The old Barneys New York Department Store on Stockton Street in San Francisco’s Union Square is said to be the targeted home of a noted San Francisco foundation.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
After years of sitting mostly empty in Union Square, the former location of the Barneys flagship store may be getting a second act. San Francisco billionaire investor Michael Moritz is said to be eyeing the iconic corner property at Stockton and O’Farrell Streets for his family foundation.
The longtime venture capitalist is exploring a plan to turn the six-story building at 48 Stockton St., known for its soaring ceilings and historic architectural details, into a consolidated hub for parts of his business and philanthropic portfolio — including the private Crankstart Foundation, which currently does not have a dedicated office, according to multiple people with knowledge of the matter.
The effort could also include moving the San Francisco Standard media operation, which is financed by Moritz, from its current SoMa headquarters to Union Square, one person said, adding that the news organization’s relocation would depend on the size of the building.
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Sources indicated that Moritz’s plan would be to lease all of 48 Stockton, which includes the former Barneys retail space on the ground levels — the basement, ground floor and a second mezzanine level — and new boutique office space that spans the upper four floors. Those insiders confirmed that Moritz’s team has been touring Union Square in recent months in search of an “iconic” and “high-profile” building. One source suggested the long-term strategy could be to purchase the building.
“The reality right now is: Tenants have options,” one real estate insider said.
San Francisco billionaire Michael Moritz listens to speakers during a panel discussion during an event releasing Crankstart report “Streets to Stability” In the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in April 2025.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
As of Monday, the roughly 68,000-square-foot 48 Stockton remained under ownership by Dallas-based investor Invesco Real Estate, public records show. Invesco did not respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment on a potential deal with Moritz.
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The Chronicle reached out to Moritz for comment, but has yet to hear back from him. When asked about plans to move Crankstart — the philanthropic foundation led by the investor and his wife, Harriet Heyman — to Union Square, Missy Narula, the foundation’s CEO, told the Chronicle: “I can confirm that we do not have a fully-executed lease for that building.”
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Meanwhile, Crankstart does not appear to have its own office in the city. According to recent reporting by the San Francisco Examiner, the organization’s 15-person team uses a coworking space in Salesforce Tower and throughout other parts of the city.
Sources described Moritz’s interest in Union Square as not just a real estate play, but as a signal that some of the city’s most influential residents still see opportunity in its premier shopping district, which has been challenged by a number of high-profile retail closures and quality of life concerns in the wake of the pandemic.
Invesco, a large institutional real estate investor, has long held real estate in Union Square and in other parts of downtown, but has recently been shrinking its office exposure in the city: It sold a South of Market building at 631 Howard St. in 2024, and last year sold 800 Market St. to new owners for $17.5 million — a 60% loss in value from when Invesco and a partner purchased that property in 2011.
The 800 Market building sits diagonally across the street from 48 Stockton, which Invesco has owned since 2000, along with the adjacent, four-story building at 2 Stockton that housed Forever 21. That building has been sitting vacant since the retailer closed its doors there in late 2019.
Barneys also shuttered its storefront in 2019 after more than a decade at 48 Stockton, when the luxury retailer filed for bankruptcy that summer, and fully vacated the space by early 2020. Before Barneys, toy store FAO Schwartz operated its three-level flagship out of the building.
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The Stockton and O’Farrell corner has long served as a bellwether for Union Square’s retail fortunes — home for more than a century to the kind of flagship tenants that define the district’s identity as a polished, intensely-foot traffic driven shopping and tourism corridor. From the outset, 48 Stockton was conceived in 1909 as a major retail anchor in Union Square: It was designed by the architecture firm Lansburgh & Joseph and built for the Newman & Levinson Dry Goods Company, which served as its original tenant. I. Magnin, one of San Francisco’s premier luxury retailers at the time, occupied the building for roughly two decades in the early 20th century, helping establish Union Square as a luxury retail hub.
The former location of Barneys in San Francisco’s Union Square has been empty since 2020.
Kat Wade/Special to the Chronicle
In recent years, that reputation has been tested by a wave of high-profile departures and prolonged vacancies in the wake of the pandemic — including the Disney store at 39 Stockton, Saks Fifth Avenue’s Union Square flagship and other longtime Market Street anchors such as Gap, Old Navy and Nordstrom Rack that once helped draw steady foot traffic to the downtown shopping district.
Both 48 Stockton and 2 Stockton were targeted for a repositioning effort by local developer Strada Investment Group, which filed plans to convert both former department-store-era retail anchors into modern mixed-use assets combining retail at the base with office above. The work at 48 Stockton was completed several years ago.
Public records show that a permit was issued earlier this year for a three-story, vertical office addition at 2 Stockton and replacing its Market Street and Stockton Street facades — work that is valued at $60 million. Real estate sources pointed out that permits expire if the planned work doesn’t begin within in a certain timeframe.
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While it appears that Moritz plans to take over 48 Stockton through a lease, the investor also owns a small portfolio of San Francisco commercial properties through entities affiliated with his family office and in partnership with former San Francisco Building Inspection Commissioner Angus McCarthy. Those include the office building at 290 Division that currently serves as the headquarters for the Standard, the local news organization launched in 2021. Other commercial buildings owned by the partners include 2525 16th St., 2505 Mariposa St. and 1088 Sansome St., a low-rise commercial building on the edge of Telegraph Hill that Moritz and McCarthy unsuccessfully sought to redevelop into a 200-foot condo tower several years ago.
A pedestrian walks past artwork at the Maybaum Gallery displayed in windows along Stockton Street at the Maybaum Gallery in the old Barneys New York Department Store in San Francisco, in late 2025.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
Moritz, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists and a longtime partner at Sequoia Capital, helped shape the modern tech economy as an early backer of companies including Google and PayPal. In San Francisco, he has maintained a comparatively low public profile while exercising outsized influence through his philanthropy, media investment and civic engagement — often operating behind the scenes in debates over the city’s governance and future direction.
In recent years, he has directed tens of millions of dollars into local political and civic efforts, becoming one of the city’s most significant individual donors. His funding has supported political action committees such as TogetherSF Action and aligned groups focused on government reform, charter changes, and efforts to reshape the city’s political leadership.
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