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.
Michael
San Francisco Examiner
Michael Covarrubias is building the future of San Francisco
by Ali Wunderman

Over the past 30 years, TMG Partners Chairman and CEO Michael Covarrubias has steered the construction of more than 30 million square feet of residential, office, retail and mixed‑use projects across the Bay Area.

He is known for creating consensus to get developments built and championing the future of San Francisco’s iconic buildings, including Macy’s in Union Square and the Metreon. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How does it feel to earn the distinction of being a San Franciscan of the Year? It’s a surprise! You do things over many years — I’ve been in the business of real estate for 40 of them, most of them in San Francisco — so you feel like you’re part of the community, but you also feel like you really don’t make that big a difference on a daily basis.

You’re everywhere and involved in so much. Why choose to be so engaged? I’ve always said that the first step to being a real-estate developer is the only hard one — the lobotomy. When you’re in the community of real estate and public events and things like housing policy and the like, it’s really easy to just sort of say, I don’t have time.

I was fortunate it led into other things, like being part of the Bay Area Council, being asked to be the co-chair of CASA [the Committee to House the Bay Area], which was a group trying to change the way housing law was approved up in Sacramento. You realize that at some point, you get asked because you might be OK at doing some things.

I’ve used the CASA model for many conversations about how we move The City forward, how we move the state forward. It was built upon a consensus model. All the people that were in the room represented their silos, whether it was labor, for-profit, big cities, small cities. Everybody blamed everybody else for the lack of housing, and we said, “If you’re going to be in the room, you’re going to give up something.”

Is The City turning a corner? What’s changed? It’s been a tough five years in real estate. Add to that a challenging political environment in San Francisco in particular. What do they say? “Why do you beat your head against the wall? Because it feels so good to stop.” It feels a little bit like we’re getting the benefits of having beat our heads against the wall. We’ve got a moderate board. We’ve got a mayor who’s an Energizer Bunny and is saying common-sense things.

TMG has taken on iconic buildings. What enables you to pull off projects like Southern Pacific and now Macy’s? I’m a big believer in the age-old classic, “If everybody’s going left, go right.” If a project is so hard, whether it’s environmentally or entitlementwise or structurewise, it’s going to eliminate the number of people that will go after it. And therefore that’s where the opportunities lie.

Macy’s was not 100% sure whether they were staying or going, and I said, ”It really doesn’t matter, because we’re not going to know what to do with this building till we get going.” I think that straight talk was appealing. We’ve done more big, giant historic rehabs in San Francisco itself, and maybe more projects than anybody, and that’s our track record. I think we got credit for having usually done what we say, and having the background of understanding how to deal with historic blocks of space.

What’s your philosophy for building and keeping an excellent team? The model is entrepreneurial. We cover what I would call a base wage, but the way that people are going to, as I say, buy their houses is the projects that we do. There’s profit in each deal, and we share that among the team based upon their involvement in any one project.

The rewards of being in real estate are generally cyclical. They come and they go. This time [during and after the COVID-19 pandemic], they really went. But we never laid anybody off. We’ve always maintained the team, because I believe it’s much more expensive to try to let somebody go, and then when things get hot and heavy, to try to get them back or get someone else. We’re positioned to take advantage when the hockey stick goes back up again.

Finish this sentence: Being a San Franciscan means ... Having the responsibility to do whatever it is you do well enough that when you travel overseas or to New York, somebody says, “Oh, I love San Francisco!”

Favorite building or piece of architecture in The City? I’ve always loved the Southern Pacific headquarters ... it sits at the apex of California Street and Market Street. It’s like the entry point to The City.

I think every broker said, ”You’re not going to get Silicon Valley up here, because they don’t come to San Francisco. You won’t get any tech.” Imagine saying that in 2000. Then we got Microsoft and Salesforce, Autodesk, and we had to force the brokers to bring someone from Silicon Valley to meetings so that he could pitch it down there, because they just didn’t see.