SAN FRANCISCO — A 50,000-square-foot parcel that may soon be home to the West Coast's tallest tower has sold to Hines and Boston Properties for $192 million, or nearly $4,000 per foot.
The firms plan to construct Transbay Transit Tower, which will be 1,070 feet tall, edging out New York's Chrysler Building at 1,050 feet on the list of America's tallest towers.
Boston and Hines held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site Thursday, the same day they officially acquired the land. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the firms passed an oversized check to the seller, Transbay Joint Powers Authority, to celebrate the sale.
The partnership's Transbay Transit Tower, on First and Mission streets, will consist of 60 levels of office space in a 1.4 million-square-foot complex. Construction could begin as early as summer 2013 with an expected completion in 2016.
The tower will be adjacent to the Transbay Transit Center, a $4 billion transportation hub now under construction that will connect 11 area transit systems as well as long-distrance transport. The project is being billed as the “Grand Central Station of the West Coast.”
“The sale of the Transbay Transit Tower property is a transformative moment for San Francisco,” says Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, a regional transportation body. “The Tower and the Transbay Transit Center will stand at the center of one of the most forward-looking transit-oriented developments in the world today.”
Pelli Clarke Pelli will design the new building, and Clark Construction and Hathaway Dinwiddie will serve as general contractors.
The Transbay Transit Tower is reportedly being built with tenants with large space requirements in mind, such as technology companies.
As Paul Paradis, senior managing director of Hines notes, “Tenant interest in the financial, professional services and tech sectors has been extremely high. Now that we are closing on the land and moving full speed ahead with the design, I’m confident that discussions will progress into leasing quickly. Transbay will [not only] be a new icon for the city and state, but also a beacon for a progressive anchor tenant looking for the finest, sustainable office space.”
— Liz Burlingame