The Wharton School is considering moving its San Francisco campus to a larger, standalone campus in the city’s Financial District.
According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, real estate market participants confirmed that the school has “outgrown” its current 35,000-square-foot lease at 2 Harrison St. in San Francisco’s Hills Plaza, where Wharton has operated its West Coast campus for 14 years. With Wharton’s lease on Harrison Street set to expire next fall, school officials are reportedly in advanced negotiations to lease a five-story building at 345 Montgomery St., dubbed “The Cube” because of its glass-cubed design.
The deal is not currently finalized but is allegedly moving forward, according to the Chronicle.
The Cube offers 80,000 square feet comprising basement levels and an atrium, presenting the opportunity to more than double the school’s current space.
A Wharton spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the school’s plans to move when asked by the Chronicle and declined to comment on any future deal involving The Cube.
“We are continually looking for ways to increase our reach and access in the city,” the spokesperson said. “Wharton has operated a campus in San Francisco for more than two decades, allowing us to educate thousands of students and engage countless alumni and industry supporters.”
Wharton has been operating out of San Francisco for 25 years. While located at Hills Plaza, the school has offered an Executive MBA program to cohorts up to 220 students.
Beginning this fall, Wharton will start to offer an artificial intelligence for business major to all of its full-time MBA students. This offering will also be available to those partaking in Wharton’s Semester in San Francisco program for MBA students. The AI major will additionally be available to all Executive MBA students in the coming fall.
The Cube is owned by New York-based Vornado Realty Trust. Vornado’s vice president of leasing, Edward Riguardi, neither confirmed nor denied whether Wharton is partaking in lease negotiations with The Cube.
The Cube is a part of the larger 555 California Street office complex, owned by Vornado Realty Trust and the Trump Organization — which owns a 30% stake in the property.
