WALNUT CREEK, CA—Due to a rebirth of the city, office properties are going like hotcakes these days. One of the most well-known assets, Growers Square, recently sold to Rockwood Capital for an undisclosed price, although reports placed the number at just south of $100 million. However, the price was a record-breaking one in terms of square footage, GlobeSt.com learns.
Located at 1646-1676 California Blvd., the class A three-building office project encompassing 195,372 square feet benefits from a user base representing a broad variety of industries. Some of the property's high-profile tenants include John Muir-Mt. Diablo Health System, Pacific Coast Bankers Bancshares and BKF Engineers.
The property features a four-level structured parking facility featuring one of the highest parking ratios in Walnut Creek. Moreover, Growers Square benefits from a central location with immediate access to both BART and the area's dense retail core, including a re-imagined Broadway Plaza. That open-air retail center unveiled its newly configured tenant mix within the last two years, which has attracted additional restaurants and adjacent retailers.
NKF Capital Markets vice chairmen Steven Golubchik and director Tim Walling represented the seller, Invesco, in the transaction.
“The sale of Grower's Square set the all-time record for highest price per square foot in Walnut Creek,” Walling tells GlobeSt.com. “Walnut Creek has experienced a renaissance that has brought high-end restaurants, shopping and nightlife to the downtown core–making it one of the Bay Area's true 24-hour cities. The property's location at the heart of this revival was an added benefit to the buyer.”
According to Golubchik, the North I-680 Corridor has emerged as one of the most prominent and desirable office markets in the Bay Area. Relative overall cost of office space is far lower than that of San Francisco and this overall cost benefit includes not only rent, but parking taxes, human resource costs, and the actual and subjective cost of commuting.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
