SAN FRANCISCO — Real estate development firm Greystar has delivered Academe at 198, a $282 million student housing property in downtown San Francisco. Located at 198 McAllister St. in the city’s Civic Center district, the mixed-use property is Phase I of the Academic Village expansion at UC Law San Francisco, formerly known as UC Hastings College of the Law.
Academe at 198 spans 14 stories and features 656 units (667 beds) for students at UC Law SF, as well as faculty and staff. The property website also says students from nearby University of California San Francisco, San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco and University of the Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry can apply for housing.
The units come in a variety of layouts: efficiency (232 square feet); studio (275 square feet); one-bedroom (397 square feet); and two-bedroom (568 square feet). Monthly rental rates begin at $1,850 for an efficiency apartment, which is below market rates, according to the property website.
In addition to housing, the 365,000-square-foot property includes 43,000 square feet of office and academic space that is leased and operated by UC Law, including an incubator space for start-up tech firms that doubles as event space called LexLab. Other academic space includes classrooms, an auditorium and mock trial and appellate courtrooms for instruction.
Academe at 198 includes an indoor/outdoor lounge on the seventh floor that is open to both residents and UC Law students, as well as an enclosed courtyard with patio seating. Other amenities include an expansive atrium lobby, study rooms, laundry services, bicycle storage, a fitness center, courtyard, dog run, café, 24-hour security, a sidewalk ambassador and direct access to the UC Law campus. The property also includes 8,000 square feet of commercial retail space on the ground level.
Nearby attractions include San Francisco City Hall, a Whole Foods Market grocery store, the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Public Library, Union Square and the San Francisco Centre Westfield mall. The property is steps away from stations for the BART and MUNI transit lines.
Perkins & Will’s San Francisco and Boston studios designed Academe at 198. Greystar aims for the property to receive LEED Gold certification.
“Academe at 198 provides much-needed graduate student housing for UC Law and its partner academic institutions that share the building,” says Anders Carpenter, architect and higher education practice leader at Perkins&Will’s San Francisco office. “This takes critical pressure off of market-rate housing stock and allows the students to find a high-value housing option on-campus, which is critical for universities to attract and retain top student talent.”
The project team also includes general contractor Build Group, landscape architect CMG, lighting designer HLB Lighting, civil engineer Langan, telecom operator Teecom, structural engineer Rutherford + Chekene and MEP engineers Taylor Engineering and The Engineering Enterprise.
Greystar and UC Law sold tax-exempt revenue bonds to fund Academe at 198. Phase II of the Academic Village expansion includes the renovations to 100 McAllister St., a historic 28-story tower. The second phase will house 300 beds across 285 units, according to Greystar.
Founded in 1993, Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar manages and operates more than $290 billion of real estate in 247 markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America and the Asia-Pacific region. The firm is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing more than 857,400 units/beds globally.
Greystar has more than $76 billion of assets under management, including over $34 billion of development assets.
— John Nelson