General Bottle Supply Company Takes 20,000 SQFT in San Leandro

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The lease for the light industrial space was for 20,550 square feet, lasting 122 months.)

Walnut Creek (June 19, 2019) – TRI Commercial/CORFAC International announced today it has secured a lease for the entire building located at 1910 Fairway in San Leandro to long term Oakland tenant General Bottle Supply, a west coast bottle distributor. Edward F. Del Beccaro, executive vice president and East Bay regional manager, and Jaimi Trunick, industrial associate, represented the landlord, Ray and Liz Gallagher. The Gallagher’s, owners and entrepreneurs, are most recognized for the popular Bay Area restaurant chain, Scott’s Seafood. General Bottle Supply was represented by Kolby Mitnick of Townsend Commercial.

“Despite rising industrial rents Bay Area-wide, we still see a number of traditional warehouse tenants wanting to remain and continue doing business in the East Bay. The warehouse property is a rare find, well-located with over an acre of paved and lit yard,” said Del Beccaro.

According to Del Beccaro, the San Leandro submarket has become increasingly popular with technology and maker-tech tenants over the past several years with the expansion of its broadband network through Lit San Leandro. Historically warehouse and light manufacturing tenants propagated the area as a secondary ring outside to Oakland’s main distribution and manufacturing hub. However, with Oakland rents more than 10% higher, many of these tenants are looking elsewhere but still seeking functional space close to main highway trucking arteries and the Port of Oakland.  The San Leandro warehouse market currently sits at a 6% vacancy rate.

About TRI Commercial/CORFAC International
Founded in 1977, TRI Commercial/CORFAC International is a leading Northern California commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm (with more than 4 million square feet of commercial property under management) specializing in San Francisco, East Bay and the Sacramento Metro property markets. The company has expertise in tenant and landlord representation services and helps clients buy and sell commercial and investment-grade property. The company serves office, retail, and land, multifamily and industrial property sectors, with offices in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Roseville, Sacramento, and Rocklin. For more information, visit www.tricommercial.com.

CORFAC International is comprised of privately held entrepreneurial firms with expertise in office, industrial and retail properties, tenant and landlord representation, investment sales, multifamily, self-storage, acquisitions and dispositions, property management and corporate services. For more information on CORFAC’s International presence, visit  www.corfac.com.

View the article on The Registry here.

Marina Village office, research campus trades hands in mega-deal

ALAMEDA — The sprawling Marina Village office park in Alameda has been bought in a deal that experts say is an indicator that the East Bay office market west of the Oakland-Berkeley hills remains sturdy.

In multiple transactions, affiliates of a group led by DRA Advisors, a New York City-based private equity and real estate investment firm, bought the complex from a group led by Brookfield Office Properties, according to public documents filed on June 3 with Alameda County officials.

The DRA affiliates paid $266.9 million for Marina Village, a huge complex perched near the northern shore of Alameda a short distance from the Posey Webster underwater tubes.

“This is one of the highest prices paid for office space in Alameda,” said Edward Del Beccaro, an executive vice president and East Bay regional manager for real estate firm TRI Commercial.

At the same time the property traded hands, the DRA-led group also obtained a loan of $234 million from RBC Real Estate Capital.

“This is a very good acquisition,” said Don Birney, a broker with the Oakland office of Colliers International, a commercial real estate firm. “It’s very fully leased up now.”

Marina Village consists of 1.1 million square feet of office and research space that stands on 200 acres and includes 30 buildings, according to a property description authored by CBRE, a commercial real estate firm.

Tenants include Insite Vision, Alveo Technologies, Aqua Metals, RGB Spectrum, and Telecare.

The price suggests that East Bay commercial property owners continue to benefit from the expensive office rents in San Francisco.

Enough companies have been priced out of the San Francisco office market that they have increasingly begun to seek expansion areas in East Bay markets such as Oakland, Emeryville, and now, more recently, Alameda, brokers said.

“Alameda office rents have always lagged behind downtown Oakland, which always lags behind San Francisco,” Birney said. “But even though the rents are lower in Alameda, the area is still attractive with a lot of amenities, including the restaurants and waterfront.”

