Former Union Bank Building Trades to San Diego-Based Developer

CBRE arranged the sale of 530 B St., a 24-story, 250,000-square-foot office tower located in the B Street corridor of downtown San Diego, for $27.5 million, or $110 per square foot, to Ambient Communities, a San Diego-based real estate development company. Matt Carlson, Hunter Rowe, Camille Doan, Matt Pourcho and Anthony DeLorenzo of CBRE represented the seller. Mickey Morera of Kidder Mathews represented Ambient Communities.

Completed in 1966, the tower was known as the Union Bank building until U.S. Bank acquired the bank in 2022. In common with many office properties, 530 B St. has faced a challenging environment in the past few years. Despite the broader downtown San Diego market vacancy rate of 24% in the third quarter of 2024, the CBRE team waged a vigorous marketing campaign.

“The bidding process for this downtown office asset was exceptionally competitive,” said Carlson. “We attracted diverse bidders, including residential converters, office users and private investors. This resulted in 16 initial offers and three rounds of competitive bidding.”

Next Wednesday, learn from and network with experts from ICSC, Caruso, Anderson Real Estate, Primestor, and more at this year’s Connect Retail West conference. Don’t miss out, be at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel for the leading retail CRE event next week on Nov. 6! Be sure to register in advance, registration pricing increases on event day!