Tenants Leaving Trump-Owned San Francisco Office Tower

A well-known office tower in San Francisco co-owned by President Donald Trump is bidding adieu to two longtime legal tenants.

Law firms Fenwick & West and Sidley Austin are planning to leave 555 California Street when their leases expire early next year, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Sidley Austin has been in the building since 2012, while Fenwick & West moved in in 1995.

Vornado Realty Trust acquired a 70 percent stake in the complex, comprising the 555 California skyscraper and two adjacent office buildings, for $1.8 billion in 2007. The company maintains sole decision-making authority while The Trump Organization maintains a 30 percent limited partnership.

The departures could leave the 52-story tower, formerly known as the Bank of America Center, the emptiest it’s been in nearly two decades. Without the law firms, building occupancy would dip below 90 percent for the first time in the company’s ownership tenure.

Building occupancy at 555 California has averaged more than 96 percent on Vornado’s watch, with the lowest reaching 91.7 percent. At the end of last year, occupancy held steady at 96.6 percent. Fenwick and Sidley account for about 9 percent of the building’s offices, with Fenwick leasing 85,905 square feet and Sidley having 54,283 square feet.

Fenwick is relocating to 48,000 square feet at One Front, while Sidley is joining fellow law firm Morrison & Foerster at 101 California with a 53,000-square-foot office pad.

San Francisco continues to deal with a stubbornly high office vacancy rate in the aftermath of the pandemic. In the first quarter of this year, CBRE placed office market vacancy at 35.8 percent.

But, San Francisco could be poised for an office comeback in the coming years. The city is no longer last in the nation in return-to-office mandates. And AI companies have been snapping up offices across the city as they increase their headcount and hire more employees for in-person work — so much so that CBRE predicts the office vacancy rate will be slashed in half in the next five years.

— Chris Malone Méndez