George Avalos 

George Avalos is a business reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Read the East Bay Times article here.

TRI Commercial’s Cultural Shift and Upgraded Platform Begin to Pay Off 

(June 17, 2019 – SAN FRANCISCO) – TRI Commercial/CORFAC International increased its roster by nearly 25 percent over the last six months, adding 12 brokers in the East Bay and eight in the Sacramento region. The company, one of Northern California’s top independent commercial real estate brokerages, developed a strategic plan in early 2018 to transform its deep local roots into a stronger more competitive regional presence.

The company, one of Northern California’s top independent commercial real estate brokerages, developed a strategic plan in early 2018 to transform its deep local roots into a stronger more competitive regional presence. Edward F. Del Beccaro, TRI Executive Vice President and East Bay Regional Manager and Sacramento/Roseville Regional Manager Ed Benoit, CCIM says the firm is focusing on key hires and empowering existing talent companywide. “We offer competitive splits, exceptional support services and a sophisticated platform. Brokers are quickly noticing that TRI is a great place to pursue their business goals.” 

In Walnut Creek, the robust growth quickly exceeded the capacity of existing office space. “To accommodate the influx of new brokers, we recently moved into a larger upgraded suite of private offices and collaborative work areas,” Del Beccaro said. “When we host our grand opening this summer, we’ll celebrate not only our new space but also the tremendous vision and diligence of our team as they elevate TRI to new levels of success.”

Del Beccaro, tasked with growing the company’s East Bay presence, recruited some well-known faces in the brokerage community.  Most recently, Senior Directors Robin Newton and Patric Davis joined the firm from Colliers International in Pleasanton, each with more than 30 years of retail experience.

Benoit and recently promoted Brokerage Manager Cole Sweatt welcomed veteran brokers Bryan Wirt as senior director of retail, and Rodney Ballinger as vice president of multifamily investments, among the year’s bumper crop of new agents.

Rounding out the firm’s new recruits are Senior Director Matt Hatfield, senior associates Kate Wright and Paul O’Drobinak and associates Jaimi Trunick, Ron Willet, Clayton Temple, and Ted Bard in Walnut Creek.  In Roseville, retail associate’s John Hynes and Kannon Kuhn, land and investments associate Abdul Ejaz, investment advisor Steve Lefler, senior industrial associate Ross Relles, land and investments associate Ben Goldman. 

About TRI Commercial/CORFAC International

Founded in 1977, TRI Commercial/CORFAC International is a leading Northern California commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm (with more than 4 million square feet of commercial property under management) specializing in San Francisco, East Bay and the Sacramento Metro property markets. The company has expertise in tenant and landlord representation services and helps clients buy and sell commercial and investment-grade property. The company serves office, retail, and land, multifamily and industrial property sectors, with offices in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Roseville, Sacramento, and Rocklin. For more information, visit www.tricommercial.com or call Dina Gouveia in Corporate Marketing at 925.269.3305

CORFAC International is comprised of privately held entrepreneurial firms with expertise in office, industrial and retail properties, tenant and landlord representation, investment sales, multifamily, self-storage, acquisitions and dispositions, property management and corporate services. For more information on CORFAC’s International presence, call the Chicago headquarters at 224.257.4400 or visit  www.corfac.com.

See original Registry article here.

UPDATE: Note since the original article ran in June, three additional agents have been hired, including Office Associate Dominic Borrecco in Roseville, Office Associate Matt Dumanovsky in San Francisco, and Industrial Associate Keith Serne in Walnut Creek.

If as they say, “the proof is in the pudding,” then 2019 is proving that TRI Commercial is on the right track. It’s been a banner year so far, with the addition of 20 new agents, including several notable industry veterans. Edward F. Del Beccaro and Ed Benoit, TRI regional managers in the East Bay and Sacramento/Roseville respectively, say the company is focusing on key hires and empowering existing talent companywide — an effort that’s yielding quantifiable results.

“We offer competitive splits, exceptional support services and a sophisticated platform. Brokers are quickly noticing that TRI is a great place to pursue their business goals,” said Benoit.  Over the last couple of years, TRI leadership has invested in a C-level effort to create a more sophisticated brokerage platform. The company developed a strategic plan in early 2018 to enhance its deep local roots by leaning into our strengths and capitalizing on the company’s unique capabilities.

