Count GI Partners as the latest Silicon Valley-based VC firm to get a second home in S.F. (Anybody who's anybody has a second home.)
GI Partners, established in 2001, has invested $2.2B in 24 platforms across three private equity funds (it's a lead investor in Oakland-based Waypoint Homes and minority one in Wave Broadband). Now HQ'd along the famously VC saturated Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, the company inked a deal for 9k SF of satellite office space at 188 The Embarcadero (yep, that's the Bay Bridge to the right). Rossi Builders is in the early stages of the build-out. GI is following the footsteps of other VC firms that are planting flags in the city to sit near potential tech investments. (Proximity is often one of the most important factors in friendship.) Last month, we wrote about 500 Startups' new office at 814 Mission (below).
More and more VC firms are opening offices in S.F. Look at Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Matrix Partners, and Shasta Ventures. That trend is due to the gravitational pull of success stories, says Custom Spaces founder Jenny Haeg: As the talent pool center of gravity shifted north, the city became more and more appealing (she helped Index Ventures find a 3,600 SF pad across from AT&T Park at 139 Townsend last year). GI Partners' lease location is significant because it shows the area near the future Transbay site is gaining appeal as traditional SoMa space tightens up.
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