FivePoint Courts Investors for SF’s Candlestick Park Revamp

FivePoint Holdings is wooing financiers to help pay for its revised plan to build 2 million square feet of offices at Candlestick Park — while thousands of offices in San Francisco sit empty.

Daniel Hedigan, CEO of the Irvine-based development firm, told analysts this summer the company was seeking capital partners for the 280-acre project at 602 Jamestown Avenue, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

He said the approvals FivePoint was able to secure from the city last month would serve “as a catalyst for advancing conversations” with potential investors. The office vacancy in San Francisco just soared past 37 percent.

FivePoint has said it will either need a financial partner or tenant commitment to move forward with its development of the former stadium site, according to Thor Kaslofsky, who heads the city’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, which oversees developments at Candlestick and nearby Hunters Point.

Kaslofsky said FivePoint could afford to break ground on the first phase of infrastructure next year or in 2026, using its own funds. The developer expects approval for the site work next year.

Last week, FivePoint got a green light from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to amend the development agreement that governs both Candlestick and Hunters Point.

FivePoint has pitched a revised plan that includes a shift of 2 million square feet of offices once planned for its stalled development in Hunters Point to the site at Candlestick Park.

The pivot by FivePoint is the latest in a saga that has enveloped the mostly dirt lot in the decade since the city promised to replace the historic stadium with affordable homes.

FivePoint and city officials in 2014 jointly promised to rebuild the neglected parcel to give the local population of the historically Black neighborhood options for remaining in the area.

That vision came with pledges of jobs, parks, infrastructure and nearly a third of the residential units set aside as affordable.

FivePoint’s stalled project at Candlestick was approved for 7,200 homes, a 220-room hotel, 750,000 square feet of offices and research labs and 300,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

The developer’s stalled project at Hunter’s Point was approved for 3,500 homes, 4.2 million square feet of offices and 656,000 square feet of retail. The Navy, which owns the 280-acre former shipyard, won’t turn it over until 2038 because of delays in its environmental cleanup.

The amendments approved by the city extend a deadline for public financing; rezone Candlestick for more flexibility; transfer 2 million square feet of offices from Hunters Point to Candlestick; allow for a transfer of future homes; and streamline the approvals process.

“You have a company that is committed to San Francisco, that is committed to getting this project moving forward,” Suheil Totah, senior vice president for FivePoint, told the Business Times. “We are looking forward to moving right into design work and getting the infrastructure built out so that we can bring this project to the community.”

— Dana Bartholomew