“We are in an outright boom; the strongest place in America.” Those were the resounding words spoken by Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley, as he opened the center’s 19th annual conference, Monday, April 28, describing the state of the Bay Area real estate market.

The information presented at the event summarized the state of the national economy, with special emphasis on the regional figures, as well. But it was the assessment of the real estate industry that most of the attendees of the event wanted to hear. Unsurprisingly, the region checked in as healthy as one would expect.

Read the full story at The Registry.

The Carlyle Group is buying Lincoln Court, one of the few higher-end office complexes in Campbell, in a deal rumored to be roughly $41 million, or $335 per square foot. Principal Global Investors is the seller.

Campbell is a market with limited inventory, and brokers say the West Valley city is poised to pick up as tenants get pushed out of nearby markets such as Los Gatos, where Netflix has continued to gobble up space. In a sign of bullishness on the market, Carlyle is raising asking rents at the 124,000 square foot, courtyard-style building located at 2105 S. Bascom Ave. to $3.75 per foot, full service.

Read the full story in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Harvest Properties, a full service commercial real estate investment and development firm based in Emeryville, today announced it has purchased 60 South Market Street in San Jose, California.

Harvest Properties acquired the property from Ares Management with partner LaSalle Investment Management for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is the debut acquisition for Harvest and LaSalle as partners as well as the first investment for both in downtown San Jose.
Investment brokers involved in the transaction include Jeffrey Weber, Greg Coith, and Edmund Najera of Eastdil Secured. 60 South Market is a 232,536 square foot, 14-story Class “A” office tower centrally located in Silicon Valley’s downtown San Jose. Prominently positioned on the east side of Market Street, the property represents one of the finest downtown office towers with recently renovated common areas and on-site amenities that include a fitness center, conference room and outdoor balconies. With easy access to Highway 87 and Interstate 280, the p roperty provides direct access to key commute corridors and is within walking distance to Caltrain, the VTA light rail, and a myriad of amenities including San Pedro Market.

Read the full story at The Registry here.

In an era of rapid technological progress, is there a reason that an office complex or classroom building—both housing lots of smart people—can’t elevate its own IQ?

In a smart building, software allows communications among traditionally separate systems running everything from lighting, heating and ventilation to security and telecommunications. The systems’ convergence creates a single intelligent network that allows a building to react dynamically to real-time conditions using input from every source attainable. Moreover, smart buildings are the backbone of smart work environments, something that tenants increasingly want.

“They are engineering smart buildings with automation, which facilitates the creation of smart work environments.” Bob Brown, chief executive and co-founder, Fremont-based Teladata LLC
Energy is typically the largest expense for any U.S. building owner or user, accounting for 30 percent of operating costs in an average commercial building, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Overall, commercial and industrial buildings use $200 billion a year nationwide on power, producing nearly half of the nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Smart buildings are being credited with reducing energy use from 20 percent to 30 percent as compared to conventionally built and operated structures.

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When Rockwood Capital and Four Corners Properties bought the Water Tower Plaza office and retail building in downtown Campbell, the “walkability” of the neighborhood was cited in the decision to buy. According to Seattle-based Web site and research company Walk Score, downtown Campbell is a “walker’s paradise.” Its 94-point score on a 100-point scale makes it one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Silicon Valley.

We in the Bay Area hear a lot about the virtue of urban living, including benefits for the air, natural environment and public health. The region’s preoccupation has been evident for years. First communities created “greenlines” beyond which development was no longer allowed (San Jose’s was established in 1996), then turned to high-density, infill development—preferably close to transit—to house more people and to get them out of their cars.
If walkability is taken as a proxy for urban, Walk Score provides another metric by which to measure our progress toward a “better” (or at least more compact) place to live. San Francisco ranks as the second most-walkable city in the country with an overall walk score of 84.9. (No. 1 New York’s score is 85.3.) Berkeley has a community-wide score of 82; Emeryville an 80. They are the only cities in the Bay Area with overall walkability scores above 70.

Read the rest of the story at The Registery – here.