$103.5M Downtown San Diego Office Tower Bet by SoftBank Exec

In a bold contrarian move that signals potential turning points in downtown San Diego's struggling office market, former SoftBank executive Eric Gan closed a $103.5 million acquisition of two prominent downtown office towers on February 11, 2026. The deal, executed through his real estate investment platform GANMI Corporation's Golden Columbia entity, purchased 1 Columbia Place (a 27-story, 556,943-square-foot tower at 401 W. A Street) and 2 Columbia Place (a 12-story, 150,680-square-foot building at 1230 Columbia Street) at a significant discount—representing a 53.7% markdown from the $223.5 million the previous owner paid just five years earlier.

This high-stakes investment comes at a critical inflection point for downtown San Diego's commercial real estate market, where vacancy rates exceed 36% and institutional investors like Irvine Company have fled the central business district. For cash buyers and real estate investors, Gan's repositioning strategy offers crucial insights into emerging opportunities in distressed commercial assets, office-to-residential conversions, and value-add plays in San Diego's urban core.

Eric Gan's Golden Columbia entity acquired both Columbia Place towers in a transaction that reflects the dramatic repricing of downtown office assets. The combined purchase price of $103.5 million represents approximately $146 per square foot—a stark contrast to the $296 per square foot average for San Diego office sales in 2025 and well below the $316 per square foot the previous owner (Regent Properties) paid in June 2021.

The 1 Columbia Place tower, originally built by developer Doug Manchester in 1982, stands as a downtown landmark with its distinctive stair-step architectural design. The building features an atrium lobby, upgraded gym, third-floor tenant lounge, and earned Energy Star designation in 2004. The tenant roster includes law firms and consulting businesses, with most occupying suites of 6,000 square feet or less.

The smaller 2 Columbia Place building, constructed in 1990 and renovated in 2019, provides approximately 151,000 rentable square feet and complements the larger tower's offerings. At the time of acquisition, combined occupancy averaged approximately 72%—notably higher than the downtown submarket's overall performance.

Eric Gan brings an unconventional background to commercial real estate investing, with deep roots in technology, telecommunications, and financial markets that shaped his investment philosophy and approach to the Columbia Place acquisition.

Early Career: Goldman Sachs and eAccess

Before his SoftBank tenure, Gan served as a telecom analyst and managing director for Goldman Sachs Japan, developing expertise in evaluating complex market opportunities. He later founded eAccess, a mobile telecommunications company that achieved profitability in Year 2, went public in Year 3, and ultimately merged with SoftBank in 2013—a trajectory that showcased his ability to build and scale businesses in competitive markets.

SoftBank Leadership Role

Following the eAccess merger, Gan became president of Ymobile, a SoftBank Corp. subsidiary, and later rose to executive vice president of SoftBank itself. In this role, he led SoftBank's pivot to overseas markets, especially in China and India, and directed the company's business development unit for years, forming strategic alliances with international companies. His experience managing billions in capital deployments and evaluating high-stakes investments prepared him for his current real estate ventures.

Cybereason CEO and Recent Transition

Most recently, Gan served as CEO of Cybereason, a San Diego-area cybersecurity company with offices in La Jolla. He joined Cybereason in conjunction with SoftBank's initial investment in 2015 and became CEO in April 2023 when SoftBank replaced founding CEO Lior Div. However, Gan departed in early 2025 after a contentious boardroom battle with investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital and the SoftBank Vision Fund over critical financing decisions.

GANMI Corporation: Long-Term Investment Platform

Following his Cybereason exit, Gan founded GANMI Corporation, described as "a long-term real estate investment and operating platform focused on acquiring, repositioning, and actively managing high-quality assets." The Columbia Place acquisition represents GANMI's inaugural deal and establishes Gan's commitment to San Diego's downtown recovery. As Gan stated in announcing the acquisition: "Our philosophy is simple: build places that people want to be in...focus on quality, execution, and long-term thinking."

Eric Gan's $103.5 million bet on downtown San Diego office towers comes amid one of the most challenging periods in the central business district's history, with vacancy rates, pricing pressures, and institutional exits creating what some analysts call a crisis—and others see as a generational buying opportunity.

Vacancy Rates Reach Historic Highs

Downtown San Diego's office vacancy has reached unprecedented levels, with current data showing:

• 36.5% availability rate with more than one-third of all downtown office space vacant
• When including shadow space (leased but unused space), effective vacancy climbs to between 40-50%
• Downtown's 38.37% vacancy represents the highest in the entire San Diego market
• Overall San Diego office vacancy stands at 14.1%, meaning downtown significantly underperforms suburban submarkets

These figures contrast sharply with the pre-pandemic environment when downtown commanded premium rents and maintained occupancy rates above 90%. The shift to remote and hybrid work models has fundamentally restructured demand for central business district office space.

