Academy of Art University Sells Fisherman’s Wharf Building

The Academy of Art University is continuing its retreat from San Francisco real estate.

The for-profit university is selling a three-story building at 2300 Stockton Street in Fisherman’s Wharf for $18.3 million, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. An entity tied to restaurateur and investor Tony Garnicki purchased the 43,000-square-foot property.

The building sold for more than the $16.4 million asking price, signaling that investors are warming back up to redevelopment plays in San Francisco after stalling in the wake of the pandemic. The building had housed administrative and academic functions during the academy’s decades-long expansion into one of the city’s largest private landowners.

The buyer plans to pursue a previously proposed office-to-residential conversion that would add two stories and create roughly 70 housing units, brokers with Marcus & Millichap, which facilitated the sale, told the Chronicle. Plans filed in December by Thousand Architects rely on San Francisco’s recently approved “Family Zoning” overhaul, which loosened density and height restrictions while opening new pathways for adaptive reuse projects.

The Stockton Street sale marks the academy’s second major disposition in less than a month after the sale of the historic St. Brigid Church in Pacific Heights. The Academy of Art University is in the midst of a broader effort to offload an 11-building portfolio for a total of $130 million. Marcus & Millichap, which is handling all the sales, confirmed that four properties have sold so far, while the remainder are under contract.

The school’s pullback is a sharp reversal for an institution that spent decades aggressively accumulating San Francisco real estate, often drawing scrutiny from city officials and neighborhood groups. In 2016, the academy agreed to a $60 million settlement tied to allegations it broke zoning regulations and illegally converted dozens of buildings for university use. It later settled a separate fraud lawsuit over recruiting practices in 2021.

The real estate downsizing comes as the academy grapples with declining enrollment, financial strain and accreditation pressure. Earlier this year, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges issued the university a formal warning over governance, financial planning and student outcomes, though the school remains accredited through at least 2028 while it works to address the deficiencies.

— Chris Malone Méndez