East Bay Prices Blow Past Expectations

The Wakefield Building at 416 17th in Uptown Oakland was scooped up by The Swig Co this week in the range of $250/SF, sources tell us. Now we've got the exclusive deets on what a nearby building could trade for. The office building at 2131-2147 Broadway (pictured) was at first criticized for being listed too high. The market proved those naysayers wrong, and the building ended up with five offers, a best and final, and backup interest around the list price of $5.7M, or $228/SF, NAI NorCal president James Kilpatrick tells us (his firm repped seller George Rosen and Laurie Cooperman Rosen). It's now under contract to an undisclosed buyer.

Here's James front and center at his firm's recent holiday party at The Parlor. The party was complete with a prop-heavy photo booth with oversized glasses and Hulk fists. Another Q4 highlight: NAI repped the seller of 726 Bush, a 20-unit apartment building that sold for $4.95M. The seller was Chansell Capital Properties and the buyer was Yat Ping Au. It's a welcome sign that investors continue to see opportunity in S.F., says James.

Cushman repped the seller on the Wakefield deal. The 57k SF creative office building has natural light, open ceilings, exposed brick, operable windows and abundant bike storage--basically a mini version of what the Lane Partners hopes for its renovation of the Sears building. Wakefield is the new home to Sungevity’s incubator spinoff, SFunCube, as well as First Place for Youth and the American Heart Association. Swig also owns and operates the nearby Kaiser Center on Lake Merritt.