S.F. apartments draw no bids, clearing the way for takeover

There were no bidders Thursday during the auction for a huge portfolio of 62 distressed San Francisco apartment buildings — but a winner still emerged.

The auctioneer said that the “beneficiary” behind the defaulted mortgages would take over the properties, which had been owned by Veritas. Property records show that Brookfield, the Canadian conglomerate that also owns the Pier 70 and 5M projects, will now seize control of the buildings.

The auctioneer on Thursday, who declined to give his name, set minimum bids of $386.25 million for one group of the properties and $77.25 million for another group.

No one responded, so the mortgages were sold to the beneficiary. At the end of the auction, one man yelled “yes!” and walked away. His identity wasn’t clear.

Brookfield completed a deal last month to acquire the mortgages tied to the 62 properties along with 14 others, encompassing 2,165 apartments across numerous neighborhoods, including North Beach, Nob Hill, the Castro and the Richmond.

That’s despite the company walking away from another major property, the ex-Westfield San Francisco Centre mall.

Goldman Sachs and other lenders had previously lent nearly $1 billion to Veritas, which defaulted on the mortgages as the city’s residential market swooned during the pandemic.

Brookfield and its partner Ballast will now be among the city’s biggest residential landlords after no rivals bid during Thursday’s auction, which drew only a few people, including reporters.

Veritas declined to comment, while Brookfield and Ballast officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.