Meridian Acquires 74,000 SF Professional Office Building in Pleasanton, California
Acquisition of The Atrium Brings Meridian’s Development/Acquisition Total to Over 1.2 Million SF
SAN RAMON, CALIF. – January 30, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Meridian Property Company, a full service real estate developer and owner of medical real estate, is pleased to announce that it has closed escrow on the purchase of The Atrium, a 74,000-square-foot professional office building located in Alameda County at 5776 Stoneridge Mall Road in Pleasanton, California. Meridian purchased the property from Los Angeles-based Downtown Properties in an off-market transaction. Simon Vogt of Lee & Associates-East Bay in Pleasanton represented Meridian. Downtown Properties was represented by Katherine J. Kelleher of CBRE in Oakland, Calif. The sales price could not be disclosed.
Built in 1982 on 3.55 acres, the three-story building is located one mile south of Interstate 580 (via Foothill Road), and one mile west of Interstate 680 (via Stoneridge Drive) directly across from Stoneridge Mall. The building was 100% occupied at the time of the sale.
According