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Newcastle bets on Shadelands, buys 197000 SF of office in Walnut Creek

Sat, 27 Jul 2013 09:48:20 +0000

Newcastle Partners expects to sign more leases soon in Centre Pointe, a 197,000-square-foot office complex in Walnut Creek that the firm recently bought.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Newcastle Partners is betting that the Shadelands Business Park, a long struggling office submarket in Walnut Creek, is poised to make a comeback.

The San Francisco-based investor and developer recently snapped up Centre Pointe, a six-building, 197,000-square-foot office complex at 165 – 215 Lennon Lane, from seller Sun Life Financial, which has partnered with Newcastle on other projects.

The price was estimated at close to $21 million or $105 to $110 per square foot, according to Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank.

Dennis Higgins, managing partner of Newcastle, said he expects Shadelands to see more leasing and activity from healthcare tenants and Safeway Inc.’s proposed, 25-acre retail and senior housing project (read more here).

“The basis for which we were able to purchase Center Pointe was very attractive,” Higgs said. “Historically, the Shadelands hasn’t been the most popular submarket, but we think that with an aggressive basis and all the changes in the neighborhood, it’s going to be an attractive area.”

Newcastle, founded in 1999 by Higgs, owns office and industrial properties throughout California and tends to go after value-add properties in the Bay Area.

Center Pointe was 85 percent leased at the time of the deal and Newcastle expects to sign on new tenants soon.

In the past year, the firm has picked up properties including the 80,000-square-foot 246 First St. in San Francisco with partner Stockbridge Capital Group, the 225,000-square foot Great America Place office complex in Santa Clara and a few small buildings in San Francisco’s Jackson Square area.

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/07/newcastle-bets-on-shadelands-buys.html

A chat with commercial real estate broker Phil Mahoney

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:52:42 +0000

When a megadeal lands in Silicon Valley, there’s a decent chance veteran Bay Area commercial real estate broker Phil Mahoney had a hand in making it happen.

Google’s 715,000-square-foot lease in Sunnyvale. The 600,000-square-foot campus for LinkedIn in Sunnyvale. A Sunnyvale lease for 600,000 square feet for a new campus to be occupied by Amazon unit Lab 126. The just-concluded 100,000-square-foot deal for Softbank affiliate Starburst in San Carlos. Mahoney, an executive vice president with the Santa Clara office of Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, helped guide all of these to a successful conclusion.

Each year, Mahoney kicks off the Cornish Carey annual forecast for the commercial property sector in the South Bay. This newspaper recently spoke with him about his outlook for the Silicon Valley commercial property sector. Mahoney’s comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Q How do you see the Silicon Valley market in 2013?

A There is no way that 2013 will repeat what occurred in 2011 and 2012. Those were incredible years, and there was so much space leased that it was not sustainable. We never expected that this year would be like either of those years. The market is taking a bit of a breather in that tenants have absorbed millions of square feet. Much of that square footage that was leased the last year is now being retrofitted for occupancy.

Q How long might this breather

last?

A We see 2014 returning to a very strong leasing mode when companies have digested what they took in in 2011 and 2012. Late 2013 and into 2014 should be very good.

Q What is driving the leasing?

A This is all underpinned by a strong economy, a good tech economy. The economy is strong enough to withstand problems, whether they be things such as North Korea or budget sequestration.

Q Is it helpful that there is a breather?

A If you are a property owner with a big empty building, now is not a good time to take a breather. But it is healthy in that it gives transportation infrastructure time to catch up to all the leasing that has occurred. And if you get into an overheated situation, you can get an overbuilt market, which isn’t good.

Q San Francisco’s mayor has said his city is the innovation capital of the world, which suggests San Francisco overshadows Silicon Valley. Is that assessment on target, or off target?

A I’d say the reports of San Francisco becoming the new Silicon Valley are overdone. Quietly, some of the larger tech companies are starting to push back a little bit on the whole San Francisco scene. There is a little bit of a wait and see about how it all works out. Some of companies have deferred major expansions in San Francisco and are doing it in the Santa Clara Valley proper instead.

Q Is the current surge in tech leasing like the dot-com boom that became a bubble, or is this the real deal?

A There is no comparison. This time there are no Pets.com, no Webvan. There is very little fluff we can see. These are real companies with real revenues and real profits. They don’t just depend on eyeballs looking at their websites.

Q How strong is the current crop of tenants?

A Never in my 30 years have I seen this number of creditworthy tenants in the market. Amazon, Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook, Microsoft, Juniper, these are strong multibillion-dollar companies with healthy balance sheets.

Q This tech boom looks to be here for a while?

A This definitely has legs. We are probably in the middle innings of a recovery in Silicon Valley.

Contact George Avalos at 408-373-3556 or 925-977-8477. Follow him at Twitter.com/george_avalos.

