Tuesday, Golub breaks ground on Transbay Block 6, the firm's first project in San Francisco, but it's already eyeing the Block 8 site next door that calls for an even taller (550-foot) residential tower. Mike Newman tells us five years ago, it took a look at Block 8, hoping to use their experience doing high-rise rentals in urban markets. Back then, times were tough and Block 8 generated few bidders, causing the City to pull the site. Now it's back, and RFPs are due in February. Condos could be an option, Mike says. As housing prices rise, "people have short memories" and will buy. (People have short memories unless you did something embarrasing with a fruitcake at the company Christmas party... then they never forget.)
It's a Golub tradition to plant a time capsule at ground-up development sites, and they plan to do the same next week. Putting present-day technology in it could be fun, Mike tells us, like a smartphone and list of popular apps. When Golub developed the Warsaw Financial Center in Poland in the late 1990s, there were a whopping 18 law firms involved in the deal, so they listed attorneys and their billing amounts inside. (Hopefully they put a Vanilla Ice CD in there for good measure.) "People got a kick out of that." Transbay Block 6 will include a 32-story apartment tower, townhome residences, a ground-level courtyard, and street-front retail at 299 Fremont.
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