The concept is deceptively simple – put agents in the driver’s seat and equip them to succeed. We empower brokers to be agile, independent and collaborative. It’s a uniquely entrepreneurial approach we’ve refined over more than four decades as one of Northern California’s top independent commercial real estate companies.

In Walnut Creek, the robust growth quickly exceeded the capacity of their existing office space. To accommodate the influx of new brokers, they recently moved into a beautifully appointed new suite of offices and collaborative workspaces there.  “When we host our grand opening this summer, we’ll celebrate not only our new space, but also the tremendous vision and diligence of our team as they elevate TRI to new levels of success,” said Edward F. Del Beccaro, TRI executive vice president and East Bay regional director.

Del Beccaro, who’s leading the charge in the East Bay, recruited some well-known faces in the brokerage community.  Most recently, Senior Directors Robin Newton and Patric Davis joined the firm from Colliers International in Pleasanton. Newton and Davis each have more than 30 years of retail experience representing landlords, tenants, and investors. Managing Directors Sonny O’Drobinak and John Sechser joined late last year, and Senior Director Marilyn Hansen moved to the firm last month.  

In Roseville/Sacramento, Benoit and recently promoted Brokerage Manager Cole Sweatt welcomed veteran brokers Bryan Wirt as senior director of retail, and Rodney Ballinger as vice president of multifamily investments, among the year’s bumper crop of new agents.

Rounding out the team of new recruits in Roseville/Sacramento are retail associate’s John Hynes and Kannon Kuhn, land and investments associate Abdul Ejaz, investment advisor Steve Lefler, senior industrial associate Ross Relles, land and investments associate Ben Goldman and in Walnut Creek, Senior Director Matt Hatfield, senior associates Kate Wright and Paul O’Drobinak and associates Jaimi Trunick, Ron Willet, Clayton Temple, and Ted Bard. 

Over 100 agents, property managers, and admin personnel turned out last week for our companywide meeting at the Falls Event Center in Roseville.

Exciting developments were highlighted during President Thomas Martindale’s opening remarks, including the addition of the new East Bay Regional Team, headed by Edward Del Beccaro, and the introduction of new Brand Standards for use going forward.  Mr. Martindale also applauded managerial recruitment efforts as headcounts are up 20% from last year.  Samples of our spiffy marketing pieces were displayed for all to admire and Dina Gouveia gave an impressive presentation on TRI’s recently-acquired data-analytic capabilities, which will significantly enhance agents’ ability to attract and retain business relationships.

Additionally, keynote speaker Jeremiah Miller shared a touching, motivational story about the importance of reaching out to “allies” who can help achieve seemingly insurmountable goals in life – as opposed to the much-hyped “lone wolf” mentality that runs rampant in our individualistic, ambitious society. 

Finally, brokerage specialty workshops were held to foster better collaboration and relationship building across TRI’s three regions in a concentrated effort to identify in-house cross-referral opportunities.

We have received tremendous feedback thus far on hosting a fun, collaborative TRI.be event, and here’s to hoping our companywide meeting served to foster not only additional revenue but lasting relationships as well.

Marilyn Hansen has joined TRI Commercial/CORFAC International in Walnut Creek as senior director with more than 30 years’ experience in investment and leasing advisory.

By Lisa Brown | April 24, 2019 at 04:03 AM

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Longtime commercial real estate advisor Marilyn Hansen has joined TRI Commercial/CORFAC International in Walnut Creek as senior director. With more than 30 years’ experience in investment and leasing advisory, she will primarily focus on retail and investment brokerage by providing location intelligence, strategic planning, property acquisition and disposition for clients.

Despite reports of an impending market slowdown, Hansen is bullish on the investment market in the East Bay.

“The market is strong, with low supply and high demand, and l expect this trend to continue throughout 2019. Economic indicators suggest we’re at the top of the market right now and as investor demand slows, we’ll see more buying opportunity for owner-users,” said Hansen. “Buyers and sellers are looking for brokers who can bring value-add to the table with deep local knowledge of the market, understand future trends in the industry as well as current financial and accounting regulations.”