Phil Mahoney
Age: 53
Birthplace: Cambridge, Mass.
Company: Cornish Carey Newmark Knight Frank
Position: Executive vice president
Residence: Los Altos Hills

Five things about Phil Mahoney
He was a lifeguard on Cape Cod while in college.
He is a former college football player, a starting defensive end with Stanford University and a teammate of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.
He has lived in England, in a small town on the Thames River as part of a Stanford overseas program.
He once skied in Scotland.
When he began his current career, he had three jobs: commercial real estate broker, a mover for a moving company, and a bouncer at a Palo Alto night club

Article source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23115274/chat-commercial-real-estate-broker-phil-mahoney

MetLife Snags San Francisco’s Treat Towers For Reported $130M

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:15:31 +0000

August 30, 2012

By Lynn Armitage, Contributing Editor

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), which oversees one of the largest real estate portfolios in the nation, of $60 billion, has acquired Treat Towers in the San Francisco Bay area. While the insurance giant has not disclosed the terms of the sale, it has been reported by several news sources that the property sold for close to $130.4 million.

The property, located in Walnut Creek, is comprised of two 10-story Class A, LEED-EB Gold certified office buildings totaling 378,000 square feet, and was previously owned by a joint venture with Equity Office Properties.

The San Francisco Business Times reports the Treat Towers acquisition is “one of the East Bay’s biggest office sales this year.” , said the property is a valuable asset for the company.

“This Class A property fits very well with our strategy of buying and holding core assets in top-tier markets,” said Jacqueline Denning, director of MetLife’s San Francisco regional office who helped spearhead the transaction.

Treat Towers is an especially attractive property due to its commuter-friendly proximity to Interstate-680 and the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART station. What’s more, there’s a parking structure onsite, offering six levels of covered parking that can house more than 1,100 vehicles.

“There are a number of very attractive amenities that make Treat Towers a great property,” said Breck Lutz of Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, the leasing company for the project. Some of these onsite amenities include a fitness center, a fully equipped conference center, an ATM in both buildings, banking facilities and a full-service café.

Treat Towers will be managed by Harvest Properties, Inc. of Emeryville. The buildings were reportedly 85 percent occupied at the time of the sale.

MetLife’s well-diversified portfolio includes real estate equities, and commercial and agricultural mortgages. The company is a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc., one of the world’s leading providers of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs.

Article source: http://www.cpexecutive.com/regions/southwest/metlife-snags-san-franciscos-treat-towers-for-reported-130m/

Metlife Snags San Francisco’s Treat Towers For Reported $130M

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:11:34 +0000

August 30, 2012

By Lynn Armitage, Contributing Editor

The San Francisco Business Times reports the Treat Towers acquisition is “one of the East Bay’s biggest office sales this year.” , said the property is a valuable asset for the company.

Treat Towers will be managed by Harvest Properties, Inc. of Emeryville. The buildings were reportedly 85 percent occupied at the time of the sale.

Article source: http://www.cpexecutive.com/regions/southwest/metlife-snags-san-franciscos-treat-towers-for-reported-130m/

Sacramento-area office brokers expect turnaround

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:05:39 +0000

By any measure, office vacancy rates in the Sacramento area are high. And in some locales, they’re obscenely high.

Yet most credible experts who track the complex world of office square footage contend that the region’s future looks promising.

How to explain that contradiction?

“I get that question from friends and business folks every day. I can’t get through a day without hearing it,” said John Frisch, regional managing director of commercial real estate brokerage firm Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank.

Last month, Cornish Carey reported that the Sacramento region’s office vacancy rate in this year’s first quarter hit an all-time high of 23.74 percent, equating to nearly 16 million square feet of vacant space. In 2002, the rate for the whole year was 12 percent.

The first-quarter numbers are the echo of the recessionary hammer that smashed the area’s commercial real estate market in 2008.

However, Frisch cheerfully expects “the office market to get better as the year unfolds.”

And Encino-based Marcus Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ 2012 annual report also projects an office market turnaround in Sacramento this year.

The optimism lies in the ocean of numbers that’s an industry staple and the sometimes agonizingly slow pace of completing office building/leasing deals.

“We have not seen a tangible improvement in the region in years,” Frisch said. “However, the precursor to any changing in the vacancy rate is leasing activity in the market.

“And right now, we’re seeing better activity in the market than we were seeing six or 12 months ago.”

Frisch explained that it’s not unusual for deals to take six to nine months ? a timetable starting with prospective tenants looking around and ending when they finally move in. As a result, the recent bump up in office leasing might not show up on the region’s statistical radar for another year.

While the process is slow, Frisch said: “I don’t know if there is a better indicator for our local economy than office space vacancy. ? It’s pretty basic. When vacancy is high, things are bad. When it’s low, you have almost full employment.”

Local brokers also stress that it’s a mistake to view the Sacramento region as a monolith. Submarkets in the region are seeing widely varying degrees of progress, or disappointment.

Voit Real Estate Services’ first-quarter regional report for 2012 showed an office vacancy rate of 50.2 percent in the Rio Linda/North Highlands submarket. In downtown Sacramento, it was 10.1 percent.

There are also variations within the submarkets.

Robb Osborne, a senior vice president leading a team of brokers in Voit’s Roseville office, noted that the first-quarter vacancy rate in the Roseville/Rocklin market was 27.4 percent, but that number was affected by a 40-percent-plus vacancy rate along the Highway 65 corridor.

Prior to the recession, numerous high-end office buildings were built along Highway 65, reflecting the area’s economic boom. In the recession, much of that office space went empty.

