SAN FRANCISCO—In a move that marks the first corporate expansion outside Chicago in several years, The John Buck Co. picked San Francisco for its West Coast regional office. Located at Three Embarcadero, the office is headed by senior vice president Ben Kochalski.
The John Buck Co., in partnership with fellow Chicago developer Golub Co. and MetLife Real Estate Investments, broke ground late last year on Park Tower at Transbay, scheduled for completion in 2018. This 43-story pre-certified LEED Gold office tower will provide one of the most modern large blocks of space in the city with sweeping views of the Bay from almost three quarters of the building's 750,000 rentable square feet.
Kochalski tells GlobeSt.com: "Park Tower at TransBay is an exciting project for us to enter the San Francisco market with—and we look forward to delivering it in 2018— but we also see the potential for additional opportunities here on the West Coast and that's why we are here."
Designed by renowned architect Goettsch Partners and Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Park Tower's innovative design emphasizes bringing the "outside inside" to create a unique corporate environment within a high density, urban setting. The building will have more than 50,000 square feet of outdoor and open space including a ground floor park, 17,000 square feet of outdoor space on Floors 12 and 28, and 14 skydecks, each with about 1,000 square feet of private outdoor space. The building will also feature a dramatic open-air atrium lobby rising through the first three stories.
The building's design allows for panoramic views from 70% of the floor space. Each floor features floor-to-ceiling window lines and minimal columns to maximize view corridors and enhance natural light within the workspaces. Floorplates range from 27,500 square feet at the base to 12,000 square feet in the upper floors to provide a broad array of options for tenants of varying size requirements. A subterranean garage with an advanced stacking structure allows parking for 128 vehicles.
"We have been looking to make this move for some time and we believe this is exactly the right time to expand our corporate presence to San Francisco," said Richard Lindsay, chief executive officer, The John Buck Co. "We have a strong belief in the fundamentals and dynamism of the West Coast, particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, and we look forward to building our presence here over the next few years," he added.
The John Buck Co. is a vertically integrated real estate development and investment based in Chicago with projects nationwide.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
