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 40 years. As much as we have accomplished over the last four 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 four 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 & Co-CEO

As the Bay Area’s economy has grown over the last four 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 FieldCo-CEO

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 40 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 &
Executive Vice President

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.
San Francisco Business Times
Exclusive: TMG Partners aims for huge new office tower in Oakland’s Uptown district

Oakland’s office development boom is surging into 2018 with another big project in the works. TMG Partners wants to build a 760,000-square-foot office tower in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood at the corner of West Grand and Telegraph avenues.

The proposal comes at a time when more than 1.5 million square feet of new office space is under construction in Oakland including new towers and renovations. Other projects are going through the entitlement process including CIM Group’s proposal for up to 1.1 million square feet of office at 2 Kaiser Plaza and Lane Partners and Strategic Urban Development Alliance LLC’s Eastline project that could include 1.57 million square feet of offices. 

The site, at 2201 Valley St., would be TMG’s first ground-up development in Oakland and its third office property in the city. The project, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, will rise about 420 feet, consisting of 27 floors averaging 32,000 square feet and 15-foot ceilings.

“This building will have high ceilings and open floorplans, which is hard to find in a new building,” said Denise Pinkston, a partner with TMG. “That’s what tenants want.” 

TMG made a foray into Oakland in 2015 when it bought 1330 Broadway for $80 million. The firm then pumped $30 million into renovating the 328,427 square-foot building that has since attracted several new tenants including software giant Oracle, engineering firm Arup and cancer drugmaker Clovis. In 2016, the developer paid $65 million for the 198,000-square-foot 2201 Broadway and is working on a $14 million overhaul. 

The San Francisco-based developer acquired a parking lot as part of its purchase of 2201 Broadway and then secured an option to buy an adjacent gas station to assemble a 38,000-square-foot site for the tower.

While zoning allows for residential or office development, a BART tunnel running below the site would have made it far more challenging to build a residential building, Pinkston said.

“Office makes more sense,” she said. The location sits within three major Oakland corridors — West Grand Avenue, Telegraph Avenue and Broadway — is close to the 19th Street BART station as well as the restaurant, bars, concert venues and art galleries that have made Uptown a hotspot. Besides all of the office development, thousands of homes are under way in Oakland with more than 2,000 units under construction within a mile radius of TMG’s development site.

“Oakland has a great feeling as a city that is very attractive to people looking to live and work in urban areas,” Pinkston said.

Oakland’s office market is perhaps stronger than ever with vacancy below 6 percent during the third quarter, according to CBRE. Class A rents have jumped by nearly 30 percent in two years to about $53 per square foot during the third quarter of 2017.

The demand started swelling around 2010 when San Francisco office rents ballooned and priced out many tenants. In recent years, much of the leasing activity is coming from companies expanding within Oakland and from other cities to be closer to where employees live.

TMG has had success leasing up 1330 Broadway and is seeing robust interest in 2201 Broadway, said David Cropper, another partner with TMG. More importantly, the firm considers Oakland a great market to invest long term. The new office building could take a minimum of three or four years to build.

Pinkston and Cropper declined to estimate how much the building could cost, but with construction costs ranging from about $650 to $850 per square foot to build new office, the cost could be $500 million to $650 million.

“We want to create options for tenants who want larger floor plates,” Cropper said.

Now is a good time to move forward with new projects in Oakland. “There don’t appear to be any dark clouds on the horizon,” he said.