eight San Francisco office building deals so far this year, including the recent $34 million sale of an office asset totaling 37,104 square feet in San Francisco, on behalf of Bridgeton Holdings.  

Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank