V
ornado Realty Trust and former President Donald Trump are planning to transform a third of an office building in San Francisco into an art museum. The new tenant, Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, will occupy 26,000 square feet at 345 Montgomery Street in the city's Financial District. The two-year-old museum is currently located at 901 Minnesota Street in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood and is set to move to its new home in October. The New York Times first reported the museum's relocation to the ground floor and basement of the building.

    Vornado, which has a controlling interest in the property, has agreed to allow the Institute of Contemporary Art to take up residence at the 78,000-square-foot building. The property is part of the 1.8 million-square-foot 555 California campus, which includes three buildings. The Trump Organization, the former president's company, holds a minority stake in the property.

    The terms of the partnership between Vornado and the Institute of Contemporary Art were not disclosed. Glen Weiss, Vornado's co-head of real estate, stated that the museum's presence would "further enliven and elevate the Financial District as a nexus for culture and commerce." The occupancy rate of the Modernist building known as "The Cube" was not disclosed.

    Vornado had previously sued the building's last tenant, Regus, over a dispute regarding building signage. As part of a settlement deal last year, Regus paid Vornado $21.35 million. The museum's arrival marks the latest non-traditional tenant to occupy offices in San Francisco's Downtown area, where some landlords are seeking nonprofits or cultural organizations to fill gaps left by tech and professional service tenants. The current office vacancy rate is 37 percent, according to CBRE.

    This summer, Mayor London Breed launched the second phase of Vacant to Vibrant, a city-backed program aimed at supporting small businesses and filling vacant storefronts in Downtown. Boston-based office landlord BXP has also launched a similar program, working with small business owners to establish flexible leases for retail vacancies.

    Vornado, which has a 70 percent stake in the 555 California campus and sole decision-making authority, spent tens of millions of dollars renovating 345 Montgomery Street. The building was previously home to a flagship branch for Bank of America, which was based next door at 555 California Street until 1998. The publicly traded Vornado Realty Trust, founded by Stephen Roth in 1982, owns over 20 million square feet of offices, primarily in New York.