Originally approved for development in 2001 but then waylaid by the dotcom collapse, followed by a decline in tourism after 9/11, and then by “the collapse of the housing market and overall poor economic conditions” in San Francisco following the Great Recession, Highgate Hotels was positioning to finally break... Read More »

With Macy’s Men’s Store building at 120 Stockton Street slated to be sold to Morgan Stanley for $250 million next year, after which Macy’s will lease the Union Square building for a couple of years as it consolidates into its flagship store across the street, we now have Morgan... Read More »

The formal application for authorization to convert the vacant Spring Valley Water Company Building at 425 Mason Street, which was originally designed by Willis Polk and built in 1922, from an office building into a 77-room AC Hotel by Marriott has been submitted to the City. Purchased for $6... Read More »

Purchased for $12.5 million in 2012, plans to level the four-story garage and Blazing Saddles shop at 433 Mason Street, adjacent to the Donatello Hotel, have been drawn. And as proposed, a new 211-room hotel will rise up to 13 stories on the site, which is across the street... Read More »

Britex Fabrics has occupied the four-story building at 146 Geary Street since 1952. But late last year, the Union Square property was sold to Acadia Realty Trust and City Center Realty Partners for $38 million. And yesterday, an application to convert the second, third and fourth floors of the... Read More »

Highgate Hotels has purchased the parking lot at 72 Ellis Street and intends to break ground for an upscale 11-story hotel with 156 guest rooms “as soon as possible.” The site was first approved for development in 2001 but the project was waylaid by the dotcom collapse and decline... Read More »

Rents for retail spaces around San Francisco’s Union Square have increased at the fastest pace of all prime retail areas across the globe over the past year, up 30 percent to an average of $650 per square-foot per year, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest Main Streets Across the World... Read More »

Apple’s plans for a flagship store on Union Square have been approved by San Francisco’s Planning Commission by a vote of 5 to 1. It’s now on to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors for the final yea or nay, the hearing date for which has yet to be announced. Read More »

First approved for development over a decade ago with plans for an 11-story hotel and restaurant to rise on the little downtown parking lot at 72 Ellis Street, the owners of the parcel were given until 2004 to start construction on the site: In the wake of the dot-com... Read More »

Purchased for $800,000 in December 2006, Odeon (181 O’Farrell) #508 was taken back by the bank. It’s been listed at $601,400, a sale at which would represent a 25 percent drop in value over the past three years. Also on the market in the Odeon, #307 which was purchased... Read More »