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View original article here.

Marilyn Hansen Joins TRI Commercial/CORFAC International in Walnut Creek

WALNUT CREEK (APRIL 23, 2019) – Longtime commercial real estate advisor Marilyn Hansen has joined TRI Commercial/CORFAC International in Walnut Creek as Senior Director. With more than 30 years’ experience in investment and leasing advisory, she will primarily focus on retail and investment brokerage by providing location intelligence, strategic planning, property acquisition and disposition for clients.

“We are pleased to welcome Marilyn to our East Bay office. With her considerable tenure in the industry, she strengthens our continuing efforts to provide a sophisticated platform to serve clients in the East Bay,” TRI Executive Vice President and East Bay Regional Manager Edward Del Beccaro said.

Despite reports of an impending market slowdown, Hansen is bullish on the investment market in the East Bay. “The market is strong, with low supply and high demand and l expect this trend to continue throughout 2019.  Economic indicators suggest we’re at the top of the market right now and as investor demand slows, we’ll see more buying opportunity for owner-users,” said Hansen. “Buyers and sellers are looking for brokers who can bring value-add to the table with deep local knowledge of the market, understand future trends in the industry as well as current financial and accounting regulations.”

According to the first quarter, 2019 TRI Northern California retail market report current vacancy sits below 5% with almost 2 million square feet under construction. Hansen believes there will always be a need for brick and mortar retail, though companies will have to adapt to evolving consumer habits.  Struggling retailers will disappear, stores will continue to “right size” and carry less inventory.  Successful companies will create a reason to shop, through retail experience, and AI will play a major role in the future of retail.

Before joining TRI, Hansen was with Colliers International in the East Bay and Grubb & Ellis in Silicon Valley. She is active in a variety of professional and community organizations including, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW Network), Women Influencing Sustainable Change (WISC) and ProVisors, a professional networking organization.

About TRI Commercial/CORFAC International
Founded in 1977, TRI Commercial/CORFAC International is a leading Northern California commercial real estate brokerage and property management (with over 4 million square feet of commercial property under management) firm specializing in San Francisco, East Bay and the Sacramento Metro property markets. The company has expertise in tenant and landlord representation services and helps clients buy and sell commercial and investment-grade property. The company serves office, retail, and land, multifamily and industrial property sectors, with offices in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Roseville, Sacramento, and Rocklin. For more information, visit www.tricommercial.com.

CORFAC International is comprised of privately held entrepreneurial firms with expertise in office, industrial and retail properties, tenant and landlord representation, investment sales, multifamily, self-storage, acquisitions and dispositions, property management and corporate services. For more information on the CORFAC visit www.corfac.com.

View original article on The Registry.

By Ed Del Beccaro

NOW: 8am April 8, 2019: GROWER’S SQUARE

Latte steaming at an outdoor table at Starbucks on N. California Boulevard, I am reminded of the changes that took place on the edges of downtown during the city’s formative years. On what used to be a city-block-size parking lot until 1982, the two, six-story Grower’s Square office buildings tower across the street. As I sip my hot drink, busy people with cell phones and coffee in hand hurry by with briefcases and knapsacks, most likely on their way to BART. Above the cityscape rises the emerald green summit of Mt. Diablo, vibrant from the recent rains.

As I look at the glow of the Lesher Center for the Arts, I am reminded how commerce and culture stand together. A fruit processing factory then a walnut plant formerly occupied this spot. During the boom years of the 1950’s, money flowed into Walnut Creek, allowing the theater loving city to revitalize its local playhouse, ‘the Nut House’, into a destination attraction.

In the other direction, beyond the bold rust red facade of the Lyric, cranes are constructing a new residential hotel tower on the old McDonald’s site. Walnut Creek is changing again—the next two years will see more new apartments built on the former La Virage restaurant site on N. California Boulevard and a new Marriot Residence Inn open.

THEN: 8am April 8, 1952: WALNUT PLANT

A sharp whistle jolts me as an electric passenger train on the Northern Sacramento Line heads north to Concord. Across the tracks sits the three-story Walnut Growers’ Association Plant. A truck, stacked 14 bags high, drops off bushels of freshly picked local black walnuts to be sorted and cleaned. This plant, covering over an acre, processed 6,600 tons this year. 