Price Per Square Foot Compression

The dramatic vacancy increase has triggered significant pricing corrections across downtown San Diego's office market:

The compression creates opportunities for cash buyers with capital to acquire Class A downtown assets at discounts of 50% or more from peak valuations, though such investments require conviction about future recovery trajectories.

Institutional Investor Exodus

Perhaps the most telling signal of downtown distress came when Irvine Company fully exited downtown San Diego in 2025, selling landmark assets including One America Plaza at steep discounts. This retreat by one of Southern California's most sophisticated real estate operators signaled low institutional confidence in central business district recovery timelines.

However, this exodus has created a vacuum that high-net-worth individuals and family offices—like Eric Gan's GANMI Corporation—are filling. As reported by industry sources, "High-net-worth buyers have entered the downtown office market amid a pronounced retreat of larger organizations and real estate investment firms, with several businessmen purchasing downtown office towers at steep discounts in recent months and years."

Rather than pursuing immediate office-to-residential conversion—a strategy gaining traction across struggling downtown office markets—Eric Gan and his GANMI team have announced a comprehensive repositioning strategy focused on transforming Columbia Place into an "experience-driven workplace destination" that addresses the fundamental reason employees resist returning to offices.

Core Strategy Elements

According to the official acquisition announcement, Golden Columbia's repositioning plan includes:

• Premium Food Hall Concepts: Integration of high-quality dining options that provide convenience and community gathering spaces
• Best-in-Class Amenities: Upgraded facilities that compete with high-end residential and hospitality offerings
• Hospitality-Level Service: Property management and tenant services modeled on luxury hospitality rather than traditional office operations
• Community and Energy Creation: Programming and design focused on creating environments that encourage return-to-office

As Casey Gan, CFO of GANMI Corporation, explained: "People don't come back to the office for desks alone—they come for energy, community, and convenience." This philosophy recognizes that the post-pandemic office must offer compelling amenities and experiences that justify commute time and overcome the convenience of remote work.

Phased Enhancement Approach

The repositioning strategy emphasizes "phased enhancements built on existing strong fundamentals" rather than ground-up reconstruction. Both Columbia Place towers benefit from:

• Recent capital improvements (2 Columbia Place renovated 2019)
• Class A building systems and infrastructure
• Prime downtown locations near the Marina District
• Existing tenant base providing immediate cash flow (72% average occupancy)
• Established property management through CBRE and leasing through JLL

This incremental approach allows GANMI to improve the properties while maintaining existing tenant relationships and revenue streams—reducing execution risk compared to full-building repositioning or conversion projects.

Leasing and Management Infrastructure

Golden Columbia retained industry-leading service providers to execute the repositioning:

• Leasing Agent: JLL (team includes Tony Russell, Richard Gonor, Pascal Aubry-Dumand, and Ryan Taquino)
• Property Management: CBRE

The retention of institutional-grade service providers signals GANMI's commitment to professional operations and tenant experience that matches the upgraded amenity offerings.

While Eric Gan's strategy focuses on office repositioning rather than conversion, the broader downtown San Diego market is experiencing significant momentum in office-to-residential transformations—creating alternative pathways for cash buyers and investors evaluating distressed commercial assets.

Policy Support: Senate Bill 6 and Local Initiatives

California and San Diego have implemented supportive policy frameworks to accelerate conversions:

• Senate Bill 6 (Middle Class Housing Act of 2022): Allows development of residential or mixed-use projects on commercial properties where office, retail, or parking are permitted uses
• City of San Diego Conversion Program: Streamlined approval processes for office-to-residential conversions in downtown and other commercial zones
• Affordable Housing Conversions: Several downtown office buildings proposed for affordable housing repurposing, including the troubled 101 Ash Street building

These policy changes reduce entitlement risk and timeline, making conversion projects more financially viable than during previous market cycles.

Market Conditions Favoring Conversions

Several factors create compelling economics for office-to-residential conversions in downtown San Diego:

Conversion Challenges and Considerations

Despite supportive policies and market conditions, office-to-residential conversions face significant execution challenges:

• Structural Limitations: Most office buildings are unsuitable for residential conversion due to floor plate depth, window placement, and core layouts—experts estimate only 15-25% of office stock can convert economically
• Building Systems: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and life safety systems require extensive renovation to meet residential codes
• Unit Economics: Construction costs for conversions often approach or exceed new-build costs, requiring significant rent premiums or subsidies to achieve acceptable returns
• Entitlement Timelines: Despite streamlined processes, approvals still require 12-24 months in most cases

For cash buyers evaluating conversion opportunities, detailed feasibility studies and architectural analysis are essential before acquisition to validate that a specific building can support economically viable conversion.

Eric Gan's $103.5 million Columbia Place acquisition provides multiple signals and implications for cash buyers, real estate investors, and market participants evaluating downtown San Diego opportunities in 2026 and beyond.

