A University of California-San Francisco hospital has narrowed its search for an Oakland officer to anchor an East Bay hub.
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital is six weeks away from deciding where in Oakland it will lease between 150,000 and 175,000 square feet, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The space will serve staff from both its San Francisco and Oakland hospitals.
Brian Newman, the university’s vice president of real estate, said UCSF began its search at the beginning of the year and has received substantial interest from prospective landlords. It’s now working with a small group of candidates to refine proposals.
The university is seeking a 15- to 20-year lease in an office that is centrally located, accessible by public transit and that meets the University of California’s seismic and disability requirements. It’s also considering the environmental and social governance programs of prospective landlords..
It declined to name the likely candidates.
A deal for 150,000 square feet would be the second largest lease in Oakland since the pandemic.The largest was a lease last year by PG&E for 600,000 square feet at the Kaiser Center near Lake Merritt.
Choosing a newly built office building would allow UCSF to tailor its space to its needs, Alexander Quinn, director of research for Northern California for JLL, told the Business Times.
Public agencies such as UCSF often have strict requirements for sustainability and older buildings may have a hard time checking those boxes.
Candidates could include three major office towers yet to break ground in Oakland, including TMG’s Telegraph Tower at 2201 Valley St., Hines’ Oakland Tower at 415 Thomas L. Berkley Way and Lane Partners’ and SUDA’s Eastline at 2100 Telegraph Ave.
That UCSF is moving forward with a commitment to Oakland is “a very positive sign,” Quinn said. “UCSF is an important research and institutional operator within the Bay Area, so to have that operation in Oakland makes a lot of sense.
“They are UCSF, but they’re much more of a regional if not a California-wide player.”
Office vacancy rates in Downtown Oakland reached 31.9 percent in the second quarter, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield, up from 27.8 percent in the second quarter of last year.
[San Francisco Business Times] – Dana Bartholomew
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