News
Jamestown's New Colony: 799 Market
October 18, 2012
| Jamestown continues to settle the West Coast, with the Atlanta-based investment and management firm's latest acquisition: 799 Market St. The Class-A creative office and retail building contains 143k SF at the intersection of Union Square and SoMA. |
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| COO Michael Phillips tells us the company is looking to expand its Bay Area portfolio. (It also owns the neighboring 22 Fourth St and 801 Market buildings, as well as a 594k SF shopping center in Alameda.) He says Jamestown focuses on 24-hour gateway cities with barriers to entry, and ?always places location first.? Case in point, 799 Market is located at one of the city's most heavily trafficked pedestrian intersections. Michael says the building's retail component will benefit long term from the continued strengthening of the Union Square district ?and its movement southwards toward Market Street.? (Though seismically bolting the foundation may help stop some of that movement.) |
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| The building's office and retail space together is 89% leased. The 55k SF of retail, comprising three floors plus the basement, is fully leased to Ross Dress For Less. The flagship store, one of the highest performers in the chain, has seven years left on its lease with extension options available. The building has five office floors, of which the top level is vacant. Michael says planned lobby upgrades will both reflect and attract the types of creative tenants that are prevalent in San Francisco. ?We also plan to add bicycle access.? The building boasts creative office features such as high ceilings and open floor plans with large windows on three sides. The Powell Street BART/Muni Station is adjacent. |
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| Michael?s so fast with texting, his hands have become permanently blurred. Jamestown bought the building from a partnership between Urban Realty and Commonfund. The seller was repped by Eastdil, which also helped Jamestown secure financing. According to Michael, creative office buildings are nothing new for Jamestown, as evidenced by its investments in New York?s Chelsea Market and 111 Eighth Ave (the Google building). ?Open and dynamic work environments? will remain an office sector trend for years to come. |
