The nine MSB employees will continue to work in San Francisco, moving to Newport Beach, CA-based Buchanan's offices at 601 California St. from MSB's offices at 1 Embarcadero Ctr. Buchanan says it also is retaining, on at least an interim basis, all existing property managers and leasing teams currently involved with the properties.

MSB, co-founded by U.S. Trust Co. director Peter K. Maier, became an affiliate of Bank of America Corp. in April 2007 when BofA acquired US Trust. US Trust acquired MSB in 1998. Buchanan plans to retain, on at least an interim basis, all existing property managers and leasing teams currently involved with the properties. Two key retentions are Hamilton Kip, who will be the principal investment officer, and Tina Mizukami, who will oversee management of the assets in the portfolio.

Buchanan Street president/chief executive Robert Brunswick says the work strengthens the company's presence in the Bay Area and takes it beyond the company's traditional value-add activities into the core-plus arena. Brunswick says he will be traveling to the Bay Area more often in the near-term as the company looks to further build up its office in San Francisco. The company was founded here in 1999.