Catellus Bullish on Mission Bay Despite Slump

SAN FRANCISCO—The Mission Bay Project is going ahead with a 275,000-sf building despite the soft market here, but another 150,000-sf building in the same huge project has been put on hold. Catellus Development Corp. is in the initial stages of construction on Phase 1 of the commercial space in the 303-acre project, and according to reports; the company intends to keep the project moving despite the market downturn.

According to Mike Monroe, vice president of commercial leasing at Catellus, the company doesn’t expect the down-turned market to last forever. Negotiations are reportedly underway to fill about 270,000 sf of space left vacant when a web-based consulting company backed out of its lease last year.

The Mission Bay North development consists of about 65 acres bounded by Third Street, Townsend Street, Mission Creek and Seventh Street. It is adjacent to the Pacific Bell Park and the Caltrain terminal. Mission Bay South encompasses about 238 acres south of Mission Creek and is bounded by the 280 Freeway. Mission Bay North is slated to include 3,000 housing units, 505,0000 sf of retail and six acres of open space. Mission Bay South will have a 43-ace, 2.65-million-sf UCSF research complex, a 500-room hotel, five million sf of commercial improvements and 210 sf of retail.