San Francisco

George Lucas is set to heavily invest in the development of the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest affordable housing project. The endeavor is projected to cost upwards of $150 million, with the creator of the Star Wars franchise set to pay for the project in its entirety. This will allow the developer to allocate the housing units that will be made available at the Grady Ranch site in Marin County to specific groups of people such as firefighters, teachers and nurses.

Developer Austin Group has submitted plans to develop a new apartment community on the site of an R&B club. As Jack London Square becomes a development hotbed for the city of Oakland, the company is proposing the construction of a smaller scale community, right across the street from the Ellington condo building. The project would also include a commercial real estate component that would tap into the current growing potential of Jack London Square.

Facebook is further expanding its presence in Menlo Park, with the social network revealing plans to develop a large plot of land it acquired back in 2014. The tech giant relocated to the Silicon Valley city back in 2011 and has since undertaken an extensive campaign of making its mark on the local community. The company announced that it will be working on the plans for the new expansion with Frank Gehry, the same architect that handled the design of Facebook’s recently opened MPK 20 facility.

As Silicon Valley continues to entice investors, Rubicon Point Partners recently announced that is has completed sale agreements for two office properties in the area. The assets were acquired by separate entities that remained unnamed, with the two transactions totaling more than $40 million. According to Rubicon Point Partners Managing Partner, Ani Vartanian Boladian, the company successfully applied its policy of strategically repositioning the two assets to a “superior use for office space” within 18 months.

Bridgecourt Apartments in Emeryville was recently acquired by a joint venture of The Bascom Group and funds managed by Carlyle Realty Partners. The buyer paid a total of $45.1 million for the asset in a deal arranged by Stephen Jackson and Mark J. Feldman of Colliers International. CBRE Capital Markets provided a $40.6 million loan through California Bank & Trust, with the funds being used in the transaction.

Apple continues to bolster its influence on the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino as the tech giant recently completed a leasing deal for an under-development office campus located in the vicinity of its ambitious Apple Campus 2 project. The company has a large workforce in the area and occupies a vast amount of real estate in Silicon Valley, with both continuing to grow. Apple is now set to anchor the Main Street Cupertino mixed-use development project, a venture that aims to create a new downtown for the city.

One of the most ambitious development projects in San Francisco is also one of the most highly contested. Millennium Partners is closing in on finally breaking ground on its $500 million development in the city’s SoMa district. The developer has been planning the project for nearly a decade and is now set to start construction at the site located in the immediate proximity of the Rochester Big & Tall Building. Once completed, the high-rise would feature high-priced condominium units.

As The Bay Area continues its growth in terms of the real estate markets, an important transaction was recently completed in San Mateo. Wood Partners received $73.6 million for its Mode by Alta community from buyer Land & Houses USA Inc. The deal was arranged by Institutional Property Advisors.

A Napa multifamily property was recently acquired by a joint venture created between Security Properties and Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation. The entity acquired the property in a deal worth $58 million through its Security Properties Multifamily Fund II. This marks the eighth acquisition in the fund. Saratoga Downs Apartments is a Class A property that features garden style apartments and newly constructed townhomes. The transaction was arranged on behalf of both the buyer and seller by Seth Siegel and Jason Parr of Cushman & Wakefield.

The 166 Geary Street building was recently acquired as Meridian Capital Group announced it has arranged $35 million in financing for the acquisition. The national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm worked on behalf of The Jackson Group, Sun Equity Partners and Concord Real Estate. Meridian arranged the 36-month, floating-rate mortgage, which was provided by a national balance sheet lender, features full-term interest-only payments and is priced at 350 basis points over one-month LIBOR.