San Diego’s Tallest Tower Trades for $120M

Irvine Co. has left the office market in downtown San Diego, selling its last trophy tower—the 34-story One America Plaza—to Saca Development at a loss in a $120 million deal, according to Yardi Matrix data.

The deal involving the city’s tallest skyscraper also marked Irvine’s sixth office building sale in the downtown market in the past 13 months.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported One America LLC and Saca Properties LLC, subsidiaries of Saca Development, a Sacramento, Calif.,-based real estate development company run by John Saca, acquired a 60 percent controlling interest in One America Plaza. The newspaper stated Saca partnered with his daughters, Payton Saca and Chase Saca, in the transaction.

Saca Development also acquired 101 W. Broadway, a 22-story office building, in November 2024 from Irvine for nearly $44 million. Irvine had purchased that tower for $148.5 million in 2005.

The remaining 40 percent stake in One America Plaza was acquired by Oram One America Plaza LLC, an entity connected to Alvin Mansour, a co-founder of Oram Hotels and a real estate broker, according to the same source.

---

READ ALSO: Office Visits Surge in September

---

In addition, Cushman & Wakefield secured a $91 million financing package from Rialto-Hines for the purchase of the tower. The firm served as the exclusive advisor to Saca Capital. A Cushman & Wakefield Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team of Rob Rubano, J.P. LeVeque, Ernesto Sanchez and Lars Weston represented the borrower.

Mick Partridge of Carolwood Estates represented the buyers and Adam Edwards of Eastdil Secured represented Irvine, The Real Deal reported.

Closer look at the building and market

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Irvine had acquired the 623,000-square-foot tower at 600 W. Broadway in February 2006 from GE Asset Management for $300 million, also according to Yardi Matrix. The purchase was part of a $450 million portfolio deal that also comprised a 394,000-square-foot tower at 501 W. Broadway, the same source shows.

Describing One America Plaza as a cornerstone for revitalizing the Broadway corridor, Payton Saca, a principal in Saca Development, told the Union-Tribune the firm sees the investments as a vote of confidence for the downtown office market. She told the newspaper Saca Development plans to make upgrades to the 34-year-old building’s lobby and conference center, add a gym and co-working center among other changes. The LEED Gold certified building has floorplates of 19,353 square feet. The property also has 1,228 parking spaces in a subterranean parking structure.

Like many other U.S. downtown office districts, San Diego’s has been struggling since the pandemic. The office vacancy rate in the market during the third quarter was about 29 percent, according to Colliers. But there are bright spots for One America Plaza. While the tower sold at a discount, its sale price per square foot was higher than other office transactions in the downtown market and the building is currently about 87 percent leased to a mix of tenants including several law and financial services firms. The Office of the Attorney General of California is the largest tenant, occupying 150,000 square feet across seven floors.

The building has 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space including Starbucks, Giovanni’s Trattoria and Hidden Craft.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Rubano noted in prepared remarks Irving had invested significant capital in the building’s infrastructure during its ownership. He said the tower is the premier asset in the market and the financing execution underscores lender demand for best-in-class office opportunities.

Irvine’s moves

Irvine is one of Southern California’s largest commercial real estate investors, developers and operators of mixed-use and master-planned communities, office, retail and multifamily properties. In recent years, the privately held firm run by Donald Bren has expanded to Chicago and New York City. The company’s holdings include 129 million square feet and more than 590 office buildings, 125 apartment communities with 65,000 units and 40 retail centers.

While the company has retreated from downtown San Diego, it is still very active in San Diego’s University Town Center neighborhood, about 10 miles from the central business district. Irvine has significant holdings in UTC and is planning to add more residential and other non-office offerings to the area.

The company began selling its office assets in downtown San Diego just over a year ago beginning with the sale of Symphony Towers, a 530,000-square-foot office asset at 750 B St., to Formosa for $45.7 million. The city’s second-tallest skyscraper, Irvine had owned it for 21 years.

Irvine sold 501 W. Broadway, a 21-story, 421,661-square foot office building for $69 million to XYZ in July. Led by Daniel Negari, XYZ also acquired 225 Broadway, a 22-story office tower, from Irvine for $48 million, about $8 million less than what Irvine paid for the property in 2005, according to The Real Deal. In April, Irvine sold 401 B St., also known as Wells Fargo Plaza, to Prebys Foundation for $40 million.