The Academy of Art University has cashed out of its Fisherman's Wharf outpost, selling the building at 2300 Stockton Street to an entity tied to San Francisco restaurateur Tony Garnicki for roughly $18.3 million. The new owner is expected to pursue a previously filed office-to-residential conversion that would add two stories, turning the former school space into about 70 apartments.
Public records filed Friday show the three-story property, long used for administrative and academic functions, traded for about $18.3 million and spans roughly 43,400 square feet, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The deal closed above the advertised $16.4 million asking price, a detail that points to growing investor appetite for San Francisco redevelopment plays.
Brokerage Marcus & Millichap handled the transaction and is marketing the academy’s broader portfolio, with The Real Deal reporting that the school is trying to unload an 11‑building package valued at about $130 million. Marcus & Millichap has confirmed that four properties have already sold and the rest are under contract, signaling a fast-moving liquidation of real estate that the university assembled over decades.
Plans for housing conversion
Preliminary plans submitted in December by Thousand Architects call for adding two floors and converting the structure into roughly 70 residential units, according to San Francisco YIMBY. The proposal relies on San Francisco’s recently adopted Family Zoning rules, which relaxed height and density limits in many neighborhoods and created new avenues for office-to-housing conversions, according to SF Planning.
Accreditation and legal pressure
The sell-off comes as the university navigates accreditation trouble. The WASC Senior College and University Commission voted in February 2026 to issue a formal Warning over governance, financial planning and student-outcome standards, giving the school until February 27, 2028, to return to compliance, according to WSCUC. Those accreditation concerns, along with falling enrollment and fiscal strain, have been cited as reasons for the academy’s consolidation, according to The Real Deal.
Why the market might be moving
Local brokers say the above-asking sale and planned conversion highlight improving economics for adaptive-reuse projects in the city. Broker Charlie McCabe told the San Francisco Chronicle that the price likely reflects that shift. The Wharf deal follows a string of recent sales, including the April transfer of the century-old St. Brigid Church, as the academy trims holdings it accumulated over many years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
City officials, for their part, have rolled out incentives and new tools designed to nudge more conversions, including a downtown revitalization financing district meant to make adaptive reuse pencil out more easily. Prism News has detailed the program and its market rationale.
What happens next bears watching: whether the Thousand Architects plan advances from preliminary filing to a formal permit, how quickly the buyer pursues ministerial approvals under Family Zoning rules, and whether neighbors mount opposition during review. If the conversion moves ahead, the project would be another office-to-housing makeover subtly reshaping the city’s waterfront.
