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Two other new retail projects in the works for Downtown Walnut Creek

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:35:08 +0000

include a 40,000 sf retail center at S. Main and Newell called “The Village” where the current ten-story old 1500 Newell office building sits. Marie Calendar on Olympic and S. California Blvd. is rumored to be in escrow for a five story residential over retail complex.

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I recently gave a one hour presentation to the Contra Costa Bar Association

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:34:05 +0000

on the Bay Area commercial real estate market and my next few blogs will have tidbits of, at least in my opinion, cool info … Downtown Walnut Creek is Ground Zero for hot retail happenings, with a number of new retail projects in the works … Broadway Plaza is in planning for upwards of a 700,000 sf expansion with rumors of Barneys taking 60,000 sf and Bloomingdales taking 150,000 to 200,000 sf.

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One silver lining in the hot San Francisco office market

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:55:51 +0000

will be the increased property tax revenues from the new super-high property valuations … predictions are for $4.4 billion in downtown property changing ownership just in 2012.

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Back in 2006 and 2007 office buildings were selling like hotcakes, and Class A buildings in wonderful locations filled with credit tenants were getting astronomical prices …

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:28:14 +0000

back then we called it a “frothy” market, and although there were a few questioning the sustainability of these pricing levels the herd mentality of real estate had far more money chasing the limited high end supply. Then the crash came, and the experts were asking themselves, how could they have known ahead of time … ? These were my thoughts when I read the front page of the May 11-17, 2012 San Francisco Business Times “with Tishman Speyer’s 555 Mission St. reportedly attracting offers north of $800 a square foot … ”

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Tips for Office Recycling courtesy of Buildings Magazine (April 2012) …

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:40:17 +0000

1. Make it a top-down decision; 2. Appoint a recycling coordinator; 3. Start small; 4. Build on the no-brainers, i.e. start with soda cans, cardboard, then add glass, ink cartridges and if you want to take it to the max, “Some offices have containers housing worms that eat food scraps – coffee grounds, banana peels, and so on … and as it passes through the worm’s body it forms compost, turning waste into the life-giving ingredients to grow new life.” … yum yum

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Ken Rosen, local commercial real estate guru at UC Berkeley

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:31:10 +0000

told a crowd recently that the Bay Area economy was the strongest in the nation (with the exception of oil-booming North Dakota, and how many people even live in North Dakota?), and we still have a long way to go in this recovery. He predicts a growth rate for Northern California of 4.9 percent, with San Jose and San Francisco leading the way … the East Bay is just beginning to stabilize …

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Big office leases left and right …

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:30:31 +0000

just to name a few recent deals, John Muir Hospital just signed a long-term 150,000 square foot office lease at 1450 Treat Blvd. in Walnut Creek and Airbnb signed a 170,000 sf office lease at 888 Brannan St. in San Francisco.

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Green Tenants More Productive …

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:21:21 +0000

according to the Building Owners and Managers Association office tenants who locate in “green” sustainable buildings enjoy higher employee satisfaction and retention, lower energy costs, lower common-area operational expenses, and because their employees appreciate working in a more ethical environment they are likelier to attract higher quality talent …

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Editorial Director David Bodamer in the April 2012 National Real Estate Investor issue made several excellent points

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:52:57 +0000

on myth versus reality on Onshoring, which is bringing manufacturing and other jobs that went overseas back here to America. He points out that while some firms have brought their manufacturing back home to the U.S. it should be recognized that with the great advances we have had in productivity it makes much fewer workers here to produce the same amount of product that was required in the past. Additionally, way back fully a quarter of U.S. jobs were in manufacturing, and those days are long gone, never to return, and the current trend in U.S. manufacturing wages gives workers less consumer power than their predecessors … “What onshoring means for commercial real estate is a small boost to the industrial sector, which has been doing pretty well as it is, but any knock-on effects for the retail or office sectors might not be as strong … it just might not be the game-changer some are hoping it will be.”

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Googlelicious office space …

Jeffrey S. Weil, MCR.h, SIOR — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:18:06 +0000

according to Globe Investor, no two Google offices are the same, but there are common elements of shared spaces, cubes, yurts, eggs and “huddles,” video games, pool tables and pianos, cafes and little kitchens stocked with healthy food, and whiteboards. Employees have the technology to be able to work from home, but are still encouraged to show up at the office. Half of the space is dedicated to collaborative environments, with white boards and laptop plugs sprinkled through the office for spontaneous brainstorming. Local themes are used, such as the jungle theme in Australia, or the rock-climbing wall in the Boulder Colorado office. Google likes “urban cores” with pre-existing buildings with character, in neighborhoods with amenities like restaurants, nightclubs, public transit and housing.

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