Press

In developing The Austin, Pacific Eagle Holdings partnered with the Lower Polk Alley Initiative to reimagine the six alleys extending from the Polk Street commercial spine as urban open spaces, as well as developing new opportunities to engage the community around these improvements. Reimagining Austin Alley is a key component of this initiative and will be an important future value driver for buyers at The Austin, says Pacific Eagle’s Hans Galland, who shares his insights in this exclusive.

The Austin is a design-forward, mid-rise condominium located in the Lower Polk neighborhood of San Francisco, in close proximity to Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow and Russian Hill. It offers premier amenities and ample outdoor spaces, including a spectacular roof deck with sweeping city views. Residents will also have access to other amenities, including a dog-washing facility, outdoor fire pits, bike parking and more. “We wanted a distinctly California design with the organic and authentic qualities that speak to the people and culture here, but wanted to take it to the next level of sophistication not usually found in most condo buildings,” says Vivian Lee, principal, Edmonds + Lee Architects.

“Sustainable design” ideas have evolved to the point where sustainability can be equated with high architectural style, and there’s a good chance that by 2021 the shower water in San Francisco’s newest ultra-luxe hotel will be heated by tall solar tubes embedded within the building’s glass walls. These tubes will be part of a 37-story tower at 555 Howard St. “We’re located in the center of innovation and we wanted our design to reflect that,” said Hans Galland, senior vice president at Pacific Eagle. “Luxury customers today aren’t just looking for gold faucets. They’re thinking about significance and responsibility, how they move through the world.”

The beachside community with 21 miles of coastline has served as a retreat for Hollywood’s elite since the late 1920s. Malibu represents the quintessential California lifestyle of surf, sun and sand. But not all buyers have to drop double-digit millions to own a slice of Malibu. With prices starting at $1.23 million, demand has been high for the 68-unit luxury condominium project Cavalleri in Point Dume. Pacific Eagle revamped the property with gourmet kitchens and eco-friendly details inside the units and partnered with concierge management company Luxury Attaché. It also built amenities such as dog parks, a yoga terrace, tennis and bocce courts and a meditation labyrinth.

Stretching from Playa Vista to Santa Monica, the Oceanside suburb of Silicon Beach is one of the hottest property markets in Los Angeles right now. San Francisco developer Pacific Eagle is joining the seaside action with a 10-acre development in Malibu, Cavalleri. Just north of the tech hub, Malibu is dotted with exclusive celebrity homes, all built in careful isolation. Notoriously restrictive building practices keep the population low, and property values are some of the highest on the west coast. That means this condominium development is entirely new territory for the small community of Malibu. Owning a piece of the West Coast’s most desirable real estate market usually comes with a multi-million dollar price tag. But a few units at Cavalleri start at under US$1.23 million, making this a great buy in an always-appreciating location.

Developers have embraced the notion of co-working spaces and have created an updated version of the former “business center” – a common amenity in upscale apartments and condos. Hans Galland, senior vice president of Pacific Eagle, a global real estate company and developer of The Austin condo in San Francisco, says co-working spaces, introduced in hotels as well as condos, are designed to foster connection between residents, many of whom work from home but still want social interaction. At The Austin in San Francisco, Galland says, buyers are a mix of young people, mid-career professionals and empty-nesters who all use the lobby level co-working space, which includes multiple seating areas with Wi-Fi, a beverage station and access to a courtyard. 

With an influx of starchitects working on bold, thoughtful, and sometimes even quiet designs, San Francisco is gradually earning its place on the architecture map. Renzo Piano’s glass hotel and condo tower at 555 Howard isn’t the tallest building proposed for Howard Street in SoMa. At a relatively modest 405 feet, it’s winning over folks by creating enlightened public spaces. Renzo Piano Building Workshop sold developer Pacific Eagle on a truly great idea: opening the building’s glass-walled, climate-protected roof garden to the public for free.

