German Investor Sells Apple, Bulgari Stores in San Francisco for $160M

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Two retail assets in San Francisco’s Union Square district, the Apple store at One Stockton Street and the Bulgari store at One Union Square, have been sold by German investor Deka Immobilien to an unidentified U.S.-based private investor for a total consideration of $160 million.

The transaction was announced Friday by Savills, which had advised Deka. Savills was unable to comment further on the deal, and Deka declined to comment.

One Stockton Street is a purpose-built 16,987-square-foot retail store leased exclusively to Apple, which has occupied the structure since it was built during Deka’s ownership in 2004.

The Bulgari Building, at One Union Square and 212 Stockton Street, is a seven-story retail and Class A office building. The 42,640-square-foot building is anchored by Bulgari and is fully leased to a mix of luxury retail and boutique office tenants that includes Loro Piana, Lacoste, Vera Wang and Union Square Investments.

“The Deka-ImmobilienEuropa fund is invested predominantly in the European markets and is successively reducing its overseas exposure. As a long term investor, the fund takes advantage of the market cycles in order to generate additional transaction returns,” Thomas Schmengler, Head of Acquisitions and Sales at Deka Immobilien GmbH told Commercial Property Executive. “In this case, the strong market demand in the San Francisco real estate market offered an excellent opportunity to sell our two San Francisco properties there at favorable terms and to realize a gain for the investors of the fund. Despite the sales, North America remains an attractive investment market for us. It is possible that we invest shortly for other funds there.”

“San Francisco’s Union Square is one of its most desirable high barrier to entry retail locations,” Robert Stamm, executive managing director of Savills, said in a release. “We are pleased that we were able to identify a leading buyer who recognizes the intangible value of both assets enabling us to achieve an exceptional result for our client.”