Exclusive Q&A: Cushman & Wakefield's John Dolby

Cushman & Wakefield SVP John Dolby is a 28-year veteran of the Oakland office market. He’s seen the ups and downs, and leased over 7M SF across his career. Want to learn more on what's going on in Oakland office? Join us at our Oakland's Future of Office event Sept. 27.

We spoke with him about the state of the Oakland office market, the uniqueness of the current cycle and the role of the city in making Oakland a top-tier destination for office tenants.

Bisnow: Overall, how would you grade the Oakland market?

John Dolby: If I had to give it a score between 1 and 10, where 10 is the best, I'd give it a grade between 7 and 8. The Oakland market is very active, vacancy’s very low and you’re seeing a lot of improvements to general building infrastructure. We are still seeing an influx from tenants from San Francisco, though it’s not as much since we don’t have any product.

I use the analogy of a car dealership: You have a lot of demand for cars from the public, but those cars aren’t in the inventory. There probably will be new inventory in 2017 with some of these older buildings being rehabbed.  With vacancy so low there are very few "cars" on the show room floor right now.

Bisnow: What is different about this cycle from previous cycles?

John: For Oakland, it's the diversity of the tenants. It's not like in 2006 or 2007 where it was just back office functions fleeing out of San Francisco. What we're seeing is a lot of creative firms, advertising firms, tech firms. These are all good firms and they're all coming to Oakland because they actually want to be here, instead of being forced to come here.

I like the feeling of being a part of something new. When you are touring people, they have their eyes wide open saying, "Hey, downtown's really neat. This looks like it would be a great place to work." The hard part is in finding that space that works for them, because the inventory's low.

Bisnow: How important is Oakland’s fairly well-developed transportation infrastructure?

John: Ten years ago, firms would have gravitated more to Emeryville. Now most firms want to be in downtown Oakland and near public transit, because young people don't drive and like to be in an urban environment with amenities. Proximity to transportation is critical.

Bisnow: How effective have Oakland’s new development policies been?

John: I can tell you, with the number of people who are buying land and buildings, and rehabbing them, the city must be doing a good job because almost all the buildings down in Oakland have traded in the past two years. That tells you that people want to be here or invest here.