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S.F. office tower that was sold at a steep discount lands first new tenant

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S.F. office tower that was sold at a steep discount lands first new tenant


The Swig Co. and SKS Partners purchased 350 California St. in downtown San Francisco in August at a steep discount. Now, the office building has its first new tenant.

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Some five months later, the longtime home of the Union Bank at 350 California St. has landed its first new tenant.

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The Swig Co. and SKS Partners — the joint venture that acquired 350 California St. for $61 million at the end of August — announced Tuesday that it has signed a long-term lease with affordable housing developer Bridge Housing, which is planning to relocate its headquarters to the building.

“The San Francisco market’s reset creates a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits, growth companies and other mid-size users to solidify their place in the city’s office ecosystem,” said Paul Stein, managing partner of SKS. “This is good for tenants and landlords as well as the long-term outlook for our local economy moving forward.” 

Bridge was founded in San Francisco in 1983 and is currently headquartered two blocks over from 350 California, at 600 California St.

In a statement provided to the Chronicle, Bridge CEO and President Ken Lombard described 350 California as a “first-rate building with extensive amenities that will provide a comfortable, healthy and productive environment for the BRIDGE Housing team as we pursue our affordable housing mission.

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“We look forward to beginning a new chapter of our long legacy in San Francisco in our new corporate home,” Lombard said.

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The developer did not immediately respond to a message seeking additional comment, and it is unclear what motivated the relocation at this time.

According to 350 California’s new owners, Bridge will move its headquarters to the building’s 16th floor, which spans about 16,105 square feet.

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“One of the reasons we like the building, and a motivating factor for us as an investor, is that we believe the 16,000-square-foot floor plates hit a sweet spot sought by the widest range of tenants in the current market and for the foreseeable future,” said Connor Kidd, Swig’s CEO.

The tower itself encompasses roughly 300,000 leasable square feet, a third of which is still occupied by its previous owner, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

MUFG acquired a stake in what was Union Bank starting in the 1990s before selling its operations to U.S. Bancorp last year. The global financial group first listed 350 California for sale in 2020, and at that time sought $250 million for the building. 

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But like most other buildings in San Francisco, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent rise in office vacancy in San Francisco has caused building values to plummet. In the months leading up to the pandemic, the city recorded a vacancy rate in the single digits — by year-end 2023, vacancy spiked to 35.9%. 

MUFG selected Swig and SKS as the building’s buyer in May, and at the time agreed to a short-term lease back of some of its office space. 

The building’s high-profile sale came as two other office towers traded in what is known as fire sales to local buyers with “patient capital” — in other words, investors who aren’t expecting a quick profit, but instead are looking further down the road.

And in September, Peninsula-based investor Roger Fields picked up the 355,000-square-foot 550 California St. property that once housed Wells Fargo Bank for just over $40 million, or $114 per square foot — less than half of what it was worth nearly two decades ago.

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49ers Sign DL Gracen Halton to a Four-Year Deal

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49ers Sign DL Gracen Halton to a Four-Year Deal


The San Francisco 49ers today announced they have signed DL Gracen Halton to a four-year deal. With the signing, the 49ers now have all eight of the team’s 2026 draft picks under contract.

Halton (6-3, 293) was the first of two fourth-round draft picks (107th overall) selected by the 49ers in this year’s draft out of Oklahoma. He appeared in 47 games (10 starts) over four seasons at Oklahoma (2022-25) and finished with 84 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two passes defensed. In 2025, he appeared in 13 games (seven starts) and tallied 33 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two passes defensed and one forced fumble (returned for a TD), earning Second-Team All-SEC honors. In 2024, he appeared in 13 games (three starts) and recorded 30 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks and two forced fumbles. In 2023, he appeared in 11 games and tallied 11 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. As a true freshman in 2022, Halton appeared in 10 games and recorded 10 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss.

A 22-year-old native of San Diego, CA, Halton attended St. Augustine (San Diego, CA) High School.



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Multiple people lose eyes, hands in illegal fireworks-related injuries in San Francisco

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Multiple people lose eyes, hands in illegal fireworks-related injuries in San Francisco


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco emergency departments and first responders experienced a sharp increase in serious injuries over the Fourth of July weekend, with illegal fireworks and electric scooter crashes contributing to some of the busiest days in recent years.

At Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, medical teams treated a wave of patients suffering severe trauma. In one incident, bystanders rushed to help a person who was bleeding heavily after a hand injury. A 911 dispatcher described the call as “Extreme Trauma. Hand injury.”

Dr. Christopher Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, said surgeons worked to treat patients with devastating injuries.

“We are able to do a lot with and sometimes save the function of the hand and eye. Unfortunately, there are injuries that exist every year where we are not able to do that even with the expertise that we have,” Colwell said.

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MORE: SF police in riot gear crack down on 4th of July illegal fireworks shows: ‘It was crazy’

According to Dr. Colwell, four people lost eyes, five lost hands and at least 15 people suffered serious injuries related to electric scooters over the weekend.

“We saw a lot of electric scooter accidents. And I think part of it was that their traffic was such that that was a more efficient way of getting around town. But we also learned very clearly that the combination of electric scooters and how fast you can go in San Francisco, particularly going downhill along with not wearing a helmet and adding alcohol on board, is a really bad combination,” Colwell said.

ABC7’s data team reviewed San Francisco EMT data and found that medical incidents on July 4 and July 5 were about double the number reported during the same period in 2025.

Lt. Mariano Elias of the San Francisco Fire Department said emergency crews handled significantly more calls than usual.

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“We had almost 200 more calls than we normally have so we had roughly 576 calls in a 24-hour period,” Elias said.

MORE: Over 400 people arrested during chaos at Newport Beach July 4th celebrations, police say

Illegal fireworks activity also sparked fires across the city. Firefighters responded to Telegraph Hill, where crews quickly contained a blaze.

“We did have two house fires that night on the 4th of July, due to fireworks activities,” Elias said.

City officials estimated that more than 100,000 people were in San Francisco to watch Fourth of July fireworks, creating traffic congestion that complicated ambulance response efforts.

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“All the gridlock between, people coming and going from, the Golden Gate Bridge. The city was very impacted on the streets. So that was an issue. The one particular ambulance did, involve themselves in an accident. So, someone hit the ambulance. So that patient had to be transported and moved to a different ambulance,” Elias said.

First responders warned that illegal fireworks activity typically continues for days after the Fourth of July and urged the public not to take unnecessary risks.

Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Terrified passengers film Waymo autonomous vehicle driving into live fireworks in San Francisco

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Terrified passengers film Waymo autonomous vehicle driving into live fireworks in San Francisco


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Passengers in a Waymo vehicle were terrified as the car drove into lit fireworks in the middle of a San Francisco street during Independence Day celebrations over the weekend.

Video footage of the incident shows a group of passengers who were shocked as the driverless car seemingly approaches lit fireworks in the middle of a street as the explosives are about to launch.

As the car gets closer, someone on the street appears to warn the vehicle to stop by waving their hand.

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DELTA FLIGHT STRUCK BY FIREWORKS WHILE LANDING IN CHICAGO ON FOURTH OF JULY, FAA INVESTIGATES

Passengers in a Waymo vehicle were terrified as the autonomous car drove into lit fireworks in the middle of a San Francisco street during Independence Day celebrations. (Rose Peterson via Storyful)

“No, no, no, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go,” one of the passengers is heard saying off-camera.

The autonomous vehicle then passes over the colorful flames and sparks.

“Our Waymo just drove into a firework,” a passenger says in the clip.

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A Waymo vehicle sits idling at an intersection with no operating traffic lights due to power outages, in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

“Are we on fire, dude?” a fellow passenger asks.

A Waymo spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the company “is committed to keeping our riders safe and earning the trust of the communities where we operate.”

“We take situations like this seriously and are committed to evaluating and learning from these events,” the statement continued.

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No injuries were reported to either the passengers or the vehicle, and the company reached out to the riders after their trip. The possession of fireworks, even “Safe and Sane” explosives, is illegal in San Francisco, the city’s fire department said.

One woman was killed and two other adults and a child were injured Saturday in a separate fireworks explosion, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, some Waymo vehicles were towed when their batteries died after vehicles became stuck in traffic for hours.

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“Our priority is keeping San Francisco moving safely, especially during major city celebrations,” the Waymo spokesperson said. “On the Fourth of July, extreme traffic congestion in northern San Francisco disrupted normal operations for several Waymo vehicles.”

“In coordination with local authorities and emergency services, our roadside assistance team worked quickly to clear our vehicles from the area,” the statement continued.



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