Disney Dropouts Don't Get Barker Down
When Disney shut down at Barker Pacific's Novato campus three years ago, managing director Michael Barker didn't jump off a cliff (here, hiking in Southern Utah near Lake Powell). He hoped that new tenants would desire Hamilton Landing's creative layout, and they did; Barker Pacific is now close to refilling most of the space Mickey Mouse left behind. (Though one tenant looks suspiciously like Huey, Dewey, and Louie standing on top of each other wearing a trench coat.) Hamilton Landing recently signed three lease expansions and two new major leases, totaling nearly 119k SF. Hamilton Landing is now 85% leased, with 84k SF available of a total 403k SF.
The Marin County office complex has a storied past. Built as air-base hangars in the 1930s, the site fell into disrepair after the Air Force returned the land to the city in 1974. When Barker Pacific stepped in to perform a massive overhaul in the late 1990s, Michael recalls the site being in "wretched condition," with mice and broken glass accompanying his purchase. George Lucas' nearby Skywalker Ranch helped create a population of "tech geeks" who love living and working in Marin over the city, he notes. (And being close to the genesis of Hans Solo.) Now gaming companies like 2K and Touchfactor, as well as Raptor Pharmaceutical and EDG Interior Architecture, are calling the hangars home.