The high percentage of office vacancies is an advantage for businesses looking to lease or buy.

“We have lost (clients) if they are price-sensitive,” Osborne said. “And right now, everybody is price-sensitive. They’re looking for the best deal.”

Cole Sweatt, an assistant vice president and broker in Voit’s Roseville office, said cost now outweighs all other factors: “In downtown Sacramento, parking has long been an issue, but now, everybody is looking for cheaper rent.”

Osborne and Sweatt characterized Roseville as a microcosm of the local office industry’s ups and downs.

The Voit team marketed the recent sale of the Eureka Corporate Center at 1544 Eureka Road in Roseville ? a modern-looking complex of gleaming offices with panoramic views. The complex wanted for tenants and was taken over by its lender.

Expansive second-floor offices that once housed Orange County-based John Laing Homes ? which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 ? lie empty. Sweatt expects the new buyer to fill the empty space with attractive lease offerings.

By contrast, a short drive away are twin office buildings at 3721/3741 Douglas Blvd. Of the 90,000 square feet of deals made by real estate firm Hines last year, about 50,000 were in the 3721/3741 buildings. Hines, which has offices at 400 Capitol Mall in Sacramento, owns about 850,000 square feet of space it’s looking to lease on the busy Douglas Boulevard corridor.

In 2011, Osborne’s Voit team completed 20 office sales totaling 186,000 square feet and 31 office lease transactions comprising 110,103 square feet.

Still, Osborne and Sweatt characterized the current environment as tough ? Osborne believes brokers will be swimming uphill for another year or so ? yet both see indicators of improvement.

Sweatt pointed to a rejuvenated San Francisco/Bay Area business/tech market: “We’re hoping that some of those (companies) will expand or relocate here.”

Osborne said a bump up in residential real estate in and around Roseville was a good sign “that if people are buying a home, they’re probably looking to stay in business.”

Osborne said dovetailing trends in the residential real estate and office markets are producing similar results: Buyers are picking up troubled assets for a comparative song, helped by low interest rates. Those picking up office buildings for a low price can better afford to “undercut” the market to lure tenants, charging square-footage rates well under competitors’ rates.

This creates another trend: Tenants being poached from other buildings with attractive offers.

Frisch said it’s all part of the game: “When Class A space drops to Class B levels, it’s a great opportunity to move up. When prices get really, really good, people who want to get into whatever trophy building there is can afford to move up.”

Frisch said attractive pricing is likewise contributing to leasing activity.

“Now for the first time in years, we are seeing people considering expanding instead of just hunkering down for a year or two to see which way the wind blows,” he said.

Frisch said that includes his own Cornish Carey firm.

“For the last four years, we have extended our lease two years at a time,” he said. “Now, we’re seriously considering expanding and relocating next year.”

Cornish Carey has two local offices ? about 7,500 square feet in Sacramento and 4,500 square feet in Roseville.

Call The Bee’s Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.

? Read more articles by Mark Glover

Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/27/4517394/sacramento-area-office-brokers.html

Five industry leaders join Avison Young’s new office in San Francisco

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:12:18 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
John Cashin, John Norton, Jonathan Allen become Principals

Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, of Avison Young, Canada’s largest independently-owned commercial real estate services
company, announced today that five commercial real estate industry
leaders have joined the firm’s new office in San Francisco.

The new additions expand Avison Young’s newly-opened 12th location
outside of Canada, and the company’s third California office.

Effective immediately, John Norton, Jonathan Allen and John Cashin join Avison Young as Principals. Melinda Miyagishima joins the firm as a sales and marketing specialist/office manager and Raquel Ledesma becomes sales and marketing specialist/market research co-ordinator. All
five will be based in Avison Young’s new downtown San Francisco office,
which opened April 11, 2012.

Prior to joining Avison Young, all five worked in the San Francisco
office of Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank with Nick Slonek, who was appointed two weeks ago as Avison Young’s new Managing
Director for the Northern California region.

“In a dynamic market like San Francisco, it’s vital that our new
operations get off to a strong start. This talented new San Francisco
team will help us achieve that goal and enable us to gain a solid
foothold in San Francisco and Northern California from the outset,”
comments Webb. “All five team members are proven industry leaders who
will help us continue to recruit top professionals from throughout the
region, and further our expansion program in the Western U.S., which we
view as an integral part of our future growth.”

Allen will continue to focus on tenant representation on behalf of his
public and private office clients, Norton will continue to specialize
in agency leasing, and Cashin will continue to concentrate on servicing
both landlords and tenants throughout the Bay Area. In addition, Cashin
will play an active role in the recruitment of young brokers as Avison
Young continues to expand in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.

“I could not be more excited to embark on this exciting and challenging
journey with this crew,” notes Slonek. “Most of us have worked together
for nearly a decade now, so we know what we need to do to be successful
together. We are truly a team.”

Webb adds that the appointments reconfirm Avison Young’s strong desire
to use its highly profitable platform and its pristine balance sheet to
recruit more senior brokers, executives and administrators to fill the
company’s service-delivery needs in San Francisco and the Western
region, and further the growth of the Avison Young brand nationally and
internationally.

