Mission Bay Gains Police HQs; Palo Alto Street Named Most Expensive for Office

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

The city is on its way to getting its first Mission Bay-located civic building. Groundbreaking has recently taken place on a new headquarters for the San Francisco Police Department, which will also house neighborhood police and fire stations. Total costs for the civic building will hit $243 million, with funding acquired by voter approval of the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond in 2010.

The LEED Gold-certified structure will boast 300,000 square feet, with 110,000 square feet of that dedicated to the police HQ, 20,000 to the Southern District police station and 17,000 to the Mission Bay fire house. In addition, there will be a 128,000-square-foot parking structure and 25,000 square feet destined for shared community space. The San Francisco Business Times reports hard construction costs at about $164 million. The structure will integrate the historic fire station currently on the site into the community facility, with a two-story truck bay being converted into a large meeting room.

In other real estate news, Palo Alto won new standing for housing the most expensive street in the United States when it comes to office space. At No. 1, Sand Hill Road confirmed the amount of weight Palo Alto has with tech companies, with a median rate of around $114 per square foot. This figure pounded Fifth Avenue into submission, the overcrowded Manhattan Street clocking its average price per square foot at a marginally impressive $97.

San Francisco’s California Street, otherwise a very important financial spot with structures like the BofA building and 101 California St., failed to impress in the charts provided by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. San Fran’s financial hub charges an average of $43.16, placing it well down the list at No, .14.