Top 5 Office Projects Under Construction in San Francisco

California, one of the states hit hardest by the pandemic, is slowly moving towards opening back up, as vaccine rollouts continue. Even if many white-collar employees are still working remotely and a number of high-profile companies have decided to move their headquarters out of state, construction of new office space in San Francisco has not relented. The metro delivered some 2.1 million square feet of space across five properties year-to-date as of April, according to CommercialEdge data. Additionally, roughly 8.8 million square feet across 36 projects are under construction in San Francisco.

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San Francisco is growing as an important center for innovation for life science companies, which translates to a need for modern lab and office space. This trend is highlighted in the table below, with four entries that are part of large, mixed-use campuses developed to cater to biotech tenants.

5. & 4. Gateway of Pacific III & Gateway of Pacific II

Gateway of Pacific. Rendering courtesy of Alexandria Real Estate Equities

BioMed Realty is developing Gateway of Pacific, a 1.3 million-square-foot campus in South San Francisco. The project is being constructed in three phases and will comprise laboratory and office space spread across 22.6 acres in the metro’s biotech hub, just off Highway 101 and less than 5 miles north of San Francisco International Airport.

AbbVie Inc. has signed a long-term lease at the first phase of the project, a recently completed 510,000-square-foot building. Phase II will comprise 440,000 square feet in an eight-story building. The development is set for completion in the second quarter of the year and is seeking LEED Gold certification. Biotech company Amgen signed a long-term lease for 240,000 square feet at the end of 2019.   

The tallest building in the development is the 12-story, 350,000-square-foot Phase III. The component broke ground at the end of 2019 and has a completion date set for Q4 of this year. The lab and office building is seeking LEED Gold certification.  

3. 415 Natoma

415 Natoma. Rendering courtesy of Brookfield Properties

The first and the largest of the six buildings in the $1 billion 5M mixed-use project topped out in February this year and is set to be delivered at the end of the year. CommercialEdge data shows Brookfield Properties and Hearst Corp. received a $393 million loan from United Overseas Bank for the 637,900-square-foot 415 Natoma.

Located within the SoMa district, the 25-story tower targets WELL Core & Shell and LEED Gold certifications. Alongside the office component, the first phase of mixed-use development will also include M2, a 20-story residential building and N1, a 30-story condo project.

2. Kilroy Oyster Point – Phase I

Kilroy Oyster Point. Image courtesy of Kilroy Realty

Phase I of Kilroy Oyster Point will comprise 656,000 square feet of laboratory and office space at 379 Oyster Point. Startup firm Stripe inked a 12-year lease for 421,000 square feet back in October 2019, with Cytokinetics signing for the remaining space, according to CommercialEdge data.

The first component of the multiphase $2.2 billion project broke ground in May 2019 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year. The three-building project is located at the entrance of the more than 2.5 million-square-foot, waterfront campus and is designed to meet LEED Gold certification. Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction serves as general contractor, while DGA Architects will handle design services.

1. First Street Tower of Oceanwide Center

First Street Tower of Oceanwide Center. Rendering courtesy of Walter P Moore

The largest project on the list is Oceanwide Holdings’ almost 1.5 million-square-foot First Street Tower of Oceanwide Center. The 61-story project will feature roughly 1.1 million square feet of office space, first- and second-floor retail, as well as 20 floors of residential units. The tower is seeking LEED Platinum certification, with TMG Partners serving as developer, Walter P Moore as the expert structural engineer and Foster + Partners and Heller Manus as architects.

The Beijing-based owner acquired the 1.2-acre site at 50 First St. for $296 million in 2015. The development broke ground in 2016 and was expected to welcome the first occupants this year. Constructions were halted last fall due to economic uncertainties and completion was pushed back to the first quarter of 2025.