A Look at Clint Reilly, Consultant-Turned-Commercial-Investor

When it came to the levers of power, Clint Reilly was a sort of Renaissance man.

In the wake of his death on July 19, Reilly leaves behind a decades-long legacy of substantial local sway in commercial real estate, media, politics and philanthropy.

After abandoning plans to become a Catholic priest, the Oakland native moved into the hard-charging arena of political consulting, where he traded his humble cassock for Italian suits, a red Jaguar and an aggressive reputation that would help him build, in equal measure, notoriety and wealth. Clients included Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who boiled Reilly’s essence down to two sentences.

“He’s weird,” Riordan told the Los Angeles Times in 1994. “But he’s a genius.”

In politics, he was known as a feared closer, someone a candidate called when money was no issue and they absolutely needed to win. In commercial real estate, Reilly was known as a firm holder, someone who bought big-time properties for the long play.

Reilly amassed a portfolio that reached $400 million, and included some of the city’s crown jewels.

In 1995, he bought the Merchants Exchange Building at 465 California Street from developer Walter Shorenstein and the Swig family for $17.5 million. The historic building had been a node for politics, commerce and ideas since its completion in 1903, which made Reilly’s purchase similar to if a tennis trainer bought Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It’s unclear how much the property is worth today, but in March Reilly secured a $50 million refinance loan for the building from Axonic Capital. Given commercial refinance loans typically follow a loan-to-value ratio of 70 to 75 percent, the building is likely worth around $67 million to $71 million.

Almost immediately after becoming the owner of the Merchants Exchange Building, Reilly undertook a full-scale interior renovation, updating each floor and turning the property into a historic Class A space. He also oversaw the Merchants Exchange Club and the Julia Morgan Ballroom, two of San Francisco’s swankiest event venues that hosted names such as Barack Obama and Steve Jobs.

“It has been tremendously rewarding to see this San Francisco icon rejuvenated for a second century at the heart of the city,” Reilly told Northside San Francisco in 2008. “It’s fun to own a piece of San Francisco history.”

In the middle of his commercial real estate career, Reilly launched his own, self-funded campaign for San Francisco mayor, challenging incumbent Willie Brown for being, in his view, all flash and no substance. He pushed back against the city’s building boom, taking a proto-NIMBY position (not in my backyard) on new development beyond subsidized housing.

“I want to control [development], manage it,” Reilly told reporters on the campaign trail. “I want to preserve the character of the city…not bulldoze it.”

Brown would go on to win, with Reilly finishing in fourth.

“Clint had a brilliant mind and a generous heart,” Gov. Gavin Newsom posted in tribute to Reilly after his passing. “He saw the value in investing in San Francisco’s history and the potential for its future.”

Reilly also owned the 25-story tower at 235 Pine Street, a 164,000-square-foot Class A office space with one of the city’s more recognizable facades. He purchased the tower in 2018 for $129 million. Last year, he sold the $62.3 million debt tied to the property to Prime Finance, but instead of this being a play to get out from under the property, Reilly said at the time that he had “no plans” of selling the tower, or letting someone else own it.

The eight-story high-rise at 240 Pine Street, known as Leidesdorff Place, was also part of Reilly’s portfolio. The FiDi tower houses tenants such as tech company Launchsquad and insurance company Deans & Homer.

Despite his reputation as a holder, Reilly offloaded some of his most well-known assets over the past two years. In 2024, he sold his Sea Cliff mansion for $14.5 million.

That same year, he let go of the Little Fox Theater in Jackson Square for $59.7 million, or about $1,700 per square foot, a rate that was largely unheard of at the time as the city struggled with record-high commercial vacancies. The buyer, 535 Pacific LLC, was tied to famed Apple hardware designer Jony Ive, who is building a creative campus in the historic neighborhood.

Then, earlier this year in March, Reilly sold his six-story FiDi tower at 360 Pine Street for $9.2 million. The mixed-use building included tenants such as General Motors and Reilly’s restaurant, Credo, which closed last year.

Reilly was well-known as a local newspaper publisher, buying both the Nob Hill Gazette and the San Francisco Examiner. He also founded Bay Scholars, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to low-income students to attend private college prep schools.

In the wake of Reilly’s death, the future for all of these properties — from the media outlets to the FiDi towers — remains unclear.