“Avison Young’s commitment to quality service combined with its
strategic plans to build its brand across North America and beyond, and
expand in all facets of the commercial markets, is something I look
forward to being a part of,” says Norton. “Avison Young’s holistic
approach to providing best-in-class real estate solutions creates a
compelling value proposition for our clients.”

“Taking the next steps in our careers with Avison Young is quite an
honor,” notes Allen. “We look forward to reaching the next level of
client service with our new platform and with our esteemed colleagues
across the United States and Canada.”

Adds Cashin: “The company’s vision for growth and its focus on the
client are completely parallel to my goals. Avison Young’s pool of
talent, resources and expertise gives us the ability to provide the
most comprehensive real estate services to our clients.”

Avison Young’s new San Francisco office is located at 601 California
Street, 5th floor, in downtown San Francisco.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to 29 offices
in 26 markets and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals
across Canada and the U.S.

Biographies

Jonathan Allen
Jonathan Allen has 13 years of sales and leasing experience in the
commercial real estate industry and joins Avison Young after spending
the past five years with Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight
Frank. Before that, he worked for six years in the Bay Area with Grubb
Ellis Company. Allen’s move to Grubb coincided with his move to the
Bay Area after he launched his real estate career in London, England.
Allen’s major clients have included Trulia, Parsons Brinckerhoff,
Sierra Nevada Corporation, San Francisco County Transportation
Authority, KeyBank, Lending Club, and the Consulate General of Canada.
His community participation includes pending election to the Board of
Directors for Wu Yee Children’s Services. A native of England, Allen
holds an honors undergraduate degree in urban land economics from
Sheffield Hallam University in his home country.

John Cashin
Prior to joining Avison Young, John Cashin spent seven years with
Cornish Carey Commercial, negotiating on behalf of both tenants and
landlords. He moved there in 2004 after three years as a
tenant-advisory expert with Transwestern Commercial Services. Before
joining Transwestern, he helped operate his family’s residential firm,
Cashin Company Realtors, a prominent real estate company in the Bay
Area. Cashin’s clients have included Wells Fargo Securities, Oak Hill
Capital Management, GLL Real Estate Partners, Broadreach Capital
Partners and Sears Corporation. Cashin is a member of the Olympic Club
and Meals on Wheels. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from the
University of Oregon.

John Norton
John Norton launched his commercial real estate career in England in
1999 before moving to San Francisco to join Grubb Ellis Company in
2001. Since then, he has specialized in both landlord and tenant
representation in the downtown San Francisco office market, serving
local and national clients. He joined Cornish Carey Commercial’s San
Francisco location in 2007. Norton currently represents Langley
Investments, Ashforth and GE Pension Fund at 405 Howard Street, and
Kennedy Wilson at 300 California Street. Recent clients include Levi
Strauss, Skyy Spirits, Blurb and New Resource Bank. Norton is a
graduate of the urban land economics school at Sheffield Hallam
University in England.

Melinda Miyagishima
Prior to joining Avison Young, Melinda Miyagishima spent eight years as
a sales and marketing assistant in the San Francisco office of Cornish
Carey Commercial, of which she was a founding member. A licensed
California real estate sales agent, she supported the downtown office
leasing team and was named Employee of the Year in 2009. Prior to
joining Cornish Carey, she served as an administrative assistant for
three years at CB Richard Ellis in San Francisco, working with the
project management group and brokerage services. Miyagishima has also
held positions with two well-known architectural firms, Reel Grobman
Associates and Hellmuth, Obata Kassabaum, and a small private real
estate firm. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in health and
physical education from Oregon State.

Raquel Ledesma
Raquel Ledesma has 12 years of experience assisting commercial real
agents in San Francisco. Before joining Avison Young, she served as a
sales and marketing assistant at Cornish Carey Commercial for four
years, supporting the downtown office leasing team. During her career,
Ledesma has handled a variety of tasks, ranging from desktop publishing
to database maintenance. Prior to moving to Cornish Carey, she served
as an administrative assistant with Grubb Ellis Company and with
Whitney Cressman Limited (now GVa Kidder Mathews). Ledesma was named
Cornish Carey Commercial’s Employee of the Year in 2011, Grubb
Ellis’ Employee of the Year in 2007, and Whitney Cressman Limited’s
Employee of the Year in 2000. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in health
education from San Francisco State University.

In February, Avison Young was named a winner of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2011, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen’s School of Business.

Founded in 1978, Avison Young is Canada’s largest independently-owned
commercial real estate services company. Headquartered in Toronto,
Ontario, Avison Young is also the largest Canadian-owned,
principal-managed commercial real estate brokerage firm in North
America. Comprising more than 900 real estate professionals in 29
offices across Canada and the U.S., the full-service commercial real
estate company provides value-added, client-centric investment sales,
leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement
services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial and
multi-residential properties.

•Editors/Reporters: please click on link to view and download head shots

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Cashin_John%20D.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Norton_John%20l.JPG

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Allen_Jonathan.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Ledesma_Raquel.jpg

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Miyagishima_Melinda.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-industry-leaders-join-avison-youngs-new-office-in-san-francisco-2012-04-23

Avison Young opens San Francisco office, nabs Nick Slonek

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:12:08 +0000

JK Dineen
Reporter – San Francisco Business Times

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| Twitter: @jkdineen

Canadian commercial real estate services company Avison Young

Avison Young
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is opening a San Francisco office and has poached veteran Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank

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broker Nick Slonek to head it up.

