Vacant Building Trades for $1,575 Per SF

The two-story building occupies the northeast corner at Powell and O'Farrell streets, one block off the commercial district's namesake park and two blocks from Westfield San Francisco, a newly expanded 1.5-million-sf center set to re-open on Market Street with Bloomingdale's as its anchor. Sharing the intersection are Starbucks and H&M, a hip UK-based clothing retailer.

"We believe it's one of the top vacant corners in all of San Francisco; it's the only available premiere location I'm aware of in lower Union Square where someone can have full-building identity," Sam Brownell, director of acquisitions for Blatteis & Schnur, tells GlobeSt.com. "Historically, Powell Street has delivered lesser tenancies; in the last couple of years, however, it is seemingly the hottest retail street in San Francisco."

The street and second levels of 200 Powell have 17- and 18-foot ceilings, respectively; the basement level has 13-foot ceilings. Brownell says the business plan includes a full interior and exterior renovation. Among other things, the building will receive a full seismic renovation and the historical façade will be uncovered and restored to its luxury art deco design. Architect Charlie Kridler, a principal at Gensler, will head up the design team. Ultimately, the space will be leased to a premier retailer looking for a flagship location, he says.

Brokers Tony Crossley, Jay Sternberg and David Brandwein of Colliers International had the disposition assignment for sellers Mary Chan, Tony Hui and Kenneth Hui. According to local sources, the property was heavily marketed about eight months ago by another firm, but a deal for the building fell apart a few months ago and Colliers was brought in to re-market the property. "Blatteis swooped right in," Brandwein tells GlobeSt.com.

Indeed, the Powell Street corridor starts with Gap Inc. and Forever 21 at Market Street. Moving up the street, there's Urban Outfitters, Sephora, French Connection, Lids, Lush, H&M, and Quicksilver recently inked a lease deal. "Where Post Street might be considered high fashion, Powell is very quickly becoming the hip, young, trendy street," says Brownell.

Ground floor space on Union Square, one block to the north, goes for over $400 per sf per year, according to local brokers. Given that, a blended rate for Blatteis & Schnur's two-story corner location could be $250 per sf, which translates to an annual rent of about $1.4 million for 5,400 sf of street-level and second-story space.

"We'd like to get it leased immediately," says Brownell. "The demand is there; however, we are focused on finding the right tenant as our partner."

Blatteis & Schnur is known as a national brokerage firm focused on national tenant representation and upscale project representation. It's beginnings date back to 1922 in San Francisco. Current national accounts include The Cheesecake Factory and Kenneth Cole and Lucky Strike Lanes. Recent project representations include Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Los Atrios in Mexico City, and Pacific City in Huntington Beach.

Most recently, the company won the exclusive retail leasing assignment for the Village at Queensridge, a 30-acre development located 12 miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip. it will have 450,000 sf of retail space, 250,000 sf of office and 340 high-end condominium homes.

Using equity from ASB, Brownell says the company only recently began to buy properties and currently owns about 10 properties in the top urban retail districts in the country. Those locations include Union Square in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Michigan Avenue in Chicago and, outside of the ASB relationship, the Grand Wailea Shops in Maui.