SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in a week, the San Francisco Planning Commission has approved a significant mixed-use development in the city’s SoMa (South of Market) district. Following its approval of the Flower Mart redevelopment project, the commission has approved a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use development located at 88 Bluxome St. The project, led by developers Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) and TMG Partners, is nearly 60 percent preleased.
The co-developers describe 88 Bluxome as a “high-tech office and laboratory project.” Social media giant Pinterest has signed on to anchor the development with a 490,000-square-foot office lease. The Bay Club, a fitness and social club offering events and a wide range of sports classes, will also anchor the project.
The 88 Bluxome campus will feature a technology and life science facility with ground-floor retail space and outdoor deck space on multiple levels of the building. The project also includes an expansion of the neighborhood’s existing Gene Friend Recreation Center, adding two swimming pools and a public activity space.
Other features of 88 Bluxome will be a childcare center, a pedestrian “art walk” with commissioned pieces from internationally renowned and local artists, light industrial space available for use by local businesses, and a linear public park along Bluxome Street. Additionally, the project entails an air rights parcel deeded to the City of San Francisco for its development of approximately 100 affordable housing units.
Pinterest has signed on to anchor 88 Bluxome with a 490,000-square-foot office lease. The Bay Club will also anchor the project. (Image courtesy of TMG Partners)
“88 Bluxome will bring an exceptional mix of much-needed community benefits and retail amenities to SoMa while it provides a dynamic campus environment to spur innovation,” says Terezia Nemeth, senior vice president of real estate development and community relations at Alexandria Real Estate Equities. “We have worked closely with the City of San Francisco and our community partners to effect a new model for urban development.”
The project is the first to be approved within the San Francisco Planning Commission’s Central SoMa Plan, which was adopted by the commission last May and by the city’s Board of Supervisors in December. The Central SoMa Plan is expected to deliver nearly 16 million square feet for new housing and $2 billion in public benefits, including approximately 2,900 affordable housing units, $500 million for transit, funding for cultural preservation and community services, and improvements to open space, streets and environmental sustainability.
Alexandria and TMG expect to kick off construction of 88 Bluxome in 2020 and wrap up in 2022.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is an urban office REIT specializing in tech, life sciences and research and development space. The company had a total market capitalization of $21.8 billion and an asset base in North America spanning 33.7 million square feet as of March 31, 2019.
Alexandria’s stock price closed on Thursday, July 25 at $143.52 per share, up from $123.30 a year ago.
TMG Partners, founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a real estate development and management company. TMG has developed more than 30 million square feet of office, retail, residential and industrial properties throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
— John Nelson