Norton Law Leases HQ in Oakland’s historic Rotunda Building

Norton Law Firm has leased 10,000 square feet of offices at Oakland’s historic Rotunda Building, lured by a nearly $5 million renovation.

The locally based firm inked the lease at the seven-story, Beaux-Arts landmark known for its 120-foot elliptical dome at 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, in Downtown, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Terms of the lease with owner Rubicon Point Partners were not disclosed.

The deal means the growing law firm will more than double its office headquarters. Its former hub was a 4,500-square-foot worksite at the American Bag Building at 299 Third Street, in the Jack London District.

The Rotunda Building, designed by Charles Dickey in 1912, was once the home of Kahn’s Department Store. The offices wrap around its soaring glass dome, buttressed by Corinthian columns. Dickey also designed the local Claremont Hotel, which sold last year for $163 million.

In 1989, the Rotunda Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and became an Oakland Landmark in 2002.

San Francisco-based Rubicon Point and locally based California Investment Group bought the 339,300-square-foot building in 2022 for $72 million, or $212 per square foot.

Rubicon, which holds a majority stake, then poured $4.8 million into renovations, completed this spring, as part of a strategy to tear out offices for luxury features to lure tenants.

Market observers point to a growing “flight to quality,” where tenants flock to premium offices over Class B offices, which now have record vacancies during a broad shift to remote work.

The Rubicon makeover of the Rotunda included spending $3.2 million on converting 15,000 square feet into a luxury lounge, with a wet bar, pool table, podcast room and golf simulator.

Rubicon, known for its experience renovating historic places, spent another $1.6 million to revamp common areas throughout the building. It now plans to add a fitness center, with showers and lockers, plus bike storage.

Marketing materials for the property list 157,200 square feet of offices available for lease, suggesting the Rotunda Building is 54 percent leased.

— Dana Bartholomew