A long-sought public-private partnership between the city of San Francisco and Related California is moving forward and signals a big bet on the Financial District.
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The proposed 41-story, 574-foot skyscraper would occupy a prime location, at 447 Battery St. and 530 Sansome St., spanning an entire city block right across from the Transamerica Pyramid.
The ambitious project features a planned 390K SF of office space, 7.4K SF of retail, 10K SF of ballroom and event space and a projected 127K to 189K SF of hotel with 100 to 200 rooms.
This would be the first new five-star hotel built in the city in 20 years and represents some of the only new office built in the area since the pandemic, which pushed office vacancy rates to roughly 35% citywide.
Prepandemic, San Francisco’s office development pipeline was full to the brim as tech tenants flocked downtown. But as those same tenants kept their employees at home for longer than other industries when remote work kicked in, the pipeline dried up.
However, new data show the city is no longer losing workers at a rapid clip and return-to-office policies are slowly bringing people back to the city center.
The city’s hotel market has also faced fierce headwinds since the pandemic, struggling more than most cities to recover, according to Cushman & Wakefield. But San Francisco saw the largest occupancy increase — up 13.2% to 67.5% occupied — among the top 25 markets, according to Costar’s latest data.
Related California has also committed to building a new 4-story fire station slated for 447 Battery St. in place of an existing one to be demolished.
The city put out a request for proposals in 2017. Related California won approvals in 2020. A draft environmental impact report was published March 11, and public comment closed April 28.
Should the project receive approvals by October of this year, it could break ground in late 2026 and deliver by 2030.
CORRECTION, MAY 6, 10:45 A.M. PT: A previous version of this story misstated that the project includes the first new five-star hotel built in the city in 30 years. It is the first five-star hotel in 20 years.
