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 have confirmed that the school has “outgrown” their current 35,000 square foot lease at 2 Harrison Street, where Wharton has operated its West Coast campus for fourteen years. With Wharton’s lease on Harrison Street is set to expire next fall, and school officials are reportedly in advanced negotiations to lease a five-story building at 345 Montgomery Street, dubbed “the Cube” because of its glass cubed shape 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 it has been stationed out of Hills Plaza, it has offered an MBA program for Executives to cohorts up to 220 students.
Beginning this fall, Wharton will start to offer an AI for Business MBA major to all of its full-time MBA students. This offering will also be available to those partaking in the university’s Semester in San Francisco program. The AI major will also be available to all Executive MBA students in the coming fall.
The Cube is owned by New York based Vornado Realty Trust. Vernado’s New York-based 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, which is also where 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s 555 California building — known as the Bank of America Tower — is located.
The complex is owned by Vornado Realty Trust and the Trump Organization, which owns a 30% stake in the property.
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