The abandoned Oceanwide Center development site downtown, which has been collecting dust and rainwater since construction stopped six years ago, is close to being picked up by a local developer at a steep discount, sources say.
A newly formed entity led by San Francisco developer Dan Kingsley is in the process of acquiring the site at First and Mission streets in a deal negotiated with Haitong International, which seized it after the original developer defaulted on its debts.
The sale could take up to two months to finalize, as the buyers need to meet various deposit and due diligence requirements. The San Francisco Chronicle (opens in new tab) and San Francisco Business Times (opens in new tab) report the price at nearly $100 million.
Dignitaries including former Mayor Ed Lee, Luo Linquan, Chinese Consul General in San Francisco, and others, shovel dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony for Oceanwide Center in 2016. | Source: Paul Chinn/SF Chronicle/Getty Images
Kingsley did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier this year, the developer left his firm SKS Partners after more than three decades and started a new venture, The San Francisco Recovery Fund (opens in new tab), with private equity investor Jay Yang. A source familiar with the initiative said they are focused on developing high-end office space.
The reported price would represent a drop of more than 90% from the $1.6 billion invested in the project by the previous developers, led by Lu Zhiqiang of China Oceanwide Holdings Group, which acquired the property a decade ago and broke ground in 2016.
Four Oceanwide executives based in the Bay Area are suing their employer in San Francisco for failing to pay their wages, business expenses, and vested vacation time since last year.
Haitong International is in the midst of foreclosing on more than $689 million in debt, including fees and penalties, according to public documents. The ownership of the San Francisco site also faces dozens of liens from various stakeholders, mainly firms that worked on the design and construction.
The construction site of Oceanwide Center has been quiet since 2019. | Source: Estefany Gonzalez/The Standard
At the site kitty-corner to Salesforce Tower, Oceanwide envisioned building adjacent skyscrapers at 512 Mission St. and 50 First St. with 262 luxury condos, a Waldorf-Astoria hotel, and 1.35 million square feet of office space.
Should Kingsley’s new firm close on the distressed sale, he will hope to repeat a bit of his own history. In the mid 2000s, SKS acquired the site of 181 Fremont St. and ushered a redevelopment proposal through city approvals in anticipation of the Salesforce Transit Center transforming the downtown neighborhood.
By 2013, when the city was recovering after the Great Recession and construction was booming again, his firm sold the property to the Jay Paul Company, which turned it into a 55-story skyscraper that it leased entirely to Meta.