Owners Looking to Charge Premiums for Bay Area Residential Complexes

October 24, 2012

Development Finance & Investment National San Francisco

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor San Francisco is living its own private residential boom, and investors are looking to cash in on the demand for mid-Market residences. The San Francisco Business Times reports that apartment developer Archstone is currently looking to offload one of its larger Bay Area properties in the hopes of getting a [...]

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

San Francisco is living its own private residential boom, and investors are looking to cash in on the demand for mid-Market residences. The San Francisco Business Times reports that apartment developer Archstone is currently looking to offload one of its larger Bay Area properties in the hopes of getting a hefty payday. The company has designated Colliers International to handle the sale of its 443-unit Archstone Fox Plaza Apartments, located on the top levels of a Market Street high-rise.

The Fox Plaza listing that Archstone has made available for sale also includes a neighboring development site with approvals in place for a 250-unit residential development and an underground parking facility with 399 spaces. Attached to the mixed-use tower is a two-story retail building currently housing a Starbucks, as well as other shops. That building would be leveled should plans for the additional building go ahead.

According to industry professionals, the listing should fetch the seller around $150 million.

1390 Market Street is a 1960-built concrete construction developed by the Cahill family. The first 13 floors of the building feature office space that Archstone sold out to Broadreach Capital in 2007. The 232,000 square feet of office space then got the company $42.7 million. Archstone initially bought the entire building in 2005 for a total of $147.5 miilion.

In other news, the city of San Jose is set to record a $148 million transaction after Essex Property Trust announced the acquisition of Willow Lake Apartments. The local apartment complex offers up 508 residential units featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. The complex is set for a $4.5 million exterior renovation process that will be handled by the new owner, the San Jose Business Journal reports.

According to data supplied by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the overall sales trend for the city of San Francisco is not as high as it should be, with 2012 set to trail 2011′s figures slightly. However, the nearing sale of Archstone’s 443-unit multifamily property would almost double the average per-unit sales values that the city has seen this year.