The former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is a class-A creative office building.
SAN FRANCISCO—Designed by famed architect George Kelham, the Old Fed has been a prominent landmark in the North Financial District since its completion in 1924. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the iconic building at 301 Battery St. features historic details including murals hand-painted by Jules Guérin, the Banking Hall, 25-foot marble columns, and custom designed walls and ceilings.
Today, the former 60-year home of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is a class-A creative office building. In a unique opportunity to acquire a prized San Francisco landmark, RFR Holding LLC, a New York-based real estate investment company, recently purchased the asset for an undisclosed purchase price.
CBRE's San Francisco investment sales team comprised of Mike Taquino, Kyle Kovac, Russell Ingrum, Mandy Lee and Giancarlo Sangiacomo represented the seller, Bently Reserve LLC. The CBRE capital markets debt and structured finance team in San Francisco led by Mike Walker and Brad Zampa, and including Megan Woodring and Taylor Shepard, arranged the financing for this transaction.
"The capital markets responded incredibly aggressively to this financing opportunity. The landmark and irreplaceable 301 Battery asset, coupled with the prolific RFR sponsorship, resulted in one of the most accretive financing outcomes I've seen in this market," says Walker.
The San Francisco office market continues to benefit from significant demand, especially from the technology sector. Average class-A office rents have experienced 7% growth in just the last year and now stand at $92 per-square-foot annually with just 2.5% vacancy. In 2019, 16 large deals of more than 100,000 square feet were signed. Another 147 tenants are in the market, representing more than 7.2 million square feet of tenant demand, according to a CBRE market report.
"San Francisco continues to be the most sought-after commercial investment market in the world," Kovac tells GlobeSt.com. "RFR has a unique opportunity to add additional value to a landmark asset which is already performing at a very high level."
The North Financial District is San Francisco's most established and recognizable submarket, boasting several recognizable properties including the historic Old Fed, the Transamerica Pyramid and the Embarcadero Center.
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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.
