San Francisco’s Levi’s Plaza to Go Net-Zero

Levi’s Plaza. Image courtesy of Jamestown LP

Jamestown LP, owner of Levi’s Plaza in San Francisco, has announced plans to invest in a clean energy transition program that will take the 930,000-square-foot creative office campus to net-zero carbon operations by 2025. Jamestown will execute the program as part of its $50 million property-wide retrofit.

The announcement comes two years after Jamestown acquired the nine-building asset at 1155 Batter St. from developer Gerson Bakar & Associates for $920 million. A year ago, the real estate company announced its goal of achieving net-zero carbon operations across its portfolio by 2050.

“This ambitious goal is synergistic with other municipal and voluntary carbon reduction goals and will provide Jamestown the opportunity to create a strategic roadmap to achieve a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030,” the company noted in its 2020 sustainability report.

The firm intends to achieve as much of its net-zero goal as possible through energy efficiency, including at Levi’s Plaza, where the focus will be on the elimination of the onsite use of fossil fuels through energy efficiency retrofits. Jamestown will replace boilers with electric heat pumps, generate solar electricity on site and purchase 100 percent carbon-free electricity from the grid.

Other changes that will help achieve the net-zero objective at Levi’s Plaza will include the replacement of natural gas-powered HVAC central plant equipment at each of the nine buildings with systems powered by electricity. The company will also install a rooftop photovoltaic system to eliminate dependence on the grid and a new dewatering system to prevent water intrusion.

Upon completion of the four-year transition program, Levi’s Plaza will hold the distinction of being the first carbon-neutral property in Jamestown’s portfolio, which spans the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

More than green-deep

Levi’s Plaza. Image courtesy of Jamestown LP

While the clean energy transition is a key part of the retrofitting of Levi’s Plaza, there is more to the multi-million-dollar makeover of the property, which first opened its doors in 1981 as the corporate headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co.

The campus will be upgraded with the creation of shared amenity spaces that will include bike and shower facilities, community meeting and event space, in addition to new retail and food and beverage operations serving the community. The retrofit will also modernize the property’s infrastructure and update the landscape to enhance the accessibility and functionality of the Lawrence-designed greenspace.

Levi’s Plaza remains home to the renowned clothing for which it was originally developed, and counts a bevy of other businesses as tenants as well, including Hult International Business School, advertising agency Pereira O’Dell, the Public Library of Science, BCCI Construction and others.