Further down the tracks to the south, cars are crossing Mt. Diablo from the Saranap. To my right, plain yellow and beige single-story homes line the road, their kitchens staring straight into the walnut packing plant.  

A whistle blows, signaling that it’s time for a shift change at the factory. Scores of women dressed in white aprons and head scarfs head to work inside the plant. The native blacks they shell are grown in Walnut Creek, San Ramon, and Clayton orchards. Others work at downtown canneries, like the Walnut Creek Canning Company, where 150 tons of locally-grown cherries, tomatoes, pears, other fruits are canned each year. A distinct smell of ripe tomatoes clings to the air mixed with a chlorine scent from the rinse used to clean the walnuts and to kill any worms. 

LATER: 8am April 8, 2028: RESIDENTIAL TOWERS

The sound of screeching brakes startles me. I watch a man jump out of his old red Ford Mustang shouting. It seems he was rear-ended by a dark blue autonomous vehicle in front of Growers Square. The AV car was stopped. A male voice is heard coming from the car, “Sir, this vehicle comes with insurance, please calm down so I can take a picture of your car and send it in.”

Dozens of other driverless cars soar silently past the five and six story residential towers that line both sides of California Boulevard near Ygnacio Valley and the BART Transit Village. A helicopter drone, the size of a football, takes off from the top of the PG&E switch station on Cole. It hovers over the auto accident taking pictures and directs the AV cars to stop on the north bound lane. A calm and soothing female voice asks the driver of the mustang to walk over to the sidewalk so the AV insurance company can interview him.

A voice interrupts my trance. “Sir we noticed your coffee was cold and brought you another cup. Enjoy.” A three-foot robot wearing a green apron holds a tray with a fresh cup of steaming latte.

Sources: Walnut Creek/Arroyo De Las Nuces by George Emanuels 1999; Old Times in Contra Costa by Robert Dara Tatam 1996; 150 Years in Pictures, an Illustrated History of Walnut Creek by Brad Rovanpera 1999

Posted by the Walnut Creek Magazine on Apr 17, 2019 08:35AM.
View original article here.

Credit Karma agrees to lease in new downtown Oakland office tower

By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News GroupPUBLISHED: April 10, 2019 at 1:54 pm | UPDATED: April 11, 2019 at 1:09 pm

OAKLAND — Credit Karma will expand its Bay Area operations to a big downtown Oakland office tower, the tech company said Wednesday, in a deal that represents a fresh burst of economic expansion for the East Bay’s largest city,

The fast-growing financial services technology upstart will retain its current San Francisco headquarters, even after moving into the sleek new Key at 12th office tower in downtown Oakland.

“Credit Karma signed a lease for five floors, plus a roof deck, totaling 106,000 square feet, at 1100 Broadway in Oakland,” Credit Karma said Wednesday in comments emailed to this news organization.

The expansion to the East Bay will enable Credit Karma to use the BART system  to link two company employment hubs so workers can zip back and forth between the offices by using the train line.

“With more than 1,000 employees, the company identified the site because it would allow the company to grow together in another building that is easily accessible via BART from the company headquarters located at 760 Market St. in San Francisco,” Credit Karma said.

The company is expected to move to the new downtown Oakland offices by  sometime in 2020.

“Access to top talent residing in the East Bay and Fremont area” was one of the factors cited by Credit Karma for its expansion to downtown Oakland.

Plus, Credit Karma also believes that an expansion to downtown Oakland could significantly improve the commutes for numerous current workers.

“The majority of Credit Karma employees who reside outside of San Francisco live in the East Bay,” Credit Karma said.

Credit Karma’s deal comes on the heels of other major tech company expansions in downtown Oakland.

“This is great momentum for downtown Oakland,” said Benjamin Harrison, a senior vice president with Colliers International, a commercial real estate brokerage.

In December, Square, a financial services tech company, announced that it had leased all of the office space in downtown Oakland’s Uptown Station complex. The office portion of Uptown Station totals 356,000 square feet, which is enough space to accommodate roughly 1,700 workers or more.

