TMG Partners, with Alcion Ventures LP, Acquires San Francisco's Historic Hamm's Building

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May 4, 2012
Press Release
TMG Partners, with Alcion Ventures LP, Acquires San Francisco's Historic Hamm's Building

TMG Partners, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's largest mixed-use property developers, with Alcion Ventures LP, announced the acquisition of The Hamm's Building, a multi-story 182,669-square-foot office building at 1550 Bryant St. in San Francisco.

Amerimar Enterprises sold the property for an undisclosed sum. David Terzolo and Josh Peterson of CAC Group represented the seller. The buyers represented themselves.

Located in San Francisco's SoMa Social Media Triangle, at the confluence of the South of Market District, Showplace Square and the Potrero District, the building is currently known as The Hamm's Building because of its history as a brewery. Originally constructed in 1915 by Rainier Brewing Company, it operated as a brewery from 1915 until 1975. The building sat vacant until a complete rehab in 1985 transformed the old brewery into an office building. Amerimar bought the building in 2007 and made several upgrades to the property including a renovated lobby, a seismic upgrade, and varioustenant improvements. While various capital expenditures have been made over the years, TMG and Alcion plan a comprehensive, interior renovation program to further reposition the building's creative space, and expect to invest approximately $15 million in upgrades to the property.

The SoMa Social Media Triangle submarket is currently one of San Francisco's highest performing submarkets. The industrial style space of the district, containing many brick & timber buildings, as well as concrete buildings with high ceilings, began attracting technology tenants and other creative users looking for non-traditional office space during the dot-com boom. Today, major software and technology companies, including Advent Software, Adobe, Zynga, and Dolby, have their headquarters there.

TMG has successfully executed similar strategies at two nearby buildings, 650 Townsend and 208 Utah. Both properties required extensive repositioning through renovation, re-branding, entitlements and leasing.

"We are pleased to acquire a property with a fascinating history as a former brewery, that speaks to the character, floor plans and location sought by today's emerging technology companies," said Michael Covarrubias, chairman and CEO of TMG Partners. "The Social Media Triangle has benefited from its proximity to the central SoMa submarket, which has proven itself to be an attractive and vibrant alternative for tenants seeking space in San Francisco."

The Hamm's Building is currently eighty-five percent leased to a diverse group of tenants, including technology companies such as Rdio, and Asana, companies founded by some of the original backers of Skype and Facebook, respectively. The building's floor plates range from 3,000 to 26,000 square feet.

Once topped with a giant neon Hamm's beer sign, the building is an icon to many San Franciscans. The tower rises twelve stories. The penthouse level, called the "Land of Sky Blue Waters Room," takes its name from the Hamm's beer slogan. This space possesses a spectacular 360-degree view of San Francisco. It is currently used as a common amenity space for all tenants. The property's central location offers 41-space asphalt parking lot and can accommodate approximately 70 spaces with valet parking. Additionally, the Hamm's Building has close proximity to public transportation, including the 16th Street BART station and multiple Muni bus routes. Moreover, the building is dog-friendly and bike-friendly, with a bike barn for tenant bike storage and loaner bikes available for tenants' use.

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