State Bar of California sells San Francisco headquarters for $54 million
SAN FRANCISCO -- The State Bar of California announced Tuesday it sold its San Francisco headquarters at 180 Howard Street in the financial district to Ridge Capital Investors for $54 million.
The organization said it expects to stay in its current space and offices for approximately a year, then consolidate operations to about 50 percent (68,000 rentable square feet) of its current footprint.
The agreement allows the group to stay in the building.
The bar purchased the 13-story, 211,000 square foot building in 1998 for $22.5 million.
The group said in a statement that, after establishing a hybrid work model during the COVID-19 pandemic that meant fewer people in the office daily - and in light of repeated concerns expressed by the legislature about the bar's ownership of the building - the group put the building up for sale in 2021.
The organization said the sale will shore up its finances, it said. While a state audit found the bar needed an increase in attorney licensing fees to meet its baseline public protection responsibilities, SB 40, this year's licensing fee bill, contained no such fee increase.
However, it did grant the organization authority to use proceeds from 180 Howard's sale to address operational needs while the legislature considers a fee increase for 2025.
