Urban Land Development has broken ground on 531 Bryant, a six-story mixed-use office development in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. The property is replacing an existing structure and marks the first time an office building has broken ground in the city in two years.

The building is slated to open in July 2023. The 51K SF space was designed by Handel Architects. JLL’s John Norton, Carlye Parker and Chris Roeder are handling the leasing for the property.

“The 531 experience is about delivering a work environment that will attract employees back to the office by being in a technology-rich and diverse neighborhood of San Francisco in a new iconic building designed for a healthy workstyle,” ULD Managing Director Susan Sagy said in a press release.

Sagy said 531 Bryant will be built with an abundance of outdoor space, 100% outside air, interconnecting stairs, floor-to-ceiling glass and full-building control offered even to smaller office users. The space will also feature micro-retail units, which ULD said could go to nonprofit pop-up shops or smaller restaurants.

“We took a hard look at the pandemic-accelerated workstyle and retail trends and integrated them into our design,” ULD CEO Jon Mayeda said in a press release. “We are finding companies have a renewed appreciation for accessible mid-rise buildings in different areas of a city — especially near transit nodes. This allows them to increase scale over time, and ensures more control over their entire environment, both indoors and outdoors.”

Office usage and occupancy rates in San Francisco are struggling. A flurry of large tech companies such as TaskRabbit have been trimming down office usage in the city, switching to fully remote work models. The newest and nicest buildings have dominated tenant demand for the past two years as employers lean on more modern and amenity-rich buildings to draw employees to the office in the wake of increased hybrid work models.