The newest American office marks Avison Young’s 12th location outside of Canada, the company’s third California office, and the next step in the firm’s aggressive growth and expansion strategy, according to CEO Mark Rose.

Slonek will be principal and managing director for Northern California. The Avison Young office will be on the fifth floor at 601 California Street. Slonek said that he is in advanced talks with a group of brokers likely to make the move to Avison Young.

“It’s an experienced group that we are going to have here — there are going to be a lot of transactions by the end of the year under the Avison Young umbrella,” said Slonek.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 29 offices in 26 markets and from 300 to more than 900 real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S.

“The hiring of Nick Slonek is in line with our strategic plan to expand our commercial real estate services with high-quality leaders across the nation,” said Rose. “The San Francisco Bay Area — and the entirety of the Western U.S. region — is a vast and expanding real estate market and a focal point for many of our investor and occupier clients.”

Webb said that Avison Young is using its “highly profitable platform and its pristine balance sheet” to recruit other senior brokers and executives to fill the company’s service delivery needs in San Francisco and the Western region, and that plans for the company include further acquisitions to grow the Avison Young brand internationally.

J.K. Dineen covers real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

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Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2012/04/avison-young-opens-san-francisco.html

Avison Young opens new office in San Francisco

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:06:36 +0000

TORONTO, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Leading Canadian commercial real estate firm opens 12th location outside
Canada as part of strategic plan to expand its services across U.S.; Nick Slonek becomes Principal and Managing Director, Northern California

Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, Canada’s largest independently-owned commercial real estate services
company, announced today the opening of a new office in San Francisco.

The newest American office marks Avison Young’s 12th location outside of
Canada, the company’s third California office, and the next step in the
firm’s aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Effective immediately, Nick Slonek joins Avison Young as a Principal and Managing Director of the Northern
California region. Based in Avison Young’s new downtown San Francisco
office, Slonek will focus his efforts on overseeing the growth and
development of the company’s presence throughout Northern California,
as well as servicing new and existing clients. He was most recently a
Principal and Senior Vice-President in the San Francisco office of
Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank.

Over the past three years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 29
offices in 26 markets and from 300 to more than 900 real estate
professionals across Canada and the U.S.

“We are excited to be opening our newest office in San Francisco, which
will enhance our growing presence in the U.S. The hiring of Nick Slonek
is in line with our strategic plan to expand our commercial real estate
services with high-quality leaders across the nation,” comments Rose.
“The San Francisco Bay Area – and the entirety of the Western U.S.
region – is a vast and expanding real estate market and a focal point
for many of our investor and occupier clients. We are thrilled that
Nick has joined us to lead our efforts in Northern California as he has
an extensive and excellent track record of building a first-class
service platform in this market.”

“Nick is an experienced dealmaker and has terrific relationships with
many clients, both corporate and institutional, throughout the Bay Area
and beyond,” says Earl Webb, Avison Young’s President, U.S. Operations. “He shares our common
culture and our company’s enthusiasm for all the opportunities we have
in growing our market presence in Northern California and the Western
region. His commitment to our shared vision and our passion for
excellent client service was a determining factor in adding Nick as a
Principal.”

He continues: “The Bay Area is a critical location to our U.S. strategy,
given the city’s position as a corporate-occupier market as well as a
highly desirable investment market for our investor clients. We
couldn’t be more pleased to have Nick on our management team.”

Webb adds that Avison Young is using its highly profitable platform and
its pristine balance sheet to recruit other senior brokers and
executives to fill the company’s service delivery needs in San
Francisco and the Western region, and that plans for the company
include further acquisitions to grow the Avison Young brand
internationally.

Effective May 1, Avison Young’s new San Francisco office will be located
at 601 California Street, 5th floor, in downtown San Francisco.

Avison Young opened its first California office in Los Angeles in August
2011, followed by a second Los Angeles office in December through the
acquisition of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc.
Today’s announcement comes on the heels of industry veteran Christopher Cooper joining Avison Young as a Principal and Managing Director of the
Southern California region last month.

“I am thrilled to be joining Avison Young at this point in my career.
The Bay Area market is well-positioned for a firm that is strategic,
debt-free and well-capitalized,” says Slonek. “I am also proud to
become a Principal at Avison Young. To be joining a firm and a
management team with a proven track record, and that is executing on
its plan to aggressively expand across the U.S. and globally, is very
exciting.”

“Avison Young has undergone significant growth over the past three years
and is prepared to continue on this pace. I am impressed by the
company’s current performance and leading-edge strategic direction.
Avison Young is composed of a savvy group of professionals and I look
forward to learning from them. Of course, servicing existing and new
clients with a fresh set of eyes is my number one priority.”

Slonek brings to Avison Young 25 years of experience in the commercial
real estate industry. In 1988, he worked at Nelson Peterson
Associates as a downtown San Francisco office leasing broker. In 1990,
he joined Coldwell Banker (now CBRE) and enjoyed a successful career
there until 2004, at which time he opened the San Francisco office of
Cornish Carey Commercial, Inc. (which merged in 2010 with Newmark
Knight Frank to become Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight
Frank).

