Some intriguing developments in San Francisco’s quest to lure Vanderbilt University to build a satellite campus here in SF, as the Chronicle reports that Vanderbilt might want their own Chronicle building to be part of the campus.

There’s been some exciting chatter for the last few months that the prestigious Nashville, Tennessee-based university Vanderbilt might build a satellite campus in San Francisco. Meanwhile, on a seemingly totally unrelated note, there has been endless chatter for about the last 11 years about the ambitious (and stalled) 5M real estate project that hopes to build an office and condo complex at Fifth and Mission streets. That sprawling 5M site also includes the famed Chronicle headquarters building.

Now these two seemingly unrelated stories may be converging. Today’s Chronicle reports that Vanderbilt is considering the 5M site for their possible satellite campus, which if used, would probably occupy the Chronicle building with some or all of that campus. Specifically, the Chronicle reports that Vanderbilt officials are “evaluating the area around Fifth and Mission streets,” an area "including the Chronicle’s historic headquarters building at 901 Mission Street." The Chronicle adds that Vanderbilt has had discussions with SF “business leaders in recent months."

Wait, is the Chronicle just hyping their own real estate property here in hopes of applying pressure to a top bidder? One cannot dismiss that the Chronicle's parent company Hearst Corporation is also deeply involved in the real estate industry, and is not just a news-gathering organization. Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the 5M property has had trouble finding interested tenants, much like any commercial landlord in SF since the pandemic.

But it can be independently confirmed that the 5M site is considered among SF’s most prime candidate properties for a university conversion. That was the finding of the SF Chamber of Commerce, who commissioned a study on the most ideal spots to put a new university in San Francisco, an idea floating around since the London Breed administration.

Chamber of Commerce CEO and president Rodney Fong told the Chronicle, “The study looks at a couple different locations downtown, including around Salesforce (Tower). It looked at the Embarcadero, Jackson Square, and it really sort of arrived at the Fifth and Mission corridor for the core reasons of transportation.”

Other sites they identified included the nearby Mint building, the Fifth and Mission Garage, and the dismal and 93% vacant San Francisco Centre mall.

Another high-ranking Chamber of Commerce official told the Chronicle “You could have two or three national universities" here at these various sites, though honestly, that may just be wishful thinking by the SF Chamber of Commerce.

And really, the Chronicle building makes a ton of sense as a university site. There are oodles of public transit options nearby, and plenty of entertainment options too. (Oh, would House of Shields love to have a bunch of college students plopped down nearby.) And the Chronicle building has that classic architectural clock tower atop, which would fit very nicely for a university building.

It should also be noted that the Chronicle newspaper's staff has already left the building. They were reportedly scheduled to move out this past summer and relocate to new offices that Hearst bought at 450 Sansome, in what was billed as a temporary displacement while demolition occurs at the next-door 110 Fifth Street. As it was, before that move, the newspaper was no longer utilizing large portions of the historic headquarters building, which used to have a printing press in its basement.

In today’s Chronicle article, we also get more previously unreported information about Vanderbilt's plans. The university wants classroom and dorm space for a reported 1,500 students, and per the Chron, they’re looking for “150,000-square-feet of educational space with student housing opportunities in close proximity.” Real estate insiders also tell the Chronicle that the school wants an “artificial intelligence or tech center,” which would certainly give SF a strong leg up over other cities’ sites or competing bids.

(Interestingly, Vanderbilt is one of those universities that Trump is trying to bully into changing their curriculum. We’ll see if that somehow affects any of these discussions.)

As a reminder, the 5M project is more than just the Chronicle building. It also includes the former SF Examiner headquarters at 110 Fifth Street — soon to be demolished — the George apartment building at 434 Minna Street, and a new office tower at 415 Natoma Street.

The Chronicle’s report that Vanderbilt might want the Chronicle building is based on speculation, though highly informed speculation. Vanderbilt University themselves are being very tight-lipped about any plans.

“We are excited about exploring a possible presence in San Francisco and deeply value our partnership with Mayor Lurie and his team. No decisions on location or real estate have been made,” a Vanderbilt spokesperson told the Chronicle via email.

Related: Now Vanderbilt University Is Apparently Exploring a Downtown SF Campus [SFist]

Image: Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons