The Academe at 198, right will soon be the home of San Francisco State University’s Lam Family College of Business.
San Francisco State University is relocating Lam Family College of Business to the growing urban campus, leasing 3,200 square feet at 198 McAllister St. The graduate business program will begin occupying its new space there in July 2026, with classes beginning in August.
Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle 2023
The academic village that UC Law San Francisco is building at the edge of the Tenderloin is already home to future lawyers, doctors and dentists. Now aspiring business executives will be joining the mix.
San Francisco State University is relocating Lam Family College of Business to the growing urban campus, leasing 3,200 square feet at 198 McAllister St. The graduate business program will begin occupying its new space there in July 2026, with classes beginning in August.
The business school was previously located in the office space at the San Francisco Centre, the mixed-use shopping mall complex on Market Street that closed earlier this year. More recently it had been housed at the main SFSU campus.
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In a statement, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney called the deal “an example of the growing strategic collaborations that expand opportunities for our students.”
“By situating graduate business programs in the city’s urban core, we will help students build connections, gain experience and achieve their goals for meaningful careers and upward mobility,” she said.
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The UC Law SF Academic Village is a shared-campus model aimed at fostering collaboration among higher education institutions, while adding to the vitality and safety of the Tenderloin by adding hundreds of students to the struggling neighborhood.
The $228 million first phase, the 650-bed 198 McAllister St., opened in August of 2023 and is 85% leased with about half the students attending the law school and the other half representing a range of schools, including University of Pacific’s Dugoni School of Dentistry, UCSF, and University of San Francisco.
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Phase two, the $280 million conversion of the historic 100 McAllister, will add another 280 beds when it opens in summer of 2027. A third phase could add another 400 units in a new tower at 201-247 Golden Gate Ave., a property owned by Unite Here Local 2. As part of the deal, Local 2 would get a new union hall free of charge and continue to own the land the project is built on.
Students enrolled in Lam Family College of Business graduate programs will have access to the Academic Village’s housing as well as classrooms, conference facilities, library, study spaces and resident and event support services. The site also includes lounges, on-site dining and newly built, fully furnished, apartment-style housing for students and professionals.
“We are excited to have the Lam Family College of Business join us in the fall,” said UC Law SF Chancellor & Dean David Faigman. “The partnership advances UC Law SF’s commitment to collaborate with California’s other great public schools and adds vibrancy and energy to the heart of the city. Our students and programs will benefit from the interdisciplinary opportunities that will arise.”
During the pandemic the law school, formerly called Hastings School of Law, was one of five co-co-plaintiffs that sued the City over the dangerous conditions on the sidewalks and in the doorways, calling it a public health menace. Between March and July of 2020 the number of tents and temporary shelters in the neighborhood more than doubled from 158 to 391.
David Seward, the schools chief operating officer, said the streets are much cleaner and safer now around the campus, which sits at the intersection of the Tenderloin, Civic Center and Mid-Market.
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“It’s night and day,” he said. “It’s really been transformed. I view this facility as part of the Mid-Market puzzle. Having Civic Center cleaned up makes a world of difference.”
Units in the academic village rent for between $1,800 and $2,300. While those rents were close to market rate when the 198 McAllister building opened, with the city’s AI turbo-charged rental market the rents are now more competitive.
“The housing stuff is going well. Being able to lower price point here is helping to make it more attractive to undergrads,” he said. “It’s coming together.”