Levi’s Plaza sells for first time

Jamestown LP, the same Atlanta-based developer that counts Ghirardelli Square in its portfolio, announced Tuesday that it will buy the famed and tranquil Levi’s Plaza at 1155 Battery Street along the Embarcadero.

Although the company has not disclosed the price, the San Francisco Chronicle projects about $825 million, which would make it one of the most expensive office sales in city history.

In a statement, Jamestown President Michael Phillips praised the nine-building, roughly 930,000-square-foot property’s layout and open design, saying “Levi’s Plaza provides respite from the largely vertical office environment in San Francisco” and touting its use of outdoor space.

The Planning Department dates Levi’s Plaza to 1982. This is the first time it’s ever been up for sale, listing in January and attracting Jamestown’s attention a few weeks ago.

Laurence Halprin, the same designer behind SF’s United Nations Plaza, created the plaza and its distinctly placid atmosphere for Levi Strauss and Company.

According to the Cultural Landscape Foundation, Halprin balanced the layout between “hard” and “soft” elements that blended work and park-like spaces (complete with distinctively Halprin-like water elements) into a whole.

“Although Levi’s Plaza is situated along the heavily trafficked Embarcadero, it is quiet and calm, sheltered by the office buildings and a hedge along its eastern boundary,” foundation writers note, adding that Halprin himself worked nearby and often visited.

The buildings around the plaza range from four to ten stories. Levi Strauss and Company still operates its headquarters out of the locale.