WALNUT CREEK, CA-Last week, as GlobeSt.com reported, Tishman Speyer completed the purchase of California Plaza, a 10-story 379,000-square-foot office here in Walnut Creek, CA. In an update to that story, we chatted with third party expert, Ed Del Beccaro, managing director of Transwestern in the East Bay, on the transaction.
According to Del Beccaro, the reported purchase price of $270 per square foot is “a great purchase value.” He notes that the property is a prime class A building in Downtown Walnut Creek, a half block from the Walnut Creek BART Station and Bus Transit hub and only two blocks from the 680 Highway Interchanse. “In the three block radius of California Plaza there will be four new multifamily projects built totaling over 820 units with 40,000 square feet of retail and commercial space the next couple years.”
The purchase price of California Plaza is still only two thirds of replacement value, he explains. “Recent office building sales in Downtown San Francisco are now exceeding over $750 per square foot , so this sale represents the investor trend of looking for value-add office projects in the prime suburban office metros such as Downtown Walnut Creek , Pleasant Hill BART , Emeryville and Oakland City Center.”
He adds that “Investors are recognizing that the recent high purchase sales in Downtown San Francisco reflecting the tech boom will continue to raise office renewal rents causing traditional financial , insurance, engineering, legal and other back office tenants to migrate across to the East Bay/Walnut Creek.”
Another things he tells GlobeSt.com is that California Plaza has both large and small office places. And located next to mass transit, “It is in a perfect position in 2014 and 2015 to catch this migration wave leaving San Francisco.”
According to Del Beccaro, “rental and vacancy rates have been soft the last few years in the Suburban East Bay office market , which has lagged behind Silicon Valley and San Francisco reflecting the lack of dramatic job creation in the tech sector. We forecast now that the prime suburban/urban centers such as Walnut Creek will now see increased class-A office rents and lower vacancies in the coming year. California Plaza will be a beneficiary of this.”
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
