Skip to Main Content

It’s the way we think
that sets us apart.

TMG Partners has been in the business of developing award-winning, financially-successful, community-based real estate for 39 years. As much as we have accomplished over the last three decades, we believe it is the way we THINK about our region, the risks we manage, the critical timing of our projects and the value we create that sets us apart.

Localism

Real Estate is
a local business.

No, really.

The San Francisco Bay Area is an extremely diverse real estate marketplace with countless micro-business climates teeming with possibility. But you have to be here—and know here—to make the most of the opportunities all around us. Having been exclusively committed to the Bay Area for over three decades, we have developed a keen local intuition which gives us a unique advantage in recognizing both the opportunities and risks in this complex market.

Regionalism

We Think
Mega

If we try to solve our land use problems by focusing only on the nine Bay Area counties, we will fail.

Michael CovarrubiasChairman & CEO

As the Bay Area’s economy has grown over the last three decades, so too has its challenges—particularly related to transportation, housing, affordability and climate change. To plan for growth of 4 million more people in the next third of a century, TMG is thinking bigger, beyond our nine Bay Area counties, and working on longer term strategies to create greater connectivity across our entire megaregion.

Timing

It’s got to work at low tide as well as high tide.

Some of our best deals are the ones we didn’t do.

Matt FieldChief Investment Officer

Almost anyone can make money in a positive economic climate. But it takes discipline, depth of market knowledge and experience in all major product types to know when to buy and when to sell. The most profitable deals can be the ones you decide just don’t make sense or are outbid by an “out of town” competitor. Because we are active in our markets on a daily basis, TMG Partners has managed a portfolio through 39 years of market cycles that works in all phases and has withstood the sands of time.

Vision

huh?

Once it’s obvious, it’s too late.

Cathy GreenwoldSenior Advisor

If you wait for the statistical proof to confirm real estate opportunities, you’re looking backwards. TMG Partners has cultivated an approach to studying the business landscape that reveals market opportunities before they become obvious. Our contrarian investment strategy balances optimism and caution with the intent of turning forward-looking investments into no-brainers.

Returns

Redefining IRR

Our measure for success goes beyond profit.

Lynn TolinChief Operating Officer

Most investment professionals have a clear understanding of IRR: Internal Rate of Return, a purely financial measurement of performance. At TMG we use a different definition. For us, IRR means balancing Integrity, Relationships and Results. We measure every aspect of our business through this lens to ensure our partners, communities, tenants and buyers are treated with the highest degree of respect and responsibility while we consistently deliver superior financial performance.

Think

Localism

Regionalism

Timing

Vision

Returns

Close

Close

News & Awards.

TMG Partners has won awards for many projects
including honors for “Best Mixed Use,”
“Best Office,” and “Best Historic Rehabilitation”.

In the News. Press Releases. Awards.

December 1, 2008

San Francisco Business Times Real Estate Deals

Finalist — 650 Townsend

by Emily Fancher

650 Townsend St. has had several incarnations - as a wholesale fashion mart and dot-com office hub - but never quite thrived.

But new owners saw untapped potential in the 645,000 square feet of space at the corner of 8th Street in SoMa.

TMG Partners, with financial partner Farallon Capital Management, bought the building for $117 million in 2006 and pumped more than $10 million into renovating it.

The renovation opened up a new entrance on Townsend Street, which provides direct street access to the project's central feature, a 65-foot-tall sky-lit atrium. In addition, the renovation added three new elevators, carved retail space out of unused lobby space at the 8th Street entrance, and remodeled the large atrium lobby with furniture, plantings and flat-panel TVs. LED signs on the roof were also renovated to allow for tenant advertising and to make the building more visible from Highway 101.

When TMG Partners bought the building, only half of the square footage was approved for office space. They subsequently secured San Francisco Planning Commission approval to rezone 375,000 square feet of the project for office uses, increasing leasing and investor opportunities, said David Cropper, managing director at TMG.

"We thought we could make a significant improvement to its life as an office building," said Cropper. "This is a value play."

Construction began in mid-2007 and wrapped up in the summer of 2008. There is now a total of 16,400 square feet of retail space in the project.

Cropper said 40 percent of the building is now leased and that TMG is in discussions with various tenants on 100,000 to 160,000 square feet of space. Current tenants include Nokia, IBM, The Federal Home Loan Bank, Schawk, G-4 Media, Citrix, Union Bank of California and Common Sense Media.

"The story for us is that we took an under-appreciated and under-used asset and by making creative changes we've made it more attractive to tenants," said Cropper.