Golden Gate University aims to sell slice of Downtown SF campus

The financially strapped Golden Gate University wants to sell a stake in its Downtown San Francisco campus.

The school, founded during the Gold Rush, seeks an investor to recapitalize its 210,000-square-foot campus at 536 Mission Street, in the Financial District, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Golden Gate listed its primary campus building three years ago for an undisclosed price, but got no takers. The listing included a 48,500-square-foot office building at 40 Jessie Street, which sold in the spring of 2023 for $17.6 million, or $363 per square foot.

In November, university President David Fike told the Business Times that it might be better to either sell a stake or find a co-tenant for the property.

The nonprofit college now wants to sell an unidentified portion of the building — and more importantly, a stake in the three-quarters of an acre it sits on, according to the Business Times. Eastdil Secured is handling the listing.

The land, one of six sites rezoned for buildings taller than 600 feet as part of the 2012 Transit Center plan, is the only undeveloped parcel not developed for a soaring highrise.

At the moment, however, the commercial market Downtown lies in doldrums.

The university has occupied its main campus on Mission Street since 1964. It’s not clear how long the financially challenged school can wait for a financial tailwind.

WSCUC, which accredits universities in California and Hawaii, the Golden Gate’s financial future depended on more cash infusions, largely from the future sale of its real estate holdings, according to a 2022 report.

Golden Gate reported a $12 million loss in fiscal year 2023, its most recent tax filing.

GGU, which traces its roots to evening lectures at the San Francisco YMCA during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in professional careers such as accounting, taxation, law and business.

Locally based Long Market Property Partners and New York-based DRA Advisors, which bought the university’s auxiliary building at 40 Jessie, have listed it for around $35 million, or $722 per square foot, an unidentified source told the Business Times. It’s fully leased to Google.

— Dana Bartholomew