Alameda County has gone from hopes of a sale to a future as a landlord for a three-building office campus near the Oakland Coliseum.
County officials recently sent prospective tenants a request of interest in any or all of the nearly 192,000 square feet of office space on 11 acres of the Arena Center at 6775, 7001 and 7195 Oakport Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
The county’s General Services Agency, which oversees its real estate, told the Business Times that a sale is still possible even as it seeks a tenant or tenants for the property.
Alameda County tried to auction off the property in 2023 but pulled the plug on the process for lack of interest.
The county paid Zhone Technologies $32.5 million for the building in 2014, and spent another $6.5 million in upgrades, public records indicate. Plans at the time called for the main offices of several county departments to be consolidated at the property, but none of them ever moved into any of the buildings.
A document issued late last year said the county would consider leasing the entire property with a cap on rent at $200,000 per month — slightly more than dollar per square foot — or even more generous terms to a tenant that would bring jobs to the area.
Otherwise, it said, a deal would likely go to a developer, with redevelopment proposals to be considered. County officials said residential options will not be considered.
The county had been in talks with Fremont-based Pacific Fusion, which has since focused on sites in Alameda and Livermore for its planned research and development campus.
A group working to redevelop the nearby Oakland Coliseum — it bought the city’s share of the facility last year, and is in negotiations for the county’s stake — said it does not envision the Oakland Arena campus as working in its plans.
— Jerry Sullivan
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