Tech exec bets on downtown San Diego with purchase of 2 office towers

Former SoftBank executive and technology investor Eric Gan hopes to speed up the economic recovery of downtown San Diego with his purchase of two office towers.

Monday, real estate management entity Golden Columbia LLC purchased 1 Columbia Place, a 27-story skyscraper at 401 W. A St., and 2 Columbia Place, a 12-story tower, at 1230 Columbia St.

Golden Columbia is a newly formed limited liability company affiliated with Ganmi Corporation, the family office of Gan, who is a San Diego resident. Gan told the Union-Tribune that he paid a combined $103.5 million for the buildings.

The seller, Regent Properties, paid $182.5 million for 1 Columbia and $41 million for 2 Columbia in June 2021. At the time, the Los Angeles-based firm took out a $260 million loan to finance its $420 million purchase of a five-property portfolio that included the recently sold 18-story building at 707 Broadway.

The 1 and 2 Columbia Place purchase was motivated by Gan’s desire to invest in San Diego, bring workers back to the downtown market and draw more companies to the area, Gan told the Union-Tribune.

“The whole point is to revitalize the San Diego economy,” he sai...