Renzo Piano, in collaboration with Mark Cavagnero Associates, has unveiled plans for a new mixed-use tower for San Francisco. Slated for San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood, 555 Howard would rise to 36 stories and though one building, would actually look like two large towers and one smaller tower lined up in a row. Inside, the building would include 69 residential units (15 percent of which will be rated “affordable”), a 255-room luxury hotel, meeting and ballroom facilities, a spa and fitness center, and a restaurant. 555 Howard would also be topped by a bar and cafe and a rooftop garden, offering choice views of the city to the public.

555 Howard Street is a careful study on proportion and lightness, with the overall tower massing divided visually into 3 slender extrusions by connecting voids that are highly transparent. The overarching language for the façade is designed as to be intelligent, and sustainable, a reflection of the ambitious LEED Platinum target. It is composed of a series of transparent glass layers that provide a nice articulation and vibration to the building. The lower half of the tower is planned to be a luxury hotel. The ground floor has been designed to be a lively urban space, not take possession of the space but visually leave it to the city and let the street encroach.

Adam Aasen, vice president of Pacific Eagle Holdings Corporation, has completed more than $2 billion of real estate investment, development, equity and debt transactions across various real estate product types. He shares some insights into Pacific Eagle’s commercial investment, acquisition and development, as well as capital market activities in this exclusive Q&A. Pacific Eagle has identified secondary growth markets providing strong, diversified economies, a higher quality of life and better value for residents, and companies are starting to expand or relocate to these areas.  

In 2016, Pritzker-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano announced he’d design a new hotel high-rise at 555 Howard Street, right across from what will someday be San Francisco’s fourth-tallest building. As designed, the new spire would top out at 36 stories, where residents will find its centerpiece rooftop garden. The plan calls for 69 private homes and 255 hotel rooms. The emphasis on transparency suggests a soft-touch approach aimed at creating volume of space while minimizing the impression of mass. Acclaimed for over 40 years, Piano is no stranger to San Francisco thanks to his designs for the rebuilt California Academy of Sciences.

Pacific Eagle along with its entitlement partner SKS Partners, submitted an application to the San Francisco Planning Commission for approval of a proposed mixed-use project at 555 Howard Street near the boundary of SoMa and Yerba Buena neighborhoods. A major benefit of this strategically located project is that the restaurant, lounge areas, top-floor skybar and rooftop terrace will be open to the public as well as hotel patrons and residents. The rooftop area is surrounded by a 20 foot clear glass wall functioning as a protective barrier as well as mature trees. The feel of the space is designed to be “park-like” and offers panoramic city and Bay views.

San Francisco-based Pacific Eagle wants to expand its value-added investment and development businesses. The firm, established in 1992 as the U.S. arm of Hong Kong-based Great Eagle Holdings, has been very active over the past three years, but has recently been in disposition mode. Today, Pacific Eagle is now back in the market and actively seeking deals in primary and secondary markets. “Our immediate focus is growing our U.S. portfolio. Over the past 12 months, we were in disposition mode but were still able to pick up two assets in Seattle. Over the next 12 months we’re hoping to further rebuild our portfolio,” said Adam Aasen, a vice president who oversees U.S. acquisitions

Hans Galland oversees development for Pacific Eagle Holdings, the U.S. division of the public Hong Kong-based builder Great Eagle Holdings. The firm has three active development projects in San Francisco. The Austin is an under-construction project at 1545 Pine St. with 100 condos. A 150-room hotel is proposed at 1125 Market St. in Mid-Market. At 555 Howard, a condo and hotel tower is proposed in the Transbay Area, designed by Renzo Piano. The firm has also owned significant properties in San Francisco in the past. Galland talked about the firm’s focus on emerging neighborhoods and how real estate can transform them.

Responding to interest among home buyers for eco-friendly dwellings, developers are building energy- and water-efficient features into homes, reusing materials instead of buying new ones and purchasing bicycles for residents to use. “To be eco-friendly is now expected. In the luxury space, sustainability is becoming part of a more holistic way to live, a lifestyle statement more than having another crystal chandelier,” said Hans Galland, senior vice president of development for Pacific Eagle. “The renovation is a sustainable effort and an adaptive use of the existing property,” Galland said. “We’re tearing down selectively, focusing on recycling and upgrading.”