[rajaxson]

SF Business Times Reports:

Oakland PG&E property sold, slated for
redevelopment into office high-rise



A joint venture between San Francisco-based Ellis Partners and Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. has scooped up a six-story vacant office building and adjacent parking lot in Oakland’s Uptown District with plans to redevelop the property into an office highrise. The deal closed on Friday, according to a spokesperson for the joint venture who declined to disclose the price. The Mercury News, citing Alameda County Recorder's Office documents, reported it was $23.5 million. The seller was a limited liability company registered to utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric. Ryan Venezia of Cushman & Wakefield’s Northern California Capital Markets group represented the seller. By Laura Waxmann – Staff Reporter, San Francisco Business Times Apr 5, 2021 Updated Apr 6, 2021, 10:58am PDT Additional details about the redevelopment plans for the 74,000-square-foot, 1950s vintage building and lot at 1919 Webster St. were not available on Monday, but the developers said in a press release that they are evaluating a variety of options for the site and that the planned new office building will be “designed to meet the evolving needs of tomorrow’s workforce.” The building may be most notable for the five-story-high mural on one side, a menacing version of "Stomper," the Oakland A's elephant mascot. Commissioned by the A's, it was painted in 2017 by a professional street-art trio known as the Illuminaries; its fate under the redevelopment is unknown. Ellis and Intercontinental are the joint developers behind the The Key on 12th, a project that featured the renovation of the historic Key System Building in downtown Oakland and construction of an adjoining 18- story office tower. The project is anchored by the University of California’s Office of the President and Credit Karma. The Webster Street property, located at the center of the Lake Merritt Office District, is considered an “Office Priority site” in the pending Downtown Office Specific Plan, according to its new developers. “This is an important high-rise development site sitting at the center of the rapid changes taking place in downtown Oakland,” said Ellis Partners Partner Jason Morehouse. Ellis Director of Development Dean Rubinson added that the joint venture will “listen carefully to our local stakeholders as we move forward to create a landmark building that helps the City meet the broad needs of the community while preserving Oakland’s unique character.” He added that the joint venture is contemplating going "higher" than The Key at 12th, potentially adding more than 18 stories, and that the team is moving forward with the preliminary stages of design and the selection of the design team and contractors. "We are hopeful that we will make a submission to the city sometime this year," he told me.