Primarily focusing on corporate tenant representation on a local,
national and international basis, Slonek has represented more than 10
million square feet of office tenants during his career. At Cornish
Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, Slonek consistently ranked among
the top performers during his nine years with the company. While with
Coldwell Banker, he ranked # 1 in revenue production in the San
Francisco downtown office in 1998, 2002 and 2003. He and his partners
were also Top 5 performers from 1996 to 2003.

Recent lease transactions include: First Republic Bank (230,000 square
feet (sf)), Citigroup (120,000 sf), Sears (50,000 sf) and Western Union
(26,000 sf). Slonek also represents GLL at 199 Fremont Street and 350
Mission Street (a 350,000-sf development site); Langley Investments,
Ashforth and GE Pension at Foundry II, 405 Howard Street; Sumitomo’s
123 Mission Street; and Kennedy Wilson’s 300 California Street.

Slonek is a senior member of The Guardsmen, a group that raises money
for underprivileged children. He has served with the March of Dimes and
the San Francisco Boys Girls Club and participated on the board of
directors of the Bay Area chapters for both organizations. He is a
member of the Big “C” Society/Bear Backers, which assists with funding
for the University of California at Berkeley’s athletic department; and
is acting President of the California Vintage Wine Society, of which he
has been a board member for the past five years. Slonek holds a
Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at
Berkeley where he played varsity water polo.

In February, Avison Young was named a winner of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2011, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen’s School of Business.

•Editors/Reporters: please click on link to view and download photo of
Nick Slonek

http://www.avisonyoung.com/sites/default/files/content-files/Media_Room/Temp/Slonek_Nick.jpg

SOURCE Avison Young (Canada) Inc.

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/avison-young-opens-new-office-in-san-francisco-2012-04-11

Silicon Valley’s commercial real estate market expected to remain hot

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:10:56 +0000

With the tech boom building momentum, Silicon Valley companies are on the hunt for space equal to nine shopping malls.

That was the highlight conclusion of a conference Tuesday organized by realty brokerage Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank. The gathering heard brokers present a robust outlook for the Bay Area economy and the region’s commercial real estate sector.

“We had a lot of tenant demand in 2011, and there is still more tenant demand coming,” said Phil Mahoney, an executive vice president with Cornish Carey.

At present, tenants are seeking a combined 9.6 million square feet of office and research space in Silicon Valley, estimated Cornish brokers, who update tenant demand estimates every three months.

Demand in early 2012 follows a spike at the end of 2011 that saw tenant demand reach 11.1 million square feet of office and research space, the highest level in the past five years.

When San Francisco and San Mateo County are added to Silicon Valley, estimated tenant demand is 15.6 million square feet of office and research space.

“This is a strong recovery,” Mahoney said. “The hiring rebound is continuing.”

About 9,400 openings for tech jobs are currently listed in the Bay Area, according to Cornish Carey.

The South Bay during 2011 posted a 3 percent gain in total payroll jobs, more than twice the hiring pace for the U.S. overall, which reported a 1.3 percent gain.

“The

Bay Area will continue to be an outlier for job growth,” said Erik Doyle, an executive managing director with Cornish Carey.

To be sure, tenant demand won’t translate at a 100 percent rate into new leases. Tenants often decide to remain where they are and renew their leases. Still, Mahoney estimates that in a decent economy — which appears to be the case in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco metro region — about two-thirds of the demand winds up as a new office space lease.

That could mean 6.4 million square feet of leases in coming months in Silicon Valley alone. And it might result in 10 million square feet of leasing activity in the South Bay, Peninsula and San Francisco markets before long.

The amount of prime office space available in Silicon Valley has been chopped nearly in half, due to the strong demand. At the end of 2010, the region had a 20.6 percent vacancy rate. One year later, Class A office vacancies had dwindled to 11.9 percent, Cornish Carey reported.

Brokers suggested that recent activity in Palo Alto, Cupertino, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and Mountain View is poised to spread to nearby regions.

The hottest spots in the short term are South San Francisco, San Mateo County and North San Jose.

Further out, the next waves of expansion are expected to reach Milpitas, downtown San Jose, central San Francisco and Fremont.

The East Bay will also benefit from the upswing if companies can’t find space in their primary target areas of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, said Thomas Fehr, a senior vice president with Cornish Carey.

“There is not enough existing space to fill all that demand,” Fehr said. “Historically, when there has been an overflow, it has come to the East Bay. We expect that overflow again.”

Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at twitter.com/george_avalos.

