It's S.F. that garners all the attention in NorCal real estate, but it's the East Bay's time to shine. Here's what you need to know.

1. Financing Is Getting Easier

Latham Square, a 15-story, 118k SF office building in Oakland just scored $17.2M in bridge financing. Owners Contrarian Capital Management and Ridge Capital Investors plan to reinvent the 70% leased property at 1611 Telegraph, and will kick off the 12-month reno next week. CBRE's Brad Zampa, Michael Walker and Megan Woodring arranged the financing with capital provided by a national private debt fund. Brad (snapped skiing with the fam in Squaw) says Oakland has become an attractive investment market for institutional capital looking for core-plus and value-add returns at a substantially lower cost basis than S.F. CBRE is also handling leasing during and after the repositioning.

2. High Tenant Demand

Healthcare, FIRE and software/cloud information tenants account for 60% of active office requirements, according to new JLL research on North 680 Corridor submarkets. (We'll have the scoop this week on a well-known tech tenant poised to sign in Lake Merritt.) As demand is expected to rise through 2015, the vacancy rate will keep falling, JLL says. Downtown Walnut Creek experienced a sharp dip in vacancy between 2011 and 2012 with the redevelopment of Broadway Plaza Mall underway (pictured).

3. Multifamily Sales, Developments 

A 42-unit prime mixed-use clump in the Piedmont Avenue retail district of Oakland was just marketed for the first time in 50 years and traded in a trustee sale. Located on Piedmont Avenue and Howe Street (pictured), the 36 multifamily units and six commercial units sold for $7.6M, or $181k per unit. (CAP rates ranged from 2.67% to 3.17%.) A 10-minute drive south, we hear the high-rise residential building at 1331 Harrison is gearing up to start.