Marqeta, a tech company that provides a card issuing and processing platform, has been expanding in downtown Oakland as well.

“These deals represent a coming of age for fintech companies,” said Edward Del Beccaro, an executive vice president with TRI Commercial, a commercial real estate firm.

New office and residential towers, as well as additional hotels, are expected to sprout on the Oakland skyline. Those new developments could well spur the East Bay city’s boom.

“In the next six months to a year, downtown Oakland is going to change for the better and much more than it has in recent years,” Harrison said.

Downtown Oakland in years past primarily grew when office rents spiked and spaces dwindled in San Francisco. When space became more plentiful in San Francisco, tenants ignored Oakland.

This time around, experts believe, downtown Oakland appears more capable of self-sustaining growth.

“Before it was just non-profits fleeing high prices in San Francisco, then it was back office operations moving to Oakland,” Del Beccaro said. “What’s happening now is an affirmation that downtown Oakland has arrived.”

View original Mercury News article here.

Three Oakland office towers are bought by East Coast investors for $494 million

By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: March 14, 2019 at 10:50 am | UPDATED: March 15, 2019 at 10:58 am

OAKLAND — Three office towers in downtown Oakland have been bought by an East Coast investment group in a mega deal that values the high rises at nearly $500 million and signals rising confidence in the East Bay’s largest city.

An affiliate of Connecticut-based Starwood Capital paid a combined $494 million for the towers, according to property documents filed on March 12 and March 13 with Alameda County officials.

The office buildings involved in the deal are located at 2100 Franklin St., 2101 Webster St. and 1900 Harrison St., all a short distance from Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland.

The seller was CIM Group, a developer and realty investor whose Oakland property holdings include Jack London Square, an iconic waterfront mixed-use complex.

In a separate and third transaction on March 14, CIM sold to Starwood Capital a downtown Oakland parking structure at 2353 Webster St., in a $17.7 million property deal.brought the total value of the three purchases to $512 million.

“This is a good long-term vote of confidence in favor of downtown Oakland,” said Edward Del Beccaro, an executive vice president with TRI Commercial, a real estate firm.

The deal was accomplished through two different transactions.

The office complex known as Oakland Center 21, consisting of the 2101 Webster tower, totaling 475,000 square feet; and the 2100 Franklin building, totaling 215,000 square feet; was bought by Starwood for $347.1 million, county documents show.

The 1900 Harrison high-rise, totaling 272,000 square feet, was bought for $147.2 million, according to Alameda County records.

Starwood also obtained $364.5 million in financing from Deutsche Bank to accomplish its purchases of the three office towers and the parking garage, the county documents show.

“Institutional investment money is flowing into downtown Oakland,” said Steven Banker, president of LCB Associates, an Oakland-based commercial real estate firm. “For quite a few decades, that wasn’t happening. Now it is.”

Why are investors more confident in Oakland? An array of economic trends have begun to bolster the East Bay city’s downtown district lately.

“Rental rates are likely to continue to go higher,” Del Beccaro said. “Tenants are migrating out of San Francisco. Tech companies are going to Oakland as we saw with Square.”

Square, a maker of mobile payments technologies and systems whose chief executive officer is the co-founder of Twitter, disclosed in December that it had leased all of the office space in downtown Oakland’s Uptown Station complex which formerly housed a Sears department store before it was turned into a mixed use office and retail building. Square rented 356,000 square feet in the development at 20th and Broadway, enough room to accommodate 1,700 workers.

“Oakland has a lot going for it,” Banker said. “You have the Square lease, more jobs in Oakland, you have the residential development downtown.”

Experts also believe downtown Oakland is starting to become less depending on the ebb and flow of office rents, vacancy levels and leasing activity in downtown San Francisco.

Traditionally, in past years, downtown Oakland primarily depending on landing tenants that had been squeezed out of San Francisco. When the office market in San Francisco went into a slump, tenants would tend to ignore Oakland during those cycles of weakness.

“San Francisco’s office market still has some influence on downtown Oakland,” Banker said. “But now, Oakland can stand on its own.”

View the original article on the East Bay Times here.