UC Law SF Marks Milestone in Construction of New 198 McAllister Building

UC Law SF Chancellor and Dean David Faigman spoke at a ceremony marking a milestone in the construction of the college’s newest building at 198 McAllister St.

UC Law SF’ leaders, with its project development and community partners, marked the topping out of the College’s new building at 198 McAllister St. with a celebration on Nov. 2. Topping out, sometimes referred to as topping off, means that the new building’s superstructure is complete.

The new building, called the Academe at 198, is located along Hyde and McAllister Streets and Golden Gate Avenue. It will provide 656 units of competitively priced housing for UC Law SF’ students and its Academic Village partners, including UCSF, whose students, residents, and trainees will occupy 35% of the housing.

John Long of Perkins & Will is lead architect for the new building at 198 McAllister St.

This project, the second phase of the UC Law SF Academic Village – a living and learning community in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco – is an example of the power of public-private partnerships and their effectiveness in achieving high-priority projects.

The topping out ceremony occurred almost two years to the day from the groundbreaking ceremony for the project, though construction officially started in September 2020. “This is really a monumental day,” said John Long, lead architect with Perkins & Will, the company designing the building, who called the building, “trendsetting, mixed-use, urban, academic and residential.”

Jared Everett is managing director for university partnerships for Greystar, UC Law SF’ development partner for the building project.

“It’s a transformational project for the students here, for the community, for the Tenderloin and for the state,” said Jared Everett, managing director for university partnerships for Greystar, the development partner in the building project. Ross Edwards, the president of Build Group, the project’s general contractor, said as many as 250 to 300 workers are on-site each day to complete the building.

Chancellor and Dean David Faigman praised the building’s partners and gave special thanks to the state Legislature, California Department of Finance, and Governor for their financial support of the Cotchett Law Center at 333 Golden Gate. Completed in August 2020, the Cotchett Law Center included new classroom space so the old 198 McAllister building, which previously provided classroom space, could be torn down to make room for the Academe at 198.The Topping out celebration was held at the Cotchett Law Center’s Sky Deck.

Those in attendance included Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), who presented Faigman with a proclamation celebrating the topping out of the building and praised the project for adding 656 housing units in the City without any displacement of existing housing stock.

Willie Brown ’58 spoke at a topping out ceremony for the new building at 198 McAllister St.

Former Mayor Willie Brown, a 1958 graduate of UC Law SF, also praised the school’s partnerships, especially with UCSF, and said, in his time at law school, those types of partnerships did not exist. He said, “I expect it’s going to literally be the model as the university continues to be responsive to the needs of the students of California.”

UC Law SF’ Academic Village is located in San Francisco’s historic Tenderloin neighborhood, a few minutes’ walk to public transit options, bars and restaurants, shopping destinations, and cultural institutions that include the public library, City Hall, San Francisco Symphony, Opera House, and Asian Art Museum.

The new building will include efficiencies, studios, and one- and two-bedroom apartments. Each unit will be furnished and include a private bathroom, complete kitchen, and chilled air. Other building amenities include study rooms on each floor, multiple lounges including an indoor/outdoor seventh-floor lounge with city views, a dog run, fitness center, and community-serving retail. Residents have access to the entirety of the UC Law SF campus including the library, dining, study and meeting rooms, a quad, lounges, and event spaces.

UC Law SF financed the 356,000-square-foot structure with $364 million in tax-exempt bonds, to be repaid with revenue generated through the project. The building was designed by architectural firm Perkins & Will and is being constructed by general contractor Build Group.

Read more about the building here.