Wells Fargo Is Selling Its San Francisco Headquarters Building

Downtown San Francisco - already ground zero of the commercial real estate implosion - is about to get one more empty skyscraper.

According to Bloomberg, San Fran-based Wells Fargo is looking to sell its headquarters building in San Francisco as it shifts to other (smaller and cheaper) offices less than a half-mile away.

The fourth-largest US lender, best known for its horse and pony logo and its countless financial scandals, which will remain based in the city, has enlisted Eastdil Secured, its former real estate investment bank to advise on a transaction. The building at 420 Montgomery St. could be put on the market as soon as this month, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier Tuesday. It's likely that a buyer won't emerge and the building could remain empty.

“Bringing more San Francisco employees together at our 333 Market St. location will create a more collaborative work environment through access to more modern workspaces, enhanced technology and amenities,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Wells Fargo’s corporate headquarters remains in San Francisco, and we have no plans to move it out of the city.”

The move may open up yet more space in San Francisco’s troubled downtown commercial real estate market where similar office buildings have been selling for as much as 80% off. For the bank, founded in 1852 to serve gold rush pioneers, the formal move adds to years of adjusting its presence in the city. Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf, who took over in late 2019, lives in New York and mainly works from the company’s offices in Manhattan.

The San Francisco office market has slumped as people continue to work remotely after the pandemic, dragging on the value of office properties. The local vacancy rate was 37% in the third quarter, one of the highest among US cities, with asking rents down 4.9% over the past year, CBRE Group Inc. reported. Hardly surprising for a city best known for its shit-covered sidewalks, endemic crime and generally "socialist paradise" vibe.

The good news is that when a buyer does not emerge, then San Francisco will finally have a place to house at least a small portion of its tens of thousands of homeless crackheads roaming the streets like some undead, zombie army.