Sun's rays reach city: Networking giant grabs 534,000 square feet at Foundry Square.(Sun Microsystems is leasing space in downtown San Francisco)(Brief Article)

Sun Microsystems Inc. in 2000 became the largest company to expand into San Francisco when it took a whopping 534,000 square feet in two buildings at Wilson/Equity Office's Foundry Square development.

Represented by Erich Sengelmann and Jan Pope of Jones Lang LaSalle, Palo Alto-based Sun did a broad analysis of Bay Area locations before zeroing in on Foundry Square.

The location offered a "critical mass" and a "certain feel to it," Pope said.

Wilson/Equity was in the process of developing the four-building, 1.15 million-square-foot project at First and Howard streets when the deal was signed in November, capping two months of negotiations with Rob …