Emerald Plaza office sold for $91.7M

Roger Showley – San Diego Union Tribune
DECEMBER 20, 2016, 2:00 PM

Emerald Plaza’s office building at 402 W. Broadway downtown has been sold by Deutsche Bank to Kearny Real Estate for $91.7million.

The building previously sold for $31.9 million more in 2005, when the real estate market was booming, according to CoStar Group.

Built in 1990 in the form of a series of hexagonal towers resembling emeralds, the building was originally developed by Sandor Shapery in partnership with Tokyu Corp. of Japan and designed by local architect C.W. Kim.

Kearny previously bought and sold the office tower at 530 B St. and was looking for another office tower that could be repositioned and refreshed, said Jeff Givens, senior vice president.

“Here’s an opportunity, first and foremost, that sits right in the heart of law firm central with the new (state) courthouse and all existing courthouses all within a block of Emerald Plaza,” he said.

But he said downtown office buildings are increasingly attracting tenants that do not fall into the lawyer-financial-government sector.

Emerald Plaza offers special amenities not available in most office locations because of the presence of the hotel and the opportunity to cross-promote and share amenities, like food and beverage service, conference rooms, parking and spacious lobby space.

“We saw a tremendous opportunity to take a building that in our opinion just hadn’t been marketed and positioned to take advantage of the rising tide in downtown San Diego,” he said.

Starting early next year, he said, the C Street office lobby will be redesigned with a friendlier vibe.

An empty storefront, previously occupied by California Bank and Trust, will be filled with possibly a similar use or a fitness center.

Then the elevator cabs will be upgraded and certain floors will be redecorated for the first time since the 1990s.

The building is 70 percent leased but negotiations are in the works to fill about 8,000 square feet and renew leases on 15,000 square feet occupied by existing tenants. The construction work should continue for much of 2017.

Givens said he hopes to work with the Westin to share amenities in both office and hotel portion.

Those include offering catering services to office tenants and sharing the office parking spaces with the hotel after hours and on the weekends.

It’s an amenities race,” he said. “Everybody is seeking environments that are more like your home. Everybody’s seeking environments where food, beverage, hospitality and collaboration are built in. People are trying to create that and Emerald Plaza already has that”.

The office building is landlord to two of San Diego’s oldest institutions, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and Jessop Jeweler.  Givens said the building has one full 16,000-square-foot floor available and some spaces as small as 2,500 square feet.

Speaking of the broader office market, he said downtown is benefiting from companies and young workers craving an urban location. But he said the likelihood of a new office tower going up without substantial preleasing at $4 or $5 per square foot per month is problematic.

The downtown vacancy rate is heading toward the 10 percent level and below, but rising construction costs are moving faster than rental rates.

DISCLAIMER: This blog/article has been curated from an alternate source and is designed for informational purposes to highlight the commercial real estate market. It solely represents the opinion of the specific blogger/author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Pacific Coast Commercial. 

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.  The owner of will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

www.PacificCoastCommercial.com

Keywords: San Diego Commercial Real Estate For Sale, Commercial Property In San Diego, Commercial Real Estate In San Diego, San Diego Investment Real Estate, Commercial Property Management In San Diego, San Diego Commercial Property Management, Commercial Property Management San Diego, Managed Commercial Property San Diego, Commercial Property For Sale San Diego, San Diego Commercial Real Estate Leasing