Paul Paradis exits as Hines’ managing director of the West

Paul Paradis, who has represented Texas developer Hines in San Francisco and the West for more than three decades, has stepped down.

The senior managing director retired from Hines in December after 34 years of service, according to his LinkedIn and an automated email response from his company account, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

His LinkedIn profile says he’s now self-employed with an unidentified venture. Hines declined to comment on the transition, and Paradis also declined to comment to the newspaper.

Paradis arrived at Hines in 1989, and has contributed to the development, acquisition and marketing of some 20 million square feet of commercial real estate.

He contributed to the development of numerous skyscrapers in San Francisco, including the 31-story office tower at 560 Mission Street, the 35-story housing tower at 33 Tehama and the 61-story Salesforce Tower, the tallest in the city.

He pulled strings to help buy notable buildings in San Francisco,  such as 101 Second and 50 Fremont streets, according to the Business Times.

The Harvard graduate was behind the development of the 1.5 million-square-foot The Gateway in South San Francisco and the 600,000-square-foot Pleasanton Corporate Commons in Pleasanton, according to his biography.

In September 2021, Paradis was involved with one of the last and perhaps most significant deals during his tenure: the purchase of the 1.6 million-square-foot PG&E headquarters in Downtown San Francisco for $800 million. 

The redevelopment and expansion planned for the two-building complex was the largest project along Market Street in San Francisco in the past decade, according to Hines.

But Paradis hit rough waters after the Hines-owned luxury tower at 33 Tehama luxury high-rise flooded twice last summer. 

Some 400 residents of the building were displaced, and the building remains red-tagged as Hines struggles to address the water damage. The floods were followed by two lawsuits from tenants that are ongoing.

It doesn’t appear that Hines has hired someone to fill Paradis’ position. Hines Senior Managing Director George Clever is listed as responsible for Hines’ current San Francisco projects.

Paradis is just the latest local head of a major developer with projects in San Francisco to step down. In January, Jack Sylvan left his role as senior vice president of development at New York-based Brookfield.

In October, Sandy Herz, head of a charity arm of The Sobrato Organization that doled out $92 million to needy causes last year, also stepped down.

— Dana Bartholomew