Rob AriasEarlier this month, SF Business Times reporter Hannah Kanik broke the story of the “Tanium” building being acquired in a short sale. This week, she’s broken perhaps even a bigger Commercial Real Estate story.
The owners of the Bay Bridge Office Plaza, once the site of Wells Fargo, Allegro Ballroom, Copy Central and the Emery Bay Cafe among others, are looking to offload this property amid “market challenges.”
The highly visible site near the Powell Street intersection had been earmarked for a not yet entitled mixed-use project that was slated to include 98 homes, parking and nearly half a million square feet of R&D space.
The 3.74 acre site has been been fenced off and vacant since 2021 and demolition of the site appeared imminent. Demolition Permit Applications were received by the city for both buildings on the property in 2022. These permits were never approved nor issued by the city and they expired in November 2024.
Several projects have been pitched for the site over the past few years including a contentious 54-story residential tower in 2018 (withdrawn in 2020) followed by this mixed-use project in early 2022.
Now, plans for the site appear to be back to the drawing board.
“An opportunity to develop ±635 residential units along with commercial/retail space.” CBRE vice president Kati Thabit posted a listing to the property on LinkedIn that is being marketed at 5801 Christie.
“With a clear path for demolition of the existing vacant office and warehouse, 5801 Christie is primed for immediate redevelopment,” touting the panoramic views and superior transportation connectivity.
Oxford went on a buying spree in Emeryville in 2021 including this property, The Marketplace (which includes the Public Market), and The Marchant Building (AKA “Foundry 31”).
A sign of a troubling market to build in, Oxford’s Marketplace Parcel A & B has also stalled. Plans for the site have shifted from retail and housing, to Life Science … now they are reconsidering housing on the site and sought an amendment to their development agreement earlier this year.
Other commercial projects in the city that have stalled or been shelved include the Bay Center and EmeryStation Overland projects.
After a peak of less than 2% vacancy in 2021, the Life Sciences and R&D vacancy rate in the Emeryville/Berkeley submarket has ballooned to 46.7% according to the latest data from CBRE.
Another sale of the property could at least in the short term be a benefit for the city as the city collects a transfer tax on the sale of commercial properties. Purchased by Oxford Properties in 2021 for $31M, the asking price has not yet been divulged.
View The E’ville Eye’s interactive map of all residential and development project in the city at evilleeye.com/planning.
