You’ve probably walked past it a thousand times if you spend any time in the Financial District. It’s that sharp, hexagonal tower sitting right where Market and Second Streets collide. 595 Market Street SF CA isn’t just another glass box in a city full of them; it’s a weirdly accurate barometer for how San Francisco is doing at any given moment.
Walking by today feels different than it did in 2019. Back then, the lobby was a beehive of tech workers and finance types rushing to catch a Muni or grabbing a quick coffee. Now? It’s quieter. But don't let the lack of a mosh pit in the lobby fool you. The building is still a powerhouse, even if the "vibe" of downtown San Francisco has shifted from "overcrowded tech hub" to "cautious recovery mode."
Honestly, it’s a bit of an architectural icon. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—the same folks behind the Burj Khalifa and the Sears Tower—it was completed back in 1984. It has that classic 80s "Master of the Universe" energy, but the 30-story height and those distinct angles give it a timeless look that hasn't aged as poorly as some of its neighbors.
The Reality of 595 Market Street SF CA in the Post-Pandemic Era
Is it empty? No. Is it struggling? Well, that depends on who you ask and how you define "struggle" in a city with a 30% office vacancy rate.
The building is owned by Columbia Property Trust. They’ve had a rough couple of years, mostly because the entire commercial real estate market in San Francisco decided to take a nose dive all at once. You might have seen the headlines about Columbia defaulting on a massive loan that included 595 Market. It sounds catastrophic. It sounds like the building is going to be boarded up next Tuesday.
But that’s not really how it works.
Real estate defaults in the $2 billion range are more like a high-stakes poker game than a neighborhood foreclosure. The building stays open. The lights stay on. The tenants—like Visa, who had a massive presence there for years—still have to figure out their footprints. Visa actually moved a huge chunk of their operations to a new headquarters at Mission Rock near the Giants' stadium. That left a gaping hole in the soul of 595 Market.
When a "triple-A" tenant like Visa leaves, it’s a gut punch.
Yet, the building persists. It’s still a Class A office space. That means it’s the fancy stuff. Even in a down market, companies that do want office space are fleeing the "Class B" junk and upgrading to buildings like this because they can get a "deal" on a space that used to be unaffordable.
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Why This Specific Corner Matters So Much
Location is a cliché, but look at the map. 595 Market Street SF CA sits right on top of the Montgomery Street BART/Muni station. You can literally walk out the door and be underground in thirty seconds. For a commuter coming from Oakland or Walnut Creek, that is the holy grail.
If you’re a business owner, you care about that. You want your employees to actually show up? Don't make them walk six blocks through the Tenderloin. Make it so they can roll out of a train and into their cubicle.
What’s actually inside?
It’s not just offices. You’ve got Foot Locker on the ground floor. You’ve got a Patagonia store nearby. It’s a retail heavy zone, or at least it was. The retail struggle on Market Street is real. You see the boarded-up windows a few blocks down near Powell, but the 500-600 blocks of Market have held onto a bit more dignity.
The building itself has about 447,000 square feet of space. That’s massive. To put it in perspective, that’s roughly eight football fields stacked on top of each other. Filling that much space when half the workforce is sitting in their pajamas in San Jose is the biggest challenge the building has faced since it was built.
Architecture that doesn't scream for attention
Unlike the Salesforce Tower, which looks like it’s trying to broadcast signals to Mars, 595 Market is subtle. It’s got this gray granite facade that blends into the San Francisco fog. The "setback" design—where the building gets thinner as it goes up—wasn't just a stylistic choice. It was a response to the city's sun-and-shadow laws.
San Francisco is picky. They don't want giant shadows looming over the sidewalks, turning the city into a cold, dark canyon. So, SOM designed those notches and angles to let light hit the street. It’s clever engineering that most people never notice.
The views from the top floors? Unreal. You’re looking straight down Market towards the Ferry Building. You can see the Bay Bridge. On a clear day, it reminds you why people pay $100 per square foot for this stuff.
