Former SoftBank executive and technology investor Eric Gan hopes to speed up the economic recovery of downtown San Diego with his purchase of two office towers. Monday, real estate management entity Golden Columbia LLC purchased 1 Columbia Place, a 27-story skyscraper at 401 W. A St., and 2 Columbia Place, a 12-story tower, at 1230 Columbia St. Golden Columbia is a newly formed limited liability company affiliated with Ganmi Corporation, the family office of Gan, who is a San Diego resident. Gan told the Union-Tribune that he paid a combined $103.5 million for the buildings. The seller, Regent Properties, paid $182.5 million for 1 Columbia and $41 million for 2 Columbia in June 2021. At the time, the Los Angeles-based firm took out a $260 million loan to finance its $420 million purchase of a five-property portfolio that included the recently sold 18-story building at 707 Broadway. The 1 and 2 Columbia Place purchase was motivated by Gan’s desire to invest in San Diego, bring workers back to the downtown market and draw more companies to the area, Gan told the Union-Tribune. “The whole point is to revitalize the San Diego economy,” he said. Built in 1982, 1 Columbia Place at 401 W. A St. is a fixture among the downtown skyline and is distinctive because of its stair-step design. A block from Little Italy, the 27-story property has 556,943 square feet of space and features an atrium lobby, upgraded gym, and third-floor tenant lounge with a game room and terrace, as well as sweeping views of San Diego Bay. Anchor office tenants include AECOM, Calpine Energy Solutions and the U.S. State Department. Donut Bar is located on the ground floor. The lower profile 2 Columbia Place building, across the street at 1230 Columbia St., was built in 1990 and renovated in 2019, according to real estate tracker CoStar. The property has 150,680 square feet of space. The tenant rooster includes law firms and consulting businesses, most occupying suites that are 6,000 square feet or less in size. Gan said he was attracted to the properties because of their proximity to Little Italy and other neighborhood amenities, such as hotels, transit, the forthcoming Whole Foods and the airport. 1 Columbia Place was 75% leased and 1 Columbia Place was 65% leased at the time of the transaction, according to CoStar. Gan was the longtime executive vice president at Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corp. He joined SoftBank after the company acquired his mobile carrier business, eAccess Ltd. Gan was most recently the CEO of cybersecurity company Cybereason, which has an office in La Jolla. Gan said he moved to San Diego from Japan nearly four years ago and hopes to raise the city’s profile at an international level. Japanese CEOs are enamored with Manhattan, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, but are less familiar with San Diego, he said. “They say, ‘Where’s San Diego?,’” Gan said. His response is always, “It’s the best city in America.” The technology-executive-turned-real-estate-investor said he will spend as much as is required to renovate and elevate his properties, and he plans to introduce a Japanese-style restaurant at 1 Columbia Place. Increasing building occupancy is, however, secondary to his goal to revitalize downtown. The office market, in particular, has struggled to rebound from a pandemic-era shift in workplace dynamics that ultimately left building owners severely under water. Gan joins a growing list of high-net-worth buyers that have entered the downtown office market amid a pronounced retreat of larger organizations and real estate investment firms, most notably the Irvine Company. The trend started with businessman Joe Wen’s September 2024 purchase of Symphony Towers at 750 B St. Entities affiliated with businessmen Daniel Negari, John Saca and Min Xia have similarly purchased a handful of downtown office towers at steep discounts in the months and years since. “The sale of 1 Columbia Plaza and 2 Columbia Plaza to Ganmi marks the 13th downtown high-rise to change ownership since December 2023, either through a deed-in-lieu process, short sale or traditional disposition. The sale of 1 Columbia and 2 Columbia also marks the arrival of the 6th new high-net-worth individual — or family office — who has never owned office buildings in downtown San Diego,” said Derek Hulse, an executive with Cushman Wakefield who leads the brokerage’s office division. “The changed ownership over the last few years welcomes a new era of owners with low basis, fresh capital and new ideas to invigorate our urban core.” Eastdil Secured represented the seller in the transaction. With the ownership change, Jones Lange LaSalle will handle leasing, and CBRE will serve as the property manager. ...read more read less