Oceanwide Buys 186K Sq Meter San Francisco Project for $296M

First and Mission’s twin towers. (Rendering courtesy of Foster + Partners)

China’s Oceanwide Holdings seems determined to make a big splash in the California real estate market after it was revealed this month that the Shenzhen-listed property developer acquired a two million square foot (186,000 square metre) mixed-use project in San Francisco.

Oceanwide acquired Foster + Partners project First and Mission from Bay Area developer TMG Partners and Northwood Investors LLC for $296 million, according to an announcement earlier this month from the Beijing-based company.

The San Francisco project, which will be the city’s tallest building when complete, is Oceanwide’s second major acquisition in California, and was followed within days by news of another deal for a 186 acre (75 hectare) project site in Sonoma county’s wine country.

Oceanwide Planning for a Future San Francisco Landmark

The design of First and Mission calls for two towers of 910 and 605 feet in height (277 and 184 metres) combining apartments, a hotel, offices and retail space. The project is currently being reviewed by the San Francisco city government and when completed in 2019 would be the second tallest building in the city after the Salesforce Tower, which is currently under construction.

With the scale of the project planned for the 55,000 square foot (5069 square metre) site, and the design by star architect Norman Foster, Oceanwide seem determined to declare its presence in one of America’s biggest commercial centres.

Beijing Developer Likes the Golden State

Oceanwide’s plans for downtown San Francisco follow just one year after the developer announced its $200 million acquisition of the Fig Central project in Los Angeles.

After raising $320 million on the international bond markets in August to fund the project, Oceanwide is expected to begin construction on its Los Angeles development this month.

Just days after its San Francisco project was announced, news broke in the US press of another northern California deal for Oceanwide, this time in the wine country.

According to a local California press account, the Beijing-based company spent $40.7 million to acquire the rights to a planned resort and winery in the famed Sonoma valley.

Nestled among vineyards belonging to Gallo and Kendall Jackson, Oceanwide’s property has been approved for construction of 11 luxury homes, a 50 room hotel and spa, and a winery.

Oceanwide acquired the project, which was approved by local authorities in the 1980s from a company belonging to Modesto, California-based Save Mart Supermarkets and its CEO and Chairman Robert Piccinini.