Some 18 months after buying SoMa’s Giftcenter and Jewelrymart, now renamed 888 Brannan, for $94 million, a private equity firm is repositioning the historic property this year, with 275,000 square feet of new office space and ground-floor retail.
The shift in focus is being driven by the recent rezoning of San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods, which changed the zoning of the Brannan Street building from PDR — production, distribution and repair — to a much more flexible “urban mixed-use” designation. Under the old zoning, the Portland-based owners, ScanlonKamperBard, would have needed Planning Commission approval to expand to uses beyond the current business-to-business wholesale gift and jewelry use; under the new zoning, up to 275,000 square feet can be office.
SBK President Todd Gooding stressed that the wholesale jewelry business would remain an important part of the 388,000-square-foot building and would continue to account for at least 100,000 square feet. Many of the Giftcenter tenants have moved elsewhere in recent years, some of them relocating to Las Vegas. Over 125 tenants still sell jewelry and accessories, including fine custom jewelry, gemstones, watches, costume jewelry, bridge jewelry, leather goods and children’s apparel. The building is currently about 60 percent vacant.
Story source: San Francisco Business Times
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