Contrarian Capital Returning to Downtown Core

The most significant signal is that sophisticated capital—backed by investors with deep technology and financial markets experience—is making long-term bets on downtown recovery despite near-term headwinds. Gan's background includes:

• Managing billions in capital at SoftBank
• Leading complex business development and M&A transactions
• Building and scaling successful businesses (eAccess, Ymobile)
• Evaluating risk-return profiles across global markets

His willingness to deploy $103.5 million into downtown San Diego office assets suggests conviction that current distress represents a cyclical trough rather than permanent structural decline. For cash buyers, this provides validation that downtown assets may offer asymmetric return opportunities for investors with appropriate time horizons.

Pricing Establishes New Valuation Benchmarks

The ~$146 per square foot pricing for Class A downtown towers with 72% occupancy establishes important valuation benchmarks for cash buyers evaluating comparable opportunities:

• Premium to Recent Distressed Sales: The $146/sq ft represents a premium to the $86-$100/sq ft pricing seen in Symphony Towers and Irvine Company Broadway tower sales, suggesting quality and location command meaningful premiums even in distressed markets
• Significant Discount to Stabilized Assets: The pricing remains well below the $296-$346/sq ft range for stabilized San Diego office assets, indicating substantial upside potential if repositioning succeeds
• Occupancy-Adjusted Value: With 72% occupancy, the pricing implies a stabilized value of approximately $200+/sq ft if occupancy reaches 90-95% post-repositioning

Cash buyers can use these benchmarks to evaluate whether other downtown opportunities offer similar or superior risk-adjusted returns based on building quality, location, occupancy, and repositioning potential.

Repositioning Versus Conversion Trade-Offs

Gan's decision to pursue office repositioning rather than residential conversion highlights critical strategic considerations for cash buyers:

The optimal strategy depends on building characteristics, occupancy levels, capital availability, and investor time horizons. Cash buyers should evaluate both pathways for each opportunity rather than defaulting to a single approach.

Institutional-Grade Operations Matter

GANMI's retention of JLL for leasing and CBRE for property management emphasizes that successful repositioning requires institutional-quality operations—not just physical improvements. For cash buyers, this suggests:

• Budget for Professional Management: Allocate sufficient operating budgets to hire top-tier leasing and property management teams rather than attempting to manage in-house
• Tenant Experience Focus: Invest in amenities, programming, and services that differentiate properties and justify premium rents
• Long-Term Commitment: Recognize that repositioning requires multi-year commitments and patient capital rather than quick flips

The Columbia Place acquisition occurs within a broader downtown San Diego investment landscape that presents both risks and opportunities for cash buyers and real estate investors as 2026 progresses.

Transaction Volume and Market Activity

Despite elevated vacancy rates, downtown San Diego continues to experience meaningful transaction activity:

• $1.4 billion in office investment sales completed in 2025 across San Diego, with 48 properties changing hands at an average price of $267 per square foot
• 1.2 million square feet of sales transactions in Q2 2025 alone—higher than cumulative 2024 transactions through the same period
• San Diego generated $1+ billion in transactions year-to-date through September 2025, ranking 10th among top 25 U.S. markets

This activity level demonstrates that capital continues flowing into San Diego commercial real estate despite market challenges, with investors selectively pursuing opportunities they believe offer attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Leasing Activity and Occupancy Trends

Full-year leasing activity in the San Diego office market reached 3.7 million square feet in 2025—a 14.7% decrease from 2024. While this decline reflects ongoing headwinds, the absolute level of activity demonstrates that tenant demand persists, particularly for:

• Best-in-class buildings with premium amenities
• Right-sized suites (under 10,000 sq ft) that match hybrid work models
• Buildings with strong ESG credentials and modern systems
• Locations with walkable amenities and transit access

Cash buyers pursuing office investments should target properties that align with these tenant preferences to maximize leasing velocity and stabilization timelines.

Office Versus Multifamily Investment Dynamics

For cash buyers evaluating asset class allocation, the relative performance of office versus multifamily creates distinct opportunity sets:

• Multifamily: Core/core-plus multifamily and industrial assets offer "relatively lower risk and reliable returns" with limited distress opportunities but higher acquisition pricing
• Office: Value-add and opportunistic office plays offer significant upside potential and attractive entry pricing but require longer hold periods and tolerance for execution risk

Sophisticated investors are pursuing "balanced core investments with selective value-add plays"—maintaining portfolio stability through multifamily while capturing upside through strategic office acquisitions like Columbia Place.

Geographic Submarket Performance Divergence

Downtown San Diego's 36.5% vacancy contrasts sharply with stronger performance in submarkets like:

• Sorrento Mesa / Sorrento Valley: Life science and tech demand supporting occupancy
• University Town Center: Mixed-use environment with strong retail and residential support
• Del Mar Heights: Coastal premium location attracting high-quality tenants

Cash buyers should recognize that "downtown San Diego" is not monolithic—submarkets exhibit dramatic performance variation based on tenant mix, industry composition, and amenity access. Investment strategies should reflect these submarket-specific dynamics rather than treating the entire metro area uniformly.