BXP Secured 18-Month Extension for Harrison St. Project

Developers of the 981,000-square-foot office site now have more time to secure the pre-leasing needed for construction.

Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Remote Work

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a steel I-beam frame, representing large-scale commercial development and urban construction progress. — The San Francisco Planning Commission has granted BXP an 18-month extension for its $1 billion office development at 725 Harrison St. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The San Francisco Planning Commission granted BXP an 18-month extension for its office development at 725 Harrison St. The developer must now secure a 30% to 50% pre-leasing commitment for the first 550,000-square-foot phase to unlock construction financing.

Why it matters

Securing this extension allows BXP to bridge the gap between current economic conditions and a path toward breaking ground on a $1 billion project. It signals a strategic effort to capitalize on a market that has seen seven consecutive quarters of high leasing volume.

BXP has a $1 billion budget for the 981,000-square-foot development, which currently requires 30% to 50% pre-leasing of its first phase to proceed. This follows seven consecutive quarters in San Francisco where office leasing exceeded 2 million square feet.

The players

BXP

A major publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the development and management of premium office properties.

OpenAI

An artificial intelligence research and deployment company that recently signed a 1.1 million-square-foot office lease in Mission Bay.

Anthropic

An artificial intelligence safety and research company that recently leased approximately 1 million square feet of office space along Howard Street.

The details

The project is designed to be phased, with initial demolition of existing structures targeted for 2027. To move forward, BXP is marketing the site to prospective tenants while pointing to successful activity at its other properties, such as the 200,000 square feet of leases signed at 680 Folsom Street in the last six months. The developer aims to secure a mid-sized deal that meets the mandatory threshold for construction financing.

January 2020: The board allocated $1 billion for the office project.
January 2023: The Central Subway route opened.
September 24, 2026: The Planning Commission granted the 18-month project extension.
2027: Potential start date for the demolition of existing buildings.

Market Landscape

The BXP development at 725 Harrison St. sits within the Central SoMa neighborhood, which has seen significant shifts in office occupancy patterns. This activity follows the precedent established by the opening of the Central Subway route in January 2023, which catalyzed new interest in the area.

Operators in the real estate and professional services sectors should monitor the 30% to 50% pre-leasing threshold as a benchmark for local commercial construction viability. Prospective tenants and contractors should track BXP's marketing progress through 2026 to gauge the timeline for 2027 site activity.

The takeaway

Large-scale commercial projects are currently heavily dependent on securing substantial anchor tenants before construction capital is deployed. Monitor the leasing activity of major AI firms in San Francisco as a primary indicator for when shovel-ready office sites will actually break ground.