The Wharton School is relocating its San Francisco campus to a larger, standalone building in the city’s Financial District.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Penn has signed a more than decade-long lease for a five-story building at 345 Montgomery St., dubbed “the Cube” because of its glass-cubed shape design. Wharton is expected to begin occupying the building within the next 18 months.
The property is co-owned by the Vornado Realty Trust and the Trump Organization, which owns a 30% stake in the larger complex which will house Wharton’s new campus.
Wharton’s move to the Cube will mark its first standalone campus in San Francisco. The school has maintained a West Coast presence for about 25 years, but has always shared space with other tenants. Since 2012, Wharton has leased a waterfront property known as Hills Plaza that it shares with Google, the lease for which is set to expire next year.
In April, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that Wharton was considering moving its San Francisco campus to “the Cube.”
The relocation will more than double Wharton’s current footprint and provide room for the school to expand its Executive MBA program, which currently enrolls around 220 students. The new space will also host programs for full-time MBA students from Philadelphia who participate in Wharton’s Semester in San Francisco program.
This fall, Wharton introduced an artificial intelligence for business major for its full-time MBA and Executive MBA students. The expansion to the Financial District is expected to support that program and strengthen Wharton’s connections to Bay Area companies in technology, finance, and venture capital.
Wharton’s move comes as San Francisco officials seek to fill downtown vacancies that remain high five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than one-third of the city’s roughly 90 million square feet of office space remains unoccupied.
City leaders have encouraged universities to open campuses downtown to bring students, workers, and activity back to the area. Vanderbilt University has also announced plans to open a campus in partnership with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office.
The Cube’s current tenant, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, confirmed it will vacate the building next year.
Staff reporter Gabrielle Ostad contributed reporting.
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