The long-stalled Oceanwide development site at First and Mission in San Francisco is moving forward again, with BXP engaged as development advisor. The San Francisco Recovery Fund has retained the nation’s largest publicly traded developer to guide plans for a 910-foot mixed-use tower on the property, according to reporting by the San Francisco Business Times.
The First and Mission site was previously controlled by China-based Oceanwide Holdings, whose broader financial collapse left several U.S. projects in limbo. Construction on the San Francisco project halted in 2020, leaving the site largely dormant while Oceanwide’s situation played out. Earlier this year, the San Francisco Recovery Fund acquired the property, positioning the local investment group to reset the development and seek a viable path forward.
The Recovery Fund’s engagement of BXP is intended to bring large-scale development expertise and local market knowledge to a complex downtown site. BXP is described as the largest commercial landlord in San Francisco and the developer behind the city’s tallest building, experience that the Recovery Fund believes is directly relevant to reviving the First and Mission project. The new tower is envisioned as a mixed-use development, although detailed plans beyond the proposed height have not been disclosed in the source material.
Dan Kingsley, co-founder of the San Francisco Recovery Fund, told the Business Times that BXP’s track record and deep presence in the city were key factors in the decision. He emphasized that the firm’s understanding of San Francisco’s leasing demand, design expectations and capital requirements should help convert the Recovery Fund’s concept for the site into an executed project and, ultimately, an occupied building.
The advisory role marks a new chapter for a development that had been emblematic of stalled international-backed projects in major U.S. gateway markets. While no timeline, program details or financing structure have been publicly outlined in the article, the Recovery Fund’s acquisition of the property and BXP’s involvement signal an attempt to reposition the First and Mission site under new sponsorship. The original Oceanwide Center design remains a reference point for what could eventually rise on the site, even as the ultimate configuration may evolve as plans advance.
The recent approval by a bankruptcy court of the sale of Oceanwide’s unfinished Oceanwide Plaza site in Los Angeles underscores the broader unwinding of the company’s U.S. portfolio. Against that backdrop, the San Francisco Recovery Fund’s move to bring in a seasoned public developer as advisor highlights how local capital and established operators are stepping in to rework high-profile but incomplete projects left behind by distressed sponsors.
