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.
TMG Partners seeks a single tenant for unbuilt Oakland office tower 
San Francisco Business Times
TMG Partners seeks a single tenant for unbuilt Oakland office tower 
by Blanca Torres

TMG Partners is putting space in an unbuilt office tower in Oakland on the market for lease. 

The building, known as Telegraph Tower, will contain 875,000 square feet at the corner of Telegraph and West Grand avenues in Oakland’s thriving Uptown neighborhood. Construction is slated to start by the middle of next year.  

TMG is seeking a single tenant. The developer received some inquiries from potential tenants after it started planning the tower two years ago. Meanwhile, San Francisco is experiencing low vacancy, rising rents and a dearth of new office development, said David Cropper, a partner at TMG.

“Oakland used to be just cheaper than San Francisco and close to transit,” he said. “Technology companies are coming to Oakland — not just back office tenants. Tech tenants are finding Oakland is a desirable, vibrant place to be.”

The 27-story Telegraph Tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, will be TMG’s first ground-up development in Oakland. The project, at 2201 Valley St., scored city approval in January. 

San Francisco-based TMG is one of the Bay Area’s most prolific developers with a track record of more than 30 million square feet of property throughout the Bay Area. 

The developer, however, had stayed out of Oakland until 2015 when it bought 1330 Broadway for $80 million. The investor spent $30 million to revamp the tower and lease it up to new tenants such as Oracle and Arup, then sold it in 2018 for $173 million. 

In 2016, TMG Partners bought the 198,000 square-foot 2201 Broadway for $65 million, or about $328 per square foot, and began a $14 million revamp of the former furniture-store-turned-office building. Last fall, co-working operator WeWork leased 68,000 square feet on three floors.

TMG wants to extend its success in bringing in tenants to the new tower, but at a much larger scale such as bringing a single tenant to fill up Telegraph Tower, Cropper said. 

The building will feature large floorplates, high ceilings, and outdoor space that tenants expect to see in “next generation office buildings,” said TMG Chairman and CEO Michael Covarrubias.

“We took every lesson we have learned about what companies want today and designed Telegraph Tower as a workplace environment that is entirely focused on delivering the ‘right’ employee experience,” he said. 

The building will replace a surface parking and gas station near the intersection of Grand and Broadway adjacent to Luka’s Taproom and about three blocks from the 19th St. BART Station. 

Well-known San Francisco brokers, Chris Roeder of JLL and J.D. Lumpkin of Cushman & Wakefield, agreed to team up to handle the leasing efforts.  

The marketing comes at a time when most of Oakland’s large spaces and new office buildings are leasing up. The only major space available in a new building is 300,000 square feet in Shorenstein’s 601 City Center. That building was recently completed and is welcoming its first occupants, employees of Blue Shield. 

In June, Kaiser Permanente said it would gobble up all of Eastline, a $900 million, 1.6 million-square-foot office development a block from Telegraph Tower that also hasn't broken ground yet. 

Office vacancy in Oakland shot up to 16.2 percent during the third quarter with about 900,000 square feet of available space on the market, according to commercial brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield. Meanwhile, Class A asking rents hovered near $59 per square foot — about 50 percent less than the average asking rate of $89 per square foot in San Francisco.