Prime Residential Acquires Castro District Multifamily: The Bay Area Deal Sheet

Multifamily owner and operator Prime Residential of San Francisco acquired two apartment communities in Castro Valley for $35.5M that had been held for more than 50 years by the original developer. 

The 83-door Cedars property at 22240 and 22302 Center St. sold for $21.4M, while the 52-unit Creekside Terrace apartments at 22180 Center St. sold for $14.1M. The buildings were constructed between 1962 and 1973 by Felson Cos.

Jason Parr, Scott MacDonald and John Hansen of Berkadia arranged the sale for Felson, while Clay Akiwenzie and Hank Workman arranged a seven-year, fixed-rate, full-term-interest-only loan from Freddie Mac for Prime Residential.  

“Properties held by a single owner for over 50 years are incredibly rare in the Bay Area, and the value-add potential here drew significant investor demand,” Berkadia's MacDonald said.

SALES

Shorenstein Investment Advisers acquired a 77K SF Class-A office building at 550 Allerton St. in Redwood City for $78M. The 2018-built asset is 81% leased and is anchored by law firm Gunderson Dettmer. Steve Golubchik, Edmund Najera, Darren Hollak and Brendan Raney represented Shorenstein and seller Premia Capital in sale negotiations.

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BKM Capital Partners acquired four buildings totaling 90K SF in the Mission Park Business Center in Santa Clara for $33M, bringing its Bay Area commercial real estate portfolio to more than 3M SF across 21 assets.

BKM plans to reposition the office-heavy flex and research and development buildings at 1500, 1600, 1700 and 1800 Wyatt Drive into light industrial space by removing about 20% of the office space.

The campus was 88% occupied at acquisition. Cushman & Wakefield advised former owner Washington Holdings in sale negotiations, while Brett Turner and Michael Grossner of BKM led the transaction for the buyer.

LEASES

JLL announced a 23K SF lease at 300 Grant Ave. to artificial intelligence health startup Midjourney to bring the 70K SF building in the heart of San Francisco’s retail district to full occupancy.

The six-story building, completed in 2020, was the first new ground-up retail building constructed in Union Square in more than two decades. It is owned by DP Real Estate America, a subsidiary of Hanwha Life of South Korea. JLL’s Laura Tinetti represented both sides in Midjourney’s lease negotiations.

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Elecor Properties secured four leases totaling 149K SF at One Market Plaza since the start of 2026. Leasing activity included 42K SF on the 30th and 31st floors of the Spear Tower to Davis Polk & Wardwell and 34K SF on the 28th and 29th floors to Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

An AI company took three floors totaling 62K SF, while another law firm expanded its footprint by 12K SF to take a full floor at the Spear Tower.

Chris Roeder, Ted Davis, Tom Doupe, Wes Powell and Teva Myatt of JLL represented Elecor Properties in lease negotiations.

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Flexible workplace provider Mindspace leased 54K SF at Two Transamerica Plaza at 505 Sansome St. for its flagship West Coast location. The lease spans five floors and is slated to open in the second quarter.

PEOPLE

CBRE appointed Jeff Gonzalez as market leader for its San Jose office. Gonzalez is responsible for strategic planning, business development, transaction services, and occupier and investor initiatives. He joined CBRE’s research department in 2018 and previously specialized in agency leasing in Silicon Valley.

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Melinda Marino joined Cushman & Wakefield’s national industrial advisory group as managing director of the western region, serving clients in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah and Idaho.

Based in San Francisco, Marino previously worked at JLL on acquisition and disposition of Northern California industrial assets. She will lead industrial land development site transactions throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Truebeck Construction completed work on the Golden State Warriors' new consolidated corporate headquarters in 49K SF at 1090 Maya Angelou Lane in San Francisco. 

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Ensemble Real Estate Investments broke ground on Parkside, a 301-unit luxury apartment community at 2301 Calle Del Mundo in Santa Clara. It is the second of six planned development projects in Ensemble’s 40-acre mixed-use Clara District project. The eight-story apartment building will include 100 furnished apartments and an adjacent 308-stall parking garage.

FINANCING

The Swig Cos. refinanced The Mills Building at 220 Montgomery St. The 491K SF property in the Financial District was built in 1891 and has been owned by The Swig Cos. since 1954. Jeff Wilcox at Gantry arranged financing through Invesco Real Estate.

THIS AND THAT

San Francisco Brewing Co. opened an 18,600 SF brewery and restaurant at 100 Hooper St. in Mission Bay. SFBCo will also operate Hooper St. Distilling Co. from the location to produce gin, vodka and whiskey.

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Treasure Island Development Group opened leasing at 490 Avenue of the Palms, a 148-unit, six-story building on Treasure Island. Homes range from studios to three bedrooms, including townhomes, with monthly rents for standard units ranging from $3K to $9K. The more upscale The Palms residences rent for $4K to $18K per month.