—

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19812931

Leases and sales: Week of Jan. 2, 2012

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:38:19 +0000

Send commercial real estate transactions in North Bay counties to news@busjrnl.com and jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or to fax 707-521-5292

Brokerage abbreviations: CTBT = Cassidy Turley BT Commercial; CCCNKF = Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank; KC = Keegan Coppin/ONCOR International; NBLS = Northbay Leasing Sales; NBPA = North Bay Property Advisors

LEASES

Napa County

2,832sf at 1530 Railroad Ave. (Inglewood Village Business Park), St. Helena; AHPNSH St. Helena, Linda Simmons of Meridian Commercial; Inglewood Village Partners LLC; Linda Simmons; Nov. 3

Marin County

16,400sf at 23 Pimentel Ct., Novato; warehouse; Prima Fleur Botanicals; Linda Zacarin of The Zacharin Co.; Frank Davis; Brian Eisberg, Brian Gleason, David Walwyn and Mike Lieberman of CCCNKF; Dec. 9

5,885sf at 899 Northgate Dr., #500, San Rafael; office; Lifehouse Agency; Brian Eisberg and David Walwyn of CCCNKF; Besphil Co.; Vesa Becam of KC; Dec. 9

5,256sf at 5420 Nave Dr., Novato; retail; Alicia Reid; Sandra Hess and Jerry Suyderhoud of CCCNKF; KG/Nave Drive LLC; North Bay Property Advisors; Dec. 9

3,537sf at 695 De Long Ave., #101, Novato; office; Rosanna Sansone; na; Imperial Contracting; Theo Banks and Jeffrey Wilmore of KC; Nov. 15

2,920sf at 46 Hamilton Dr., #D, E G, Novato; industrial, extension and expansion; Suzanne Daily; na; Alfaman; Theo Banks and Nathan Ballard of KC; Dec. 8

2,270sf at 10 Commercial Blvd, #102, Novato; office; Hired Hands, Inc.; na; Pierpont Investment Trust; Roger Smith of CCCNKF; Dec. 16

1,820sf at 68 Hamilton Dr., Novato; warehouse; Gama; Michael Golden of CTBT; na; David Losk of NBPA; Nov. 15

1,768sf at 1101 Fifth Ave., #270, San Rafael; office; Monahan Parker; Bill Hart of Bradley Commercial Real Estate; Center for Behavior Education; Matt Storms of KC; Nov. 14

1,738sf at 250 Camino Alto, #110, Mill Valley; office; Dr. Bob Christensen; Alisa Belew, Haden Ongaro and Mark Carrington of CCCNKF; Hodge Capital Co.; Mac Cranford and Doug Daigle of CCCNKF; Dec. 16

1,626sf at 6 Hamilton Landing, #210, Novato; office; Hangar 4 Partners; na; Barker Pacific Group; Brian Eisberg, Haden Ongaro and Mark Carrington of CCCNKF; Dec. 16

1,584sf at 67 Galli Dr., Novato; warehouse; Deep Vac Inc.; Rich Little of NBPA; na; Peter Gettner of HL Commercial; Dec. 1

1,475sf at 359 Bel Marin Keys, #22 24, Novato; office; Netshare, Inc.; na; Damner-Wyler Assoc.; Doug Daigle of CCCNKF; Feb. 16, 2011

1,430sf at 181 Third St., #225, San Rafael; office; Burke; Haden Ongaro, Alisa Belew and Mark Carrington of CCCNKF; Epstein; Haden Ongaro, Alisa Belew and Mark Carrington; Dec. 16

1,371sf at 1099 D St., #206, San Rafael; office; 1099 D Street, LLC; na; Dr. Richard Creaghe, DDS; Theo Banks and Nathan Ballard of KC; Nov. 8

1,305sf at 302 Caledonia St., #3, Sausalito; office; Pacific Precious Metals, LLC; Robert Hancock; Pyramid Properties, LLC; Theo Banks and Vesa Becam of KC; Nov. 1

1,200sf of 128 Carlos Dr., San Rafael; warehouse; Moran; Rich Little of NBPA; na; David Losk of NBPA; Dec. 15

1,154sf at 7250 Redwood Blvd. (Woodside Office Center), #355, Novato; office; Barbara Burke; Theo Banks of KC; CA-Woodside Office Center L.P.; Whitney Strotz of CTBT; Nov. 22

1,139sf at 500 Tamal Plaza, #505, Corte Madera; office; Presidio Brands, Inc.; Theo Banks and Vesa Becam of KC; Nine Forty Five Market Corp.; Theo Banks and Vesa Becam; Nov. 15

1,060sf at 324 Bon Air Center, Greenbrae; retail; Fingers Toes; Vesa Becam of KC; Bon Air Development, LP; Vesa Becam; June 7

994sf at 38 Miller Ave., #6, Mill Valley; office; Robert Luster; na; na; Doug Daigle of CCCNKF; Dec. 9

744sf at 24 Professional Ctr. Pkwy., San Rafael; office; Small and Knoesel; Rich Little of NBPA; na; Martin Perlmutter; Dec. 1

740sf at 4000 Bridgeway, #401, Sausalito; office; Medizone; Alisa Belew and Mac Cranford of CCCNKF; 4000 Bridgeway, LLC; Alica Belew and Mac Cranford; Dec. 15

726sf at 4000 Bridgeway, #405, Sausalito; office; 4Parts Design; Alisa Belew and Mac Cranford of CCCNKF; 4000 Bridgeway, LLC; Alisa Belew and Mac Cranford; Dec. 15

420sf at 424 Las Gallinas, San Rafael; retail; Damien Morozumi; Haden Ongaro, Alica Belew and Mark Carrington of CCCNKF; na; Haden Ongaro, Alica Belew and Mark Carrington; Dec. 15

