A new player has entered the Bay Area CRE investment scene. Monday Properties has purchased its first Bay Area asset in an off-market transaction — a 70K SF office building in San Mateo. The Class-A building at 1840 Gateway Drive is in San Mateo’s Mariner’s Island district and close to Highway 101 and State Route 92.

“We see this as a well-located asset in a high-growth market and a unique opportunity to reposition the office building, as we are buying the property with only 20% of the building occupied,” Monday Properties Managing Partner Phil Cyburt said.

Monday Properties hired Cushman & Wakefield Managing Principal Mike Moran and Executive Director Clarke Funkhouser to lease up the building.

The company will enhance the building through building amenities and add signage opportunities. The building offers an on-site fitness facility, ample parking, landscaping and patio space.

The office will be ideal for a mix of tenants from financial to legal to tech, according to Monday Properties Senior Vice President of Acquisitions Brendon Lydon.

This acquisition marked Lydon’s first executed deal since joining the firm in November. He will be responsible for identifying acquisition and development opportunities in key Western markets, including Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

San Mateo was a good place for Monday Properties to start because of its location between two major job centers, Lydon said. The submarket is close to transit and housing.

“San Mateo is a great growth market and alternatively less expensive than Redwood City and Palo Alto,” Cyburt said.

Monday Properties came to the Bay Area to broaden its portfolio, which has several Northern Virginia assets. Cyburt said a lot of its investors want to be on the West Coast and to explore opportunities in the western U.S. The company also has bought a few assets in Orange County and Los Angeles, according to Cyburt.

Monday Properties will continue to look for value-add assets in submarkets throughout the East Bay, San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley. It prefers markets with good job creation, proximity to housing stock and a product that could do well with improvements, Lydon said.

In addition, Monday Properties will consider multifamily assets that could benefit from a renovation, on-site property management and better leasing strategies, Cyburt said.