News
The 'THERE' in Oakland
December 7, 2011
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| The historic Oakland Tribune building, an 85k SF landmark at 409 13th St, has been sold through a receivership sale for $8M.Yesterday, we chatted with Sacramento-based Bluett & Associates president Lori Bluett (center, with senior property managers Kelli Ponder and Julie Gephart), who repped special servicer Torchlight Investors. Lori, who was also the receiver, tells us the deal included a complicated CMBS loan restructuring and assumption by buyer CallSocket LP. And how’s this for stop-the-presses news: CallSocket will open an international call center that will create 300 jobs immediately and work with the San Francisco Regional Center to create up to 2,000 additional jobs over the next few years. |
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| The storied building’s lore includes the tenant at the very top—Burning Man festival co-founder John Law has had an office in the clock tower for 20-plus years and takes care of its beloved neon. (Popular with law firms and charities, the tower allows tenants to lease as little as 1,200 SF and have their own floor.) The building was sold in the mid-’90s to John Protopappas, who sold it to Edward Kislinger in 2006. According to Lori, the building had been fully leased, but when the Oakland Tribune, which occupied about 60k SF, moved out in 2007 it created a situation “where Eddie just couldn’t pay his debt coverage.” Unlike receivership sales where the borrower protests, Lori tells us she went to the borrower and got his consent. CBRE’s David Noravian, Hyoung Chon, and Robert Newstead repped CallSocket. |
