Lafayette, CA: June 10, 2013 – Principals Chris Wight and Jeff Lee of Cypress Properties Group announced that one of its investment entities, 644 Broadway LLC, has acquired a vacant 42,500-square-foot office building that includes a 437-seat theater at 644 Broadway in San Francisco for $8.5 million.
The seller was Goldman Holdings Inc. and was represented by Pius Lee of California Realty & Land Inc. Senior Director Kelly Glass and Associate Director David Scanlon with Cushman & Wakefield assisted Cypress Properties during the acquisition and they have been retained to market the building and manage leasing. Glass is an office specialist while Scanlon specializes in retail brokerage services.
“We’re thrilled to have purchased a relatively new building located at the confluence of some of the most dynamic submarkets in San Francisco. We made this investment because we believe this unique property offers the kind of creative space demanded by today’s diverse tenant market,” said Wight.
Wight added that the $200 per-square-foot purchase price will also help keep rents attractive and competitive for such quality space in a great location.
644 Broadway is near Columbus Avenue on the edge of Chinatown, borders the North Beach neighborhood and is near Jackson Square and the North Waterfront submarkets of San Francisco. The building is four stories with floorplates of approximately 9,000 square feet. It was previously occupied by Gold Mountain Restaurant, which took the first three floors and was considered to be one of the largest dim sum restaurants in the U.S. The restaurant was shuttered about 18 months ago. The sellers owned the property for 20 years, managed the restaurant and wanted to retire, according to Wight.
“Buying a value-add building like 644 Broadway is exactly the type of creative real estate investing that we are in the market for – it’s highly entrepreneurial and it is the type of deal that is typically overlooked by people in our industry,” said Jeff Lee.
The building site was originally a movie theater starting circa 1906 in North Beach. The old structure was torn down in 1982 and the existing building re-opened in 1984 with a smaller theater. The reinforced concrete and steel building is well designed and features many of today’s seismic standards for commercial buildings.
“We’ve already spoken with vocational and culinary school operators, restaurant operators, medical office users, event organizers, entertainment companies, a few nonprofits and an executive suite operator as prospective tenants, so we know there is demand from tenants who like 644 Broadway’s great location and may have been displaced from other areas of the city by the wave of tech companies growing in every direction from SoMa and now of course the Mid-Market area,” said C&W’s Glass.
“There are very few entire buildings available for lease in San Francisco and companies are excited by the type of neighborhood amenities that 644 Broadway has to offer,” added C&W’s Scanlon.
The new ownership plans to improve the façade, add additional windows, upgrade the infrastructure and be prepared to do tenant improvements based on the types of tenants that ultimately lease the space.
The location has one of the highest volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in San Francisco. The property offers prominent signage opportunities for primary occupiers. The building is 45-feet tall and can be increased another 65 feet in height with approval of a conditional-use permit. It has extensive commercial kitchen equipment and restaurant improvements on the first, second and third floors. The rooftop deck can be activated for use and offers stunning views of San Francisco.
About Cypress Properties Group
Cypress Properties Group, L.L.C. is a fully integrated real estate investment, management and consulting company focused on key urban and suburban areas of California. Company principals provide complementary skills for the full spectrum of projects covering office, retail, multi-family, R&D and industrial product types. Cypress principals Jeff Lee and Chris Wight possess a wealth of expertise in acquisition, finance, asset management, development and operations to address the challenging demands in today’s markets. The firm is a member of 1% for the Planet, an organization founded by the iconic rock climber turned gear and apparel entrepreneur (Patagonia) and environmental activist Yvon Chouinard, whose mission is to “keep earth in business.” Member companies donate 1% of their sales to a network of 3,383 environmental organizations worldwide.
For more information visit www.cypresspg.com or call 925.283.7300.
