The Cube at 345 Montgomery Street, part of San Francisco’s 555 California complex, will become the new West Coast home of the Wharton School, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. The five-story modernist building, distinguished by its atrium, gives Wharton its first standalone campus in the city. Photo by Tornado Realty Trust
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School will soon have a new base on the West Coast. According to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, the school has signed a long-term lease to occupy The Cube, a five-story modernist building at 345 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco. The Cube is part of the 555 California Street complex, one of the city’s most recognizable office properties.
Real estate insiders told the Chronicle that Wharton’s deal with Vornado Realty Trust, the New York firm that manages the property, covers roughly 80,000 square feet and stretches for more than a decade. The space is expected to be ready for occupancy within the next 18 months.
Through a longstanding partnership, the Trump Organization, the company owned by President Donald Trump, owns a 30% stake in the 1.8 million-square-foot complex, which also houses tenants such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Wharton has maintained a San Francisco presence for about 25 years, but it has always shared space. Since 2012 the school has leased 35,000 square feet at 2 Harrison Street, a waterfront property known as Hills Plaza where Google is the dominant tenant. With that lease expiring next year and growth opportunities limited, the move to The Cube will mark Wharton’s first standalone campus in the city.
The relocation will more than double Wharton’s footprint in San Francisco, supporting its executive MBA program that enrolls about 220 students. It also comes as the school launches an artificial intelligence for business major — rolled out to full-time MBA students this fall and set to extend to executive MBAs in 2026. Observers told the Chronicle the upgrade in facilities will elevate Wharton’s profile, especially given its new neighbors in the Financial District.
San Francisco officials have long pitched higher education as part of the solution to the city’s downtown woes, where more than one-third of office space remains vacant five years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year, Vanderbilt University confirmed to the Chronicle that it is working with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office to establish a campus in the urban core, and other universities have been courted as well.