Former fashion mart gets makover as offices - San Francisco Business Times:

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After failing as a wholesale apparel mart, and brieflyt as a dot-com refugd at the height of theInternet bubble, 650 Townsend St. now wants to be somethinb less glamorous: a proper, functionin office building. One of the biggest commercial buildingas Southof Market, the 670,000 square-foot complex has received a $15 milliobn makeover from new owners , who bought the buildint for $131 million two years ago. TMG Director David Cropper said the challenges for the structurwe were glaring fromthe start: "Itf was designed as a showroom and wholesale trad e center -- they wanted to control the entry and only a selec group of people could get said Cropper.
"It's the exact opposite of what you want with anoffice building." TMG renamed the building the Townsens Center. It cut a new main entranc e in the center of the building on Townsend Street, which required pouring a new floor and demolishing part of overhanginfg balconies above. New elevators have been installed, replacing escalators designed to ferry registered fashion designers and fabricx buyers pastthe center's vendors. Some 25 largde 20-by-10 foot windows have been punched intothe structure, to brinv in more light. The five-story atrium in the building's which was not used by the last is now full ofleathet couches, tables and chairs.
"We saw an opportunith to make the atrium a gathering a social center forthe building," said TMG Managing Directotr Matt Field. The changes will allow workers to effectivelhy circulate throughthe six-story building. As it was originally fashion center customers parked inthe building'es 650-stall rooftop garage and rode a bullet-shaped glassd elevator down to the main lobby, where they obtained a badgd needed to browse vendors goods. Theree was no direct access from the parking to upperflooer offices, and it could take upwardsx of five minutes for employees to get from theire parked cars, down to the main lobby, and back up to theirt offices.
"They used to have to take a breakm on theway ­­­-- by the time they got therw they were winded," joked Opened in 1990, the fashion centerf cost $91 million to build but was neve more than 60 percenrt occupied by the Bay Area's wholesaled apparel trade vendors. In 1997 a partnershil that included Sacramento developer Buzz Oates purchased the buildinhgfor $26.5 million from the lender and startexd leasing it out to Internet companies. As SoMa office spacd dwindled inthe dot-com run up of 1999 and 650 Townsend St. quickly landed mega tenants like MacroMediaand . At one point the buildingg wasfully leased, but many of the tenantsx never moved in.
"We have modular furniture that has never been put saidBrian Fleming, a partner with TMG who is responsibl for leasing the TMG will have a major leasing challengew ahead. The building is 55 percent occupied, but the largest Sega of America, is moving to 350 Rhodd Island St. Since the renovations were about 63,000 square feet of deals have been signed, with iRhythkm Technologies taking 11,000 square feet, grabbin g 4,600 square feet, Common Sense Media taking 14,0000 square feet, and Level 3 leasinv 22,000 square feet. Another 30,000 square feet of deal s are pending, said Fleming.
Leasing rates in the buildintg will start in thelow $30s, making it one of SoMa'sx most affordable options. "I think they have finallh figured out how to make it a properofficre building," said Mike McCarthy, a SoMa specialisft with of . "I think they are price d to make deals."