The "Doom Loop" Narrative vs. The Facts
You’ve heard the term "Doom Loop." It’s the favorite phrase of every journalist writing about San Francisco right now. The idea is that empty offices lead to empty stores, which leads to less tax revenue, which leads to worse services, which leads to more people leaving.
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595 Market Street SF CA is at the center of this debate.
If this building stays leased, the "Loop" breaks. If it goes dark, the "Loop" gains speed. Currently, it's somewhere in the middle. The building isn't a ghost town, but it’s definitely not the frantic hub it was in 2015 when tech money was being set on fire for fun.
The nuance here is that the building's debt issues are mostly about interest rates, not necessarily a lack of value in the bricks and mortar. When the Federal Reserve hiked rates, these massive commercial loans became impossible to refinance. It’s a math problem, not necessarily a "San Francisco is dying" problem.
What happens next?
The future of 595 Market isn't going to be a sudden explosion of activity. It’s going to be a slow grind.
We’re seeing a "flight to quality." Smaller companies—law firms, boutique VC shops, AI startups that actually want their engineers in a room together—are looking at 595 Market and thinking, "Hey, we couldn't afford this five years ago, but we can now."
There’s also talk about office-to-residential conversions. Everyone loves that idea. "Turn the offices into apartments!" they say.
Well, for 595 Market Street SF CA, that’s probably not happening.
The floor plates are too deep. The plumbing is all in the wrong places. To turn an office like this into apartments, you’d have to gut the entire thing and spend more money than it’s worth. It’s going to stay an office building. It just might have different types of tenants than it did before.
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Survival in the Financial District
The survival of the Financial District depends on buildings like this.
If you’re looking to rent space or even just understand the SF economy, keep your eye on the "For Lease" signs here. If those signs start coming down, it’s a signal that the city is turning a corner.
Specific things to watch for:
- New Ground Floor Retail: If a high-end coffee shop or a reputable restaurant takes over a vacant retail spot at the base, that’s a huge "buy" signal for the neighborhood.
- AI Company Leases: San Francisco is currently the AI capital of the world. These companies have cash and they like being near the transit hubs. 595 Market is prime real estate for a mid-sized AI firm.
- Lobby Renovations: Often, when a building is in trouble, the owners stop spending. If you see construction crews updating the lobby or the "end-of-trip" facilities (bike rooms, showers), it means the money is still flowing.
It’s easy to be cynical about downtown. It’s harder to look at the data and the physical reality of the assets. 595 Market Street SF CA is a gorgeous, well-located, structurally sound building. It’s survived the 89 earthquake, the dot-com bust, and the 2008 crash. It’ll survive this too.
Actionable Steps for Navigating 595 Market
If you’re a business owner or a curious local, here is how you should handle this property:
- For Office Seekers: Don't take the asking price at face value. This is a tenant’s market. Landlords at 595 Market are offering significant "tenant improvement" (TI) allowances—basically cash to build out your office—and several months of free rent to get deals done.
- For Commuters: Utilize the Montgomery Station entrance directly adjacent to the building. It remains one of the safest and most well-lit entry points to the BART system because of the high security presence around these Class A towers.
- For Investors: Watch the "loan workout" news regarding Columbia Property Trust. The moment that debt is restructured or the building is sold to a new opportunistic buyer, expect a wave of fresh capital to hit the building's amenities.
- For Visitors: Use the public seating areas and nearby plazas. Despite the "private" feel of the towers, many of the surrounding areas are part of the city’s POPOS (Privately Owned Public Open Spaces) program, offering a rare spot of quiet in the middle of the bustle.
The story of this building is the story of San Francisco. It’s a bit bruised, a bit overpriced, but still standing right in the middle of everything. It isn't going anywhere.
Next Steps for Research:
Check the current listing status on commercial sites like LoopNet or Crexi to see exactly how much square footage is currently available. Compare the "direct" lease rates with "sublease" rates in the building—subleases from companies like Visa often go for 30-50% less than the landlord's official price. This gives you the real "market" value of the space. Finally, visit the site during a Tuesday through Thursday window; that's when the "new" work week is most visible, and you can judge the foot traffic for yourself rather than relying on outdated news reports.