Madison Capital Prepares Purchase of Ripple Headquarters

Madison Capital could be preparing to take control of one of San Francisco’s largest cryptocurrency headquarters.

The New York-based investor has bought a loan from Affinius Capital backed by 600 Battery Street, a 125,000-square-foot building near Jackson Square currently functioning as the headquarters of crypto company Ripple, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Details about the deal, including how much Madison paid to take on the loan, are unclear, though Madison is reportedly believed to have paid more than $80 million, a source told the Business Times.

Square Mile Capital, predecessor to Affinius, originated a $106.2 million loan for TMG Partners and Invesco when the two firms acquired the building in 2019 for approximately $115 million. That transaction placed the building’s value at roughly $920 per square foot.

Ripple set up shop at 600 Battery Street in 2022 when it leased the entire building for its headquarters. It ended up being one of the largest new lease deals in San Francisco that year, according to the Business Times.

The 600 Battery Street building is three stories tall, though the nearly 1-acre parcel it sits on is zoned for construction up to 84 feet high, per the Business Times. In 2006, the city received an application to add three stories to 600 Battery, which would’ve increased the building’s height to 77 feet and total space to 218,000 square feet. That plan was withdrawn in 2010 but the site’s zoning would allow Madison to try a similar expansion if it wants.

The Battery Street buy grows Madison Capital’s Bay Area portfolio.

In 2022, the firm, together with Meadow Partners, grabbed the Ford Point commercial and industrial space in Richmond for $103.7 million. The following year, Madison acquired Seagate Technology’s operational headquarters in Fremont for $260 million; later that year, Madison and Taconic Capital provided $40 million in financing for Ridge Capital Investors’ acquisition of 180 Howard Street in San Francisco.

Ripple will remain the tenant at 600 Battery Street, and it remains to be seen whether Madison will move to buy the building outright. — Chris Malone Méndez

A photo caption in a previous version of this story incorrectly identified Madison Capital’s Richard Wagman as Richard Wagner.