O&Y; Option on Prime S.F. Site Lapses; Firm Out $25 Million

Canadian developer Olympia & York’s option to build an office building on a prime San Francisco site lapsed after the deadline passed for the firm to complete the purchase of the site, officials said Tuesday.

The financially troubled Olympia & York had for nine years held an option on a city center site that is zoned for a 40-story office tower, part of the Yerba Buena Center redevelopment district.

Gene Suttle, senior deputy executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, said Olympia & York had an option on the site through March 1, which was the deadline for making a final $14-million payment to purchase the land.

Suttle said the payment was not made and that the option had lapsed. He said that, under terms of the initial agreement, the city kept a down payment of $25 million that Olympia & York had made previously for the option.

Olympia & York had asked the city for a 45-day extension of the option, saying the extra time was needed for a corporate restructuring to be finalized in the United States.

But San Francisco’s Redevelopment Commission turned down the request for an extension.