SAN FRANCISCO | Oceanwide Center | 910 & 636 FT | 61 & 54 Floors | ON HOLD

[Pedestrian]

Lengthy article in the BizTimes about the tribulations of this project which I can't quote in its entirety but there is some interesting news about what's happening now and in the near future:

THE NEVERENDING STORY

. . . Delays are not uncommon for large construction projects, but the pace of the work at First and Mission has been unusually slow. Piles were driven deep into the bedrock to avoid the titling problems that beset the nearby Millennium Tower, and cranes were not erected until last year. There were rampant rumors last year that construction at both towers had ceased altogether.

Below the ground and behind the scenes, the work churned on, with the larger tower’s foundation being completed this spring even as the Covid-19 pandemic placed most local construction jobs on ice over the past month.

Oceanwide Center’s general contractor — a joint venture of Swinerton and Webcor — never stopped working, as the city exempted the project from the order due to the excavation work, Swinerton CEO Eric Foster said.

Currently, floor slabs and basement walls are being poured for the taller tower, known as “T1.” Starting May 12, workers will begin pouring concrete for the suspended decks.

Foster estimates his crew will reach street level on T1 by September.

Further delays and cost increases are possible. The pandemic has thrust the industry into uncertainty, with social distancing efforts expected to persist long after the shelter-in-place order is lifted. Construction sites are likely be staffed with fewer workers to comply with distancing protocols.

Project delays often result in escalated costs, but the pandemic could work in the developers’ favor.

“You have an extraordinary situation going on right now where prices for a lot of commodities like oil and metals have dropped precipitously and the cost escalation may not be as serious of a problem in this situation as normally would be the case,” said C. William Ibbs, professor of engineering and project management at UC Berkeley and owner of Ibbs Consulting Group Inc.

The newness of the project could also be a boon to leasing.

Oceanwide Center is an “incredibly well-designed project” that could serve an emerging need for increased health and safety standards once the Bay Area emerges from sheltering-in-place, said JD Lumpkin, executive managing director and investor services lead at Cushman & Wakefield . . . .

It is unclear how soon construction on the smaller tower could resume or whether the project will change course with a new owner.

“If the property changes hands, we haven’t been told what the repurpose would be, if any,” said Swinerton’s Foster. “You come to work every day and do the best job you can. There have been a number of people who looked at purchasing it and it hasn’t worked out — so we just continue on with the construction.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...ZhN1IifQ%3D%3D

[colemonkee]

I love how the CEO of Swinerton is also a Foster. A Foster building a Foster!

[gillynova]

Finally ground level news. Hopefully they stay on track

[viewguysf]

Revised headline:
Oceanwide Center was already on the ropes. Then Covid-19 hit.
The pandemic is just the latest obstacle for Oceanwide Center. Will it ever get built?

“More than three years later, the $1.6 billion project has yet to entirely reach grade. Oceanwide has run out of money to finish it — a potential sale is underway after an earlier attempt fell through — and the Covid-19 pandemic has thrust the world into economic turmoil.

It’s anyone’s guess when — or if — the largest and most expensive construction project in San Francisco will be completed.

The uncertainty has kept the real estate community guessing — and speculating privately — about the project, though few will go on the record. But there are plenty of doubts that the latest deal to sell the project will go through.”

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

Revised headline:
Oceanwide Center was already on the ropes. Then Covid-19 hit.
The pandemic is just the latest obstacle for Oceanwide Center. Will it ever get built?

. . . The uncertainty has kept the real estate community guessing — and speculating privately — about the project, though few will go on the record. But there are plenty of doubts that the latest deal to sell the project will go through.”

I read as much of the financial press as I can including the BizTimes and just about every issue of both Dow Jones publications. My overall take is that no one is calling for a real estate crash like in 2008 and especially outside the travel/liesure/dining/retail sectors. So far in this quarterly reporting season, a lot of the sort of tech that populates San Francisco commercial property seems to be doing fine. And while residential property, especially in the higher-priced tiers, could see softening in the coming year causing troubles for condo developers, construction costs are declining.

What does all this mean from Oceanwide? It means the prospective hotel in the shorter tower may no longer pencil out and the timeline on that tower may depend on the Planning Dept.'s willingness to permit a conversion to multifamily residential (condo or rental). But it also means there should be more solid prospects for the taller tower, now called T1, which would be a premier office address in a location favored by an industry that should be hurt less by the current depression than most. And if the project is seen as highly rentable, then there should be buyers willing to buy it at the right price. That would be especially true if Salesforce is still interested in space there, but one negative factor whose impact we don't yet know is that if working-from-home is seen as successful, some companies may stick with it and seek to shrink their office footprints, weakening the tech office market.

What I'm trying to say is that I think it's a good bet Oceanwide's T1 will find ways to get built, but the other tower is less certain. Eventually it will almost certainly get built too, but it could be a long time and could possibly involve a repurposing and even some redesign.

[Zapatan]

Yea the taller tower is gorgeous, both would be nice but I care about that one a lot more.

[gillynova]

Oceanwide

[mizago]

Just noticed a construction update from June 4:

https://swinertonwebcor.com/updates/

June 4, 2020 Update

We will continue to work on site in the early morning hours as we pour the basement walls and floor slabs and continue to bring the the project up to street level by late summer. Concrete placement of suspended decks will be taking place from June 23rd through mid-July starting at 3:00 am. This activity involves night work because this type of foundation requires large monolithic concrete pours to ensure structural integrity.

-----

So it's clear the work is being dragged along, since on April 28th they said: Concrete placement of suspended decks will be taking place from May 12, 2020 through early June starting at 2:00 a.m.

[fimiak]

It is difficult to get a picture, but from the sidewalk it appears as if they are working on the B1 floor. I think reaching street level is easily done by late summer / August. If construction continues as normal, this could optimistically be 10 floors up by the end of the year.

[Smashing Alligator]

Last level of cross bracing has been removed.

[AplusD]

I was there today, was glad to see a lot of workers!

[timbad]

Originally Posted by AplusD

I was there today, was glad to see a lot of workers!

added BBCode so images will show. AplusD, look for where it says 'Embed Codes' at the bottom of the page where the photo displays

[homebucket]

Has this project been officially sold to a new buyer yet?

[theskysthelimit]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Has this project been officially sold to a new buyer yet?

there is a due diligence deadline to expire June 30th with the deal to close 15 days after that.

[gillynova]

Oceanwide Center:

[CrazyCres]

Slowly but surely

[fimiak]

There is crane activity on the mission street site today. I am not sure if it is just a staging area for the first street site, or if construction has resumed.

[fimiak]

They are pouring pillars for the ground level on First street. This should be able to go upwards much more quickly soon after.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by fimiak

They are pouring pillars for the ground level on First street. This should be able to go upwards much more quickly soon after.

Is this tower going to be reinforced concrete all the way up? The design and the fact that it's office rather than residential makes that unusual vs structural steel which would rise much faster.

[mizago]

Pretty sure it's steel based on the pre-fab forms we saw earlier in the thread. The ground level pour is likely the main level floor only (my guess).