Related California has opened its Northern California office, located in the heart of the Financial District in San Francisco. With the goal to become more active in public and private projects in Northern California, veteran real estate executive Lydia Tan joins the company and will lead the region in the position of executive vice president and director of Northern California operations. “Related California has been active in the Bay Area for over two decades and we are pleased to expand our presence in the Northern California market,” says Bill Witte, president of Related California. Tan brings more than 25 years of experience in the San Francisco real estate market and building industry, working in both public and private sectors.

Aurora Algae will relocate their headquarters to the Former Cholestech Facility located at 3325 Investment Blvd. in Hayward, CA. Aurora has signed a lease for 30,000 square feet at this R & D facility. CB Richard Ellis's, Bob Ferraro worked on behalf of the landlord Alere Inc., fka Cholestech Inc and Aurora Algae was represented by, John F. Colon of Gateway Commercial.

Robb Osborne of Voit Real Estate Services’ Sacramento office has revealed the completed $1.75-million sale of an 8,370-square-foot property on behalf of local Veterinarian, Jennifer Sweet. The property, a former restaurant, was discovered by Osborne while running comparables on a previous property Sweet was considering. “While keeping our client’s requests in mind, such as great visibility and close proximity to her existing client base, we located a former restaurant that interestingly enough fit the criteria,” explains Osborne. “Our team, along with the architect and general contractor, was able to use the space by incorporating many of the existing elements from the former restaurant, which saved our client time and money. The property has undergone quite a transformation, and is now a state of the art full-service animal hospital.” The property is located at 1770 Prairie City Rd. in Folsom, CA. The seller, 4320 UTC Inc. was represented by James Teare of Terranomics Retail Services.

Los Angeles

Jones Lang LaSalle represented Partners Federal Credit Union in a 9,482-square-foot headquarters lease renewal at Cusumano Plaza, a 65,000-square-foot office property located at 100 N. First St. in Burbank, CA. JLL managing director Jim Lindvall, vice president Dean Hawthorne and Southwest region COO Alan Aufhammer represented Partners Federal Credit Union in the transaction. The property owner, Cusumano Real Estate Group, was represented in house. “With the Los Angeles office leasing market still in recovery mode, many landlords are being proactive to retain tenants in order to maintain cash flow,” says Hawthorne. “Jones Lang LaSalle was able to negotiate a favorable lease term that provided Partners Federal Credit Union with tremendous savings and flexibility.”

London-based Escape Studios has established its first US presence at the Yahoo! Center in Santa Monica after signing a five-year lease for 7,986 square feet in a transaction valued at $1.4 million, according to Travis Landrum of Industry Partners who represented the tenant. “Escape was looking for a creative environment that was not only conducive to learning, but space that would mirror the functionality and style of the industry's best post production houses,” says Landrum. “The space, which was formerly used by Apple Inc. as a training center, provided everything Escape needed. Plus Yahoo! Center was able to accommodate the high parking requirement of a learning facility of this type." Encompassing an entire city block Yahoo! Center is a highly amenitized 15-acre class A office campus comprised of six low-rise office buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet situated around a 3.5 acre park. Chris Houge of LA Realty Partners represented the landlord, Equity Office.

The Saywitz Co. recently negotiated an 11-year, 173,200-square-foot manufacturing and industrial lease on behalf of Structural Composites Industries, a global company that manufactures containers, canisters and cases for the aerospace industry and fire departments. Located at 336 Enterprise Place in Pomona, CA, the lease is valued at more than $11 million. The expansion will be completed by mid-2011 and represents one of the largest transactions in the City of Pomona in recent years. Barry Saywitz , president of the Saywitz Co., negotiated the transaction on behalf of the tenant. The seller, TA Realty Associates, was represented by Davis Partners.