San Francisco

EPA dumps San Francisco HQ bids, starts over
The EPA is going back to square one in its search for a new, 300,000-square-foot San Francisco headquarters. More than a year after soliciting bids for a new facility for the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal government has rejected all the proposals. Instead, the GSA, the agency in charge of the federal government's real estate, has issued a new requirement for downtown Class A office space.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Sears to start hiring for new S.F. office
Sears Holdings will establish a San Francisco office at the historic Phelan Building, a 25,000-square-foot lease that bolsters the city's already strong apparel industry. The Chicago-based company's San Francisco office at 760 Market Street will include merchandising positions across both the Sears and Kmart apparel formats. Associates will immediately begin occupying the space and the company will be hiring to fill other positions. Sears did not specify how many employees would be based in the office; 25,000 square feet could accommodate about 125 workers.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Shorenstein gets an early jump on nest $1B fund
Shorenstein Properties is ramping up its next fund. The private real estate investment firm will start marketing its $1 billion fund during the second quarter. The fund, Shorenstein's tenth, will be smaller than the last one, which initially closed with $1.3 billion in committed capital, and then added another $700 million. (Shorenstein committed some $154 million to the fund.) The legendary family-owned San Francisco investment company, led by Douglas Shorenstein, is getting an earlier jump on the fund than it typically does.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

SF resurrects payroll tax break plan
San Francisco supervisors began debate Wednesday on a proposal to exclude payroll taxes on workers hired in the city for the next two years. Under Mayor Gavin Newsom's plan, San Francisco businesses' payroll tax would be capped through 2011 at their 2009 level, meaning any new hires during that time would not result in higher payroll tax payments.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Conventions to S.F "give us a break"
There's no such thing as a sure thing in this economy. With hotel room rates continuing to drop, convention groups are seeking to renegotiate deals signed years ago, leaving the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau fighting to hold onto 364,900 hotel room nights and an estimated economic impact of $287 million - business it had already booked.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Longtime real estate rivalry enters a new phase
For more than 75 years 450 Sutter St. and 490 Post St. were rivals in Union Square's medical/dental submarket: Beaux Arts buildings battling for doctor and dentist tenants. Now 490 Post St. has gone commercial condo, throwing a new twist in the old rivalry. A bit more than two years after getting mapped for condominiums, 490 Post owner John Sikora of Broadmoor Capital Corp. has closed $36.2 million in sales, about 60 percent of the building.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Pacific Marketing touts sales of union condos
With the Infinity mostly sold out, the Mission District's Union is billing itself as San Francisco's fastest-selling condo development. Pacific Marketing Associates is reporting that they have now sold 55 condos in the 76-unit development, 72 percent of the project. That is an average of 11 units a month. The 2125 Bryant St. complex, developed by Palisades Development Group, has seen an average price of $747,000. The project cost about $60 million to build.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Restaurants reheating old plans
Several stalled San Francisco restaurant projects are once again cooking. Construction started late last year on Lafitte, Russell Jackson's ambitious 2,100-square-foot restaurant planned for San Francisco's Pier 5. He signed the lease in April 2008 and has been paying rent since January 2009.
San Francisco Business Times - March 1, 2010

Giardano Bros. Restaurant set to open in Union Street
The City's second Giardano Bros. restaurant was approved Thursday to open in the Marina district. The proprietors operate a similar establishment in the North Beach neighborhood. Scores of Marina district residents railed against the proposal during a Planning Commission hearing Thursday. They characterized the planned restaurant, which will sell beer and wine and include televisions, as a sports bar that will fill with rowdy, drunken patrons.
San Francisco Examiner - February 26, 2010

CalPERS Investment practices raising Ire
Critics of some of the California Public Employees' Retirement System's investment deals say the giant pension fund's participation in converting low-rent properties to market-rent apartments conflicts with its mission of socially responsible investing, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal.
GlobeSt.com - February 24, 2010

Lembi unit defaults on debt against SF hotels
The hotel management unit of Lembi Group has defaulted on $75.9 million of financing backed by three hotels in San Francisco's Union Square neighborhood. Personality Hotels is negotiating with its lender, Centerline Capital Group, to modify terms for the loans that back the Hotel Vertigo at 925 Sutton St., the Metropolis at 25 Mason St. and the Hotel Frank at 386 Geary St. A lawyer representing Personality Hotels said that Centerline has postponed a March 3 foreclosure auction for the properties.
Loopnet.com - February 23, 2010