Kilroy Seeks to Change Flower Mart Redevelopment Plans

Kilroy Realty is changing course on its planned development for San Francisco’s former Flower Mart.

The Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust was approved for 2 million square feet of offices and about 500,000 square feet of retail but is altering those plans, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The project at 640 Brannan Street got the green light before the pandemic but has yet to break ground.

Kilroy has spent the past six months hammering out “a significant redesign and reimagining” of the Flower Mart project, CEO Angela Aman said Tuesday, per the Business Times. Details around the changes haven’t been publicly disclosed, but Aman confirmed the company is looking into a “broader mix of uses” than originally proposed.

The firm is also exploring the possibility of implementing a phased approach to the site’s development rather than pursue the entire project at once, Aman said. The Flower Mart project is the largest in Kilroy’s pipeline, according to the Business Times.

With San Francisco maintaining a 35 percent office vacancy rate, Kilroy is one of several firms that are reconsidering office-heavy developments. The original Flower Mart plan called for about 2.5 million square feet of offices and retail in a traditionally more industrial-heavy area.

This spring, the city passed legislation eliminating a requirement that major developments in Central SoMa include a ratio of two-thirds commercial space to one-third residential space. That might lead Kilroy to get shovels in the ground as it could add residential units to the project or pivot to residential entirely.

Plan revision was something Kilroy was hesitant to pursue, as Aman said in October 2024 that it didn’t want to change its plans as a way of breaking ground sooner, according to the Business Times.

“There are a number of plans that might be more actionable in the short term that would really impair the eventual, ultimate value and realization at Flower Mart,” Aman said.

Now, however, Kilroy is looking to “maintain a lot of the entitlements” already in place at the site.

In the meantime, Kilroy has already delivered a new flower mart location for the vendors who previously operated out of the location at 6th and Brannan Streets.

— Chris Malone Méndez