An affiliate of Zurich Alternative Asset Management has scooped up 410 Townsend Street, the century-old South of Market office building that once housed the likes of Yammer, Eventbrite and Zendesk, paying $47.4 million for the 65%-occupied property. The deal works out to roughly $603 per square foot for the historic building, which spans 76,000 to 78,500 square feet depending on the source.
A Deal More Than Double the 2024 Price
The sale was arranged by Cushman & Wakefield, according to rentv.com, and marks a striking reversal of fortune for the property. Just two years earlier, New York Life Real Estate Investors and its partner Bridgeton Holdings had picked up the very same building for only $22 million, a price that New York Life Real Estate Investors announced at the time while describing San Francisco's market as showing the “green shoots” of a recovery. The new sale price represents more than double what those sellers paid.
Cushman & Wakefield's Seth Siegel and Ryan Venezia of the firm's Northern California Capital Markets Team led the transaction, per the same rentv.com report. Siegel said 410 Townsend stands as a compelling example of San Francisco's rapid rebound and the chance to capitalize on the market's strengthening fundamentals, calling it the first “round trip” for a San Francisco office building. He also said investors are taking a closer look at San Francisco assets where the right combination of location, quality and basis can create meaningful opportunities.
Brick, Timber and a Start-Up Pedigree
Built in 1912, 410 Townsend still carries its original bones — exposed brick and heavy timber construction — alongside more modern additions like flexible office layouts and updated amenities, according to the rentv.com report. Its history as a launchpad for Bay Area tech is well documented: New York Life Real Estate Investors noted the building had served as original headquarters for start-ups including Yammer, Eventbrite and Zendesk. The property has also offered onsite below-grade parking, high ceilings, open floor plates and views toward Downtown San Francisco and Mission Bay, according to The Real Deal.
At 65% occupancy, the building still has room to grow, and the rentv.com report describes that vacancy as providing significant potential for additional leasing and value creation for its new owner. That framing echoes what New York Life Real Estate Investors said back in 2024, when the firm described San Francisco's real estate market as showing the green shoots of a recovery as both start-up and more established companies sought out compelling workspaces.
A Wild Swing From 2019's Peak
The building's value has swung dramatically over the past several years. The Real Deal reported that Clarion Properties bought 410 Townsend for $85.65 million, or more than $1,100 per square foot, roughly five years before the 2024 sale — and that the fully leased building was 75% vacant by the end of 2023. When New York Life Real Estate Investors and Bridgeton acquired it in 2024 for about $290 per square foot, that price represented just one quarter of the property's 2019 market value, per The Real Deal. That outlet also noted the 2024 deal counted as one of the first major post-pandemic San Francisco office trades involving buyers from outside the Bay Area.
At the time of that 2024 purchase, Bridgeton pointed to broader market signals, saying vacancy rates in San Francisco had flattened and notable leasing transactions had started to occur over the preceding six months, according to a CBRE press release. The buyers also said San Francisco's office market showed a path forward so long as the discounts were big enough, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
The latest sale, reported by Connect CRE, suggests that momentum has kept building. Whether the Zurich affiliate's plans for the SoMa landmark include fresh leasing pushes or other changes has not been detailed, but with more than a third of the building still available, the new ownership group appears to be betting on San Francisco's office comeback continuing.
