Bisnow Scoop: Gymboree Leaving The City?
The kids' retailer has quietly made some big real estate decisions, and we've got the scoop (our sources are of age, we promise).
We're hearing the company will likely vacate its HQ in the heart of S.F. at 500 Howard, where it's the anchor tenant (it leases about 164k SF of the 230k SF property, also known as Foundry IV). Sources tell us Gymboree has been silently marketing its space for "quite some time" and has a sublease in place with Oracle, though it's unclear whether the software giant is taking all or just some of it. Gymboree executed a three-year FMV (fair market value) extension of its lease. Sources say they want out of S.F. because it's "too expensive." (Other Foundry properties next door are renting in the $70s/SF.)
Our sources say Gymboree is looking in Oakland and South S.F., which is the typical move S.F. tenants are making to save money. Before the Oracle sublease could get done, Gymboree needed to first get to FMV for the next three years. Gymboree did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
