Law firm BraunHagey & Borden to Move to SF’s Jackson Square

The lawyers at BraunHagey & Borden will soon schlepp their briefcases from San Francisco’s Financial District to historic Jackson Square.

The locally based law firm has signed a 10-year lease for up to 22,000 square feet of offices at 747 Front Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed.

BHB will vacate its 10th-floor offices at 351 California Street.

The move by BraunHagey & Borden is the latest in a growing number of companies relocating from the Financial District into Jackson Square, a neighborhood that harkens back to the Barbary Coast red light district.

The neighborhood, which has commercial buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake, is home to Michelin star restaurants and the members-only Battery Club.

In January, Bain Capital announced it would move from two Downtown highrise buildings into a turn-of-the-century former horse stable at 450 Pacific Avenue in Jackson Square.

In May last year, fintech firm Ripple announced it would move its headquarters from a 16-story tower at 315 Montgomery Street to a two-story historic building at 600 Battery Street in Jackson Square.

Jackson Square’s low-slung ambiance, “refined atmosphere,” and lack of the challenges facing the Mid-Market and SoMa areas make it an attractive area for companies, according to Brendon Kane of Cushman & Wakefield, who with Jim Sobel represented landlord Bridgeton in the BHB deal.

“BHB was interested not just in a great building and office space, but helping to energize this section of Jackson Square,” Cale Miller of Hughes Marino, who represented BHB, told the Business Times. “With the recent addition of several Michelin-star restaurants and the redevelopment of Transamerica Tower nearby, this should be a homerun for everyone.”

The gray four-story building, built in 1909, features high ceilings and large industrial windows. It added Andytown Coffee Roasters to its ground floor and just renovated its lobby. Its tenants include Minted, an online marketplace firm, and Institutional Venture Partners, a capital market company.

North Haven Front Street Property Owner bought the building in 2019 for $68 million. The BHB lease increases its occupancy to more than 90 percent.

BHB isn’t the only law firm signing new lease deals in San Francisco, a city beset by a 34 percent office vacancy rate, according to CBRE.

Debevoise & Plimpton last month added a second floor to its lease at 650 California Street, doubling its offices to 31,000 square feet, according to the Business Times.

— Dana Bartholomew