SAN FRANCISCO | Oceanwide Center | 910 + 636 FT | 61 + 54 FLOORS

[david_h]

Excavation on the hotel site is in full swing...

[fimiak]

[Pedestrian]

^^I'm not sure why exactly but I am really happy to see this. I am very excited about this building, maybe because, together with the Salesforce and 181 Fremont it will make a really nice grouping of really tall buildings and a really exciting section of the city.

[fimiak]

This is the image that I really like..look at this density. None of these have started yet.

http://www.socketsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/540-Howard-Rendering.jpg

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

^^I'm not sure why exactly but I am really happy to see this. I am very excited about this building, maybe because, together with the Salesforce and 181 Fremont it will make a really nice grouping of really tall buildings and a really exciting section of the city.

Parcel F will complete that grouping and I hope it starts sooner rather than later!

[Pedestrian]

Every time I read another article like this I get nervous for this project and wonder at the possibility of the Chinese money trying to pull out of it (or sell their interest):

Chinese Reversing Big U.S. Real Estate Buying Spree That Had Helped Boost Prices
By Esther Fung
Updated July 24, 2018 3:54 p.m. ET

Chinese real-estate investors, facing pressure from Beijing, are reversing a yearslong buying spree in the U.S. where they often paid record prices for marquee properties like New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel (an outpost of which is planned for Oceanwide).

Chinese insurers, conglomerates, and other investors have turned net sellers of U.S. commercial real estate for the first time in a decade. They have spent tens of billions of dollars to acquire hotels, office buildings, and vast swaths of empty land to build residential towers.

But Chinese investors sold $1.29 billion worth of U.S. commercial real estate in the second quarter, while purchasing only $126.2 million of property, according to data firm Real Capital Analytics. This marked the first time that these investors were net sellers for a quarter since 2008.

The more than $1 billion in net sales reflects how much the Chinese government’s attitude toward investing overseas has changed in recent months . . . .

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-rea...nts-1532437934?mod=ITP_pageone_0&tesla=y

[BobbyMucho]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Every time I read another article like this I get nervous for this project and wonder at the possibility of the Chinese money trying to pull out of it (or sell their interest):


https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-rea...nts-1532437934?mod=ITP_pageone_0&tesla=y

I imagine it's a bit harder to pull out of a project mid-excavation. It's not that something can stall based on issues with financing but it seems like it'd be a serious legal hurdle to cut and run this far in.

[viewguysf]

Both the office and hotel portions will remain in great demand as the project is finished. Perhaps they’ll sell it later.

[ozone]

Originally Posted by BobbyMucho

I imagine it's a bit harder to pull out of a project mid-excavation. It's not that something can stall based on issues with financing but it seems like it'd be a serious legal hurdle to cut and run this far in.

Not so hard. Look at all the projects that further along than this but were abandoned during the recent Great Recession. Exactly what legal repercussions do you imagine Chinese investors would face?

[hruski]

Originally Posted by ozone

Not so hard. Look at all the projects that further along than this but were abandoned during the recent Great Recession. Exactly what legal repercussions do you imagine Chinese investors would face?

That's a fair point.

At which stage of construction would you consider it to be a surprise if the project were abandoned delayed? First concrete pour? Steel above street level? Glass?

[Pedestrian]

^^I doubt they'd abandon it. It has substantial value. They could sell it, possibly for less than they've put into it but possibly at a profit. They are reportedly selling other projects though I don't know if any are this far along.

Examples:

China's Wanda Group gets $913 million from sale of Australian projects
Clare Jim, Tom Westbrook

HONG KONG/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group has agreed to sell its two Australian projects to a China-backed developer for a total of A$1.13 billion ($913 million) in equity and assumed debt.

Wanda Group will get A$315 million for the sale, and the buyer will also repay A$815.1 million in assumed debt on behalf of the company, according to a statement by Wanda Hotel Development Co Ltd (0169.HK), the Hong Kong-listed unit of Wanda Group, on Monday.

The deal, signed on Jan. 18, comes just days after Wanda sold a high-profile London luxury development project for around $81 million, the latest in a string of asset sales that underscore financial strains hitting the Chinese conglomerate.

Wanda Group will cash in HK$10.32 billion ($1.3 bln) and make a total gain of HK$1.28 billion after the disposal of London, Sydney and Gold Coast developments.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wanda...ale-of-australian-projects-idUSKBN1FI1H6

But there is some good news:

. . . they are withdrawing from some high-profile ventures as leaders in Beijing constrict the flow of money out of the country. In August (2017), China's State Council laid down new regulations on outbound investments to reduce the risk of runaway debt and to blunt capital flight.

One of the largest developments underway (in Los Angeles) is Oceanwide Plaza, a mixed-use project on Figueroa Street across from Staples Center that will include a Park Hyatt hotel and more than 500 luxury condominiums along with shops and restaurants.

Beijing-based conglomerate Oceanwide Holdings has fully funded the $1-billion project, Thomas Feng, chief executive of Oceanwide Plaza, said in a statement. The project, featuring a 700-foot outdoor LED screen stretching its length, is set for completion at the end of next year.

Other major Chinese projects are also apparently still on track in downtown Los Angeles . . . .

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chinese-property-sale-20180401-story.html

I believe this is the same developer as Oceanwide Center here. I don't know if our projecxt is also "fully funded" but I'd bet the deals are similar.

If there were a sale, my concern is whether it would lead to suspension of work and delays rather than a complete halt.

[david_h]

They are laying down these supports today. One of the guys told me it's so the crane can move across the job site.

Another guy, when I asked what it's like to work on this job, said "it's very technical."

[david_h]

Based on a chat with another senior engineer on site - they are using this device to core the final few feet of the caisson. They are already about 40 feet into bedrock, some 260 feet below ground level at this part of the site. The long "pole" (I can't remember what he called it) is used to alleviate the torque stresses on the rotating bits of the machine. Or something to that effect.

[edwards]

08/01/18 from 535 Mission

[timbad]

[gillynova]

I'm so excited for this project to be completed. I wished it was 2021 already

[1977]

Oceanwide Center, San Francisco by Sergio Ruiz, on Flickr

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by gillynova

I'm so excited for this project to be completed. I wished it was 2021 already

The dramatic public space right across from Salesforce Park is going to be a dynamic one, two punch! I’m looking forward to Salesforce Tower having a tall companion too.

[SFBuildings888]

Too bad we still have to wait at least 3 more years till this is completed. And, I’m disappointed that the taller building isn’t over 1k feet tall.

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by SFBuildings888

Too bad we still have to wait at least 3 more years till this is completed. And, I’m disappointed that the taller building isn’t over 1k feet tall.

The Transbay Tower (now Salesforce) was always planned to be the tallest. I wish 181 Fremont would have been taller as originally envisioned, but it is the way it is. Don’t plan on seeing anything taller than Salesforce for many years to come. It only took 45 years to exceed the Transamerica Pyramid.