Although the lease rate was not disclosed, space in the Financial District, which is sporting a 19.8% overall vacancy rate, has been going for $23.79 per sf, according to year-end data. The average rate in the Van Ness corridor, which has a 17.4% vacancy rate, is $20.74. Forecasters have estimated it will take six years for sublease space from the dot-com implosion to fill up and bring the city's combined office vacancy rate below 10%.

"Davis, Cowell & Bowe took advantage of the market conditions to move back into the Financial District after 17 years on the Van Ness corridor," says Jim Sobel, the SVP with Colliers International who represented the law firm in the transaction. "This has been a growing trend for the past several months and I think we will continue to see more moves to the central financial core over the next six to 12 months."

Davis, Cowell & Bowe will use the class A office space as its San Francisco headquarters. The firm handles union and labor law matters. Bart O'Conner with CB Richard Ellis represented the building owner.