California Plaza Sees 45,000 SF of Renewals

WALNUT CREEK, CA-Two tenants have renewed their leases at California Plaza, stemming recent tenant losses at the 268,000-sf office building. The Civil Service Employees Insurance Co. renewed its lease for 26,394 and expanded it by 3,816 sf while Insight Capital recommitted to just under 15,000 sf.Insight Capital is located on the fifth floor of the 10-story building. CSEI’s space is on floors three, five and nine. Insight’s renewal is for just under six years. Insight’s broker, Kevin Mechelke with Cushman & Wakefield tells GlobeSt.com that the deal includes a restructuring of the final seven months of Insight’s current lease. The length of CSEI’s renewal was not immediately available.Having signed its original commitment at the top of the market, Insight is seeing its monthly lease rate fall significantly, from the mid-to-high $3 range to the low $2 range, sources familiar with the transaction tell GlobeSt.com. CSEI is renewing a lease that was signed before the market peaked, and so its lease rate also is dropping but not as significantly. The official asking base rate for the property ranges from $2.40 to $2.60, the listing broker, Breck Lutz of Cornish & Carey, tells GlobeSt.com.Located at 2121 N California Blvd. and home to the Walnut Creek BART station, California Plaza is owned by the state of Florida and managed by Heitman. The building, which recently underwent a common area renovation, is about 85% occupied. Current availability includes the entire fourth floor of the building, which totals nearly 60,000 sf.A number of tenants have vacated space in the building recently. Jacuzzi, which was acquired by a Florida company, vacated 17,000 sf and will vacate an additional 17,000 sf in March 2005. Maxis, which is part of EA (Electronic Arts), moved all of its people back to Redwood City, CA, giving up 18,000 sf. Another 6,000 sf was handed back by WorldCom as part of its bankruptcy. “I don’t know if it’s a trend, but we’re seeing activity pick up a little bit,” says Lutz, who handles the leasing assignment with his partner, Tom Fehr.