San Diego’s Premier Symphony Towers Office Building Trades Hands

Symphony Towers, one of downtown San Diego’s premier office buildings and second tallest skyscraper in the city, has been purchased by Formosa Ltd., an Orange County-based firm that operates in five industries and has an extensive real estate portfolio. This acquisition of the property represents Formosa Ltd.’s inaugural venture into the San Diego office market.

This landmark transaction represents one of the only office building trades in San Diego so far in 2024.  Designed by SOM, the 34-story, 546,092-square-foot skyscraper located in the epicenter of downtown San Diego’s Financial District, had previously been owned by The Irvine Company for more than 20 years. Chet Cramin of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP represented the buyer in the transaction.

“This acquisition provides an extraordinary opportunity for us to establish a foothold in one of San Diego’s premier office locations,” said CEO and Founder Joe C. Wen.  “This is one of the most dynamic buildings in the market and is poised for continued success with the much-anticipated reopening of the San Diego Symphony later this year.”

Mr. Wen has appointed Lincoln Property Company to provide Property Management services at Symphony Towers. The existing management team will move to Lincoln and continue to serve as the dedicated, on-site property managers. Lincoln will also oversee leasing for the property and will select a new leasing team in the coming weeks.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Symphony Towers, and we look forward to providing premier Property Management services to its tenants, and ensuring leasing momentum at the property,” said Scott Moffatt, Executive Vice President and San Diego Market Leader for Lincoln Property Company. “We’re thrilled to have the existing management team join us at Lincoln as we strive to provide top tier operations and service levels that tenants were accustomed to under the previous ownership.”

The acquisition comes at a time when the property has tremendous momentum: the much anticipated Knead Artisan Bakery will open in fall 2024 offering an array of fresh bread, pastries, and meals, while the reopening of the San Diego Symphony later this year will add to the cultural vibrancy of the area. Symphony Towers is also home to The University Club, with upscale dining at the exclusive penthouse business and social club.

In 2023, Mr. Wen bought two premier office properties in Orange County, including One Pacific Plaza, a 400,599-square-foot office campus in Huntington Beach, and 4 Hutton Centre, a 10-story, 216,900-square-foot office tower in Santa Ana. Mr. Wen also made a $20 million donation to UC Irvine for the Center for Advanced Care that now bears his name at the new UCI Heath-Irvine complex and a $50 million donation to the newly created Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health. The donation marked one of the largest gifts ever for UC Irvine.

Adam Edwards, Justin Shepherd and Bailey Bland of Eastdil Secured represented The Irvine Company in the transaction.

“Symphony Towers is one of the most iconic workplaces in San Diego and is well positioned moving forward with this acquisition by Formosa Ltd.,” said Edwards, Managing Director, Eastdil Secured.

About Formosa Ltd.:

Founded by Joe C. Wen, Formosa Ltd is a multinational conglomerate and renowned for its five core businesses – venture capital, financial lending, real estate holding and development, property management, and forest-products manufacturing and trading. Formosa, which has a history of identifying and seizing business opportunities, is committed to improving every day and supporting its clients in every way.

About Lincoln Property Company

Lincoln Property Company (“Lincoln”) is one of the largest private real estate firms in the United States. Offering a fully integrated platform of real estate services and innovative solutions to owners, investors, lenders and occupiers, Lincoln supports the entire real estate lifecycle across asset types, including office, life science, retail, industrial, data center, production studio, healthcare, government, universities, and mixed-used properties, throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Lincoln’s combined management and leasing portfolio on behalf of institutional clients includes more than 557 million square feet of commercial space. In addition to providing third-party real estate services, Lincoln has completed over 164 million square feet of development since its inception in 1965 and has another $20 billion currently under construction or in the pipeline. For more information, visit: www.lpc.com.