One of San Francisco’s most recognizable office towers is set to welcome a new owner, setting a post-pandemic ceiling for the city’s recovering commercial real estate market.
San Francisco developer DivcoWest has agreed to purchase a nearly 50% stake in 101 California, the cylindrical tower near the Embarcadero, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The deal has not closed, but the developer has agreed to a sale price of roughly $450 million, which would value the 48-story tower at nearly $1 billion.
The ownership group of 101 California — primarily the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and others, including the Hong Kong Monetary Fund — started marketing the 1.2 million square foot building for sale late last year.
Since the building is nearly fully leased, and its loan doesn’t mature until 2029, it was pitched to buyers as a low-risk investment in a high-interest-rate environment. The previous majority owner sold its stake in 2012 for more than $900 million.
The tower was developed by Hines (which still owns a minority stake) in 1982 and underwent a $75 million ground-floor renovation in 2023. An old bank location was transformed into a cafe and lounge, while a tenant-only gym was added below ground.
DivcoWest declined to comment.
In April, the firm partnered with Blackstone to purchase an empty office tower at 300 Howard St. that is set to be leased to Anthropic once renovations are complete.
This month, DivcoWest purchased a 253,000-square-foot R&D campus in San Jose for $63.6 million.
There have been two billion-dollar office deals in San Francisco’s history: the Embarcadero Center in 1998, which sold for $1.2 billion, and the former Dropbox headquarters at 1800 Owens St. in Mission Bay in 2021, for $1.08 billion.
The Real Deal was first to report (opens in new tab) the impending sale.