Colliers International is marketing North Bay Crossings, the former Fireman's Fund Insurance HQ in Novato (20 miles north of San Francisco). At 710k SF, it's the largest Bay Area campus available this year.

Colliers’ SVP Scott Harper tells us, “It’s a great opportunity for a large tenant to lease all or a portion of a campus or to purchase great real estate well below replacement costs. It’s been well-publicized recently that large firms, flush with cash, have recently found it more advantageous to own their real estate in the Bay Area."

Fireman’s Fund, now located in Petaluma, is obligated to continue paying on its lease through 2018 or until Colliers finds a new user for the space.

Harper tells us not just the rent and price, but total occupancy costs, including salaries, housing and quality of life, make North Bay Crossing attractive for Northern California tenants.

Harper is part of Colliers’ five-man marketing team assigned to the project, along with EVPs Mike McCarthy and Mike Monroe and VPs Brian McCarthy and Brad Van Blois. The team has been tasked with finding a user for nearly 600k SF of Class-A office space at North Bay Crossings, owned by American Assets (120k SF already is subleased by smaller tenants).

The campus sits on 63 acres across the street from a future SMART train stop and boasts LEED Certification, a fuel cell energy source and amenities uncommon in similar urban locations, including fitness facilities, running trails, various sports fields, on-site banking and dry-cleaning facilities, and its own lake with picnic tables.