Sonoma County

6,720sf at 2930 Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa; industrial; Manor Development Co.; Rhonda Deringer; Apollo Respiratory Services; Rhonda Deringer and John Rico of KC; Dec. 7

6,640sf at 600 Martin Ave., #110, Rohnert Park; industrial; BSA Vending; Gil Saydah of KC; Arthur Bros. Investment Co., Inc.; Gil Saydah; na

5,840sf at 2400 County Center Dr., #A, Santa Rosa; office; Southpoint Land Commercial; Rich Henderson of CTBT; B. I. Incorporated; Doug Braik of KC; Dec. 5

4,500sf at 1330 Ross St., Petaluma; warehouse/office; Rivas/Carlos; Bryant Moynihan of Nexus Realty Group; na; David Losk of NBPA; Dec. 1

2,640sf at 421 S. Cloverdale Blvd., #B, C D, Cloverdale; office; Penny Faire, LLC; Russ Mayer and Marshall Kelly of KC; Cobalt Polymers; Russ Mayer and Marshall Kelly; March 15

2,592sf at 424 Payran St., Petaluma; industrial; Anthony Jolene Adiego; Chris Castellucci of KC; Myles Ahead Fitness; Chris Castellucci and Dave Peterson of KC; Nov. 2

2,500sf at 300 W. Robles Ave., Santa Rosa; warehouse; Birdsell; Vicki Greenbaum of NBLS; na; David Losk of NBPA; Dec. 1

2,400sf at 3383 Airway Dr., Santa Rosa; Industrial (shop plus self-storage units); Brian Pecore; Kevin Doran of KC; Gary Rasche Trust; Kevin Doran of KC; Oct. 29

2,285sf at 2312 Bethards Dr., #3B, 4 5, Santa Rosa; office, extension; Daniel Sheenagh Carlson; na; John Dodge; Brian White of KC; (March 1, 2012)

1,858sf at 520 Mendocino Ave., #260, Santa Rosa; office; Climate Protection Campaign; Brian Keegan of KC; Parkway Properties 14, LLC; Dave Peterson and Peter Briceño of KC; Nov. 14

1,620sf at 8492 Hwy. 116, #I, Cotati; retail; Jared Suokup; na; Steve Poplar; Jerry Suyderhoud and Berk Jones of CCCNKF; Dec. 13

1,600sf at 122 Wikiup Dr., Santa Rosa; spa; Anderson Schuster; Bill Faherty of KC; Huong (Wendy) Mai; Vicki Greenbaum of NBLS; Feb. 25

1,568sf at 5625 State Farm Dr., #35, Rohnert Park; industrial; Gregory Matthew Nelson; na; New California Land Co.; Brian White of KC; (Jan. 11, 2012)

1,515sf at 750 Stony Point Rd., #A130, Santa Rosa; retail; Spyridon Strouzas; Vicki Greenbaum of Northbay Leasing Sales; Jorge Vasquez-Garcia; Rhonda Deringer and Marshall Kelly of KC; Oct. 24

1,000sf at 3510 Unocal Pl., #100, Santa Rosa; office; Ameriprise Holdings, Inc.; Doug Braik of KC; 3510 Unocal Place Corporation; Sue Lyon of Sleepy Hollow Property Management; Dec. 1

800sf at 311 D St., Santa Rosa; retail; Jennifer Webley; Mac Cranford of CCCNKF; Martin Bramante; Mac Cranford; Dec. 13

750sf at 35 Executive Ave., Rohnert Park; sound studio; Landis; na; David Losk of NBPA; Dec. 1

SALES

Napa County

3.54ac at 5091 St. Helena Hwy. (Old Ren Hen property), Napa; commercial land; Red Hen Properties, LLC; na; Liberty Bank; Bruce Peters of Portofino Realty Advisors; $2.85 million

0.66ac at 219 Rio Del Mar, American Canyon; residential land; Vincent Fung Tierra Buena Properties, LLC; Ken O’Farrell and Ken Bizzell of KC; American River Bank; Chad Mitchell of Chad Mitchell Associates, Inc.; Dec. 14; na

4,500sf (six units) at 2471 Old Sonoma Rd., Napa; multifamily; East O Investors, LLC; David Tipp of Tipp Realty; Voskanian Trust; Pat Ripple of Robert Butler Co.; Nov. 18; $600,000

Solano County

300,897sf (292 units) at 3700 Lyon Rd. (Rolling Oaks), Fairfield; multifamily; N/A Rolling Oaks-88 LP (Nevins Adams Lewbel Schell); na; Continental American Properties and Wafra Investment Advisory Group; William Huberty, Clint Sholl and Malcomb McComb of CB Richard Ellis; $52 million

Sonoma County

52.88ac at 711 Vacherie Way, Healdsburg; vineyard estate; Cunningham-Perini Family Vineyard; na; L.J and D.M. Becnel Trust; na; $8.37 million

33.3ac at 6450 Plum Ranch Rd., Santa Rosa; vineyard estate (Brigden Vineyard); Kari Teran; na; Brigden Family Trust; na; $2.63 million

Topics: North Bay | Categories: Business Register, Commercial Real Estate, Leases and Sales

Article source: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/46323/leases-and-sales-week-of-january-2-2012/