9Zero leases 17K sf floor in Downtown SF office building

Two San Francisco investors who bet on a cut-rate office building in Downtown have landed 9Zero as a second new tenant.

The San Francisco startup that invests in technology to fight climate change has leased a 16,800-square-foot floor at 350 California Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. 

Terms of the deal with SKS Real Estate Partners and The Swig Company were not disclosed.

The deal comes weeks after SKS and Swig bagged a lease by locally based Bridge Housing for another floor in the 22-story tower it bought last summer at a fire-sale price, according to The Real Deal. Terms of its deal were also not disclosed.

The building is among several that have traded over the last year at between $200 and $300 per square foot, prices that experts say reset the market for Downtown San Francisco offices.

Last fall, SKS and Swig bought the glass-and-stone office tower in the Financial District for $61 million — nearly 76 percent less than its asking price in 2020. It was 70 percent vacant.

The low price gives SKS and Swig, plus other local investors of discounted buildings, the flexibility to lower rental rates or spend money on their newly acquired properties.

It also opens the door for a broader reset of the city’s office market — allowing access to tenants who once could not afford a San Francisco address, according to the Business Times.

Swig CEO Connor Kidd told the newspaper in October the firm was looking to sign leases between $50 and $60 per square foot at 350 California, a huge discount to rental rates prior to the pandemic. 

Kidd said the tower was 30 percent leased, but that its vacancy could rise as leases expired.

The building was renovated shortly before its sale and has a large lobby with a wraparound mezzanine, a conference center, game room, lounge areas and a kitchen.  

9Zero was founded in 2021, according to the LinkIn pages of its co-founders, Duncan Logan and Matthew Joehnk. The startup was registered with the state in October as based in Santa Barbara, according to public records. 

The firm, which invests in climate-focused startups and hosts an accelerator, is now based in San Francisco, according to its website, and will launch late this month as “the digital and physical hub for climate innovators.”

— Dana Bartholomew

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Bridge Housing signs full-floor lease at SF’s 350 California

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SKS and Swig buy office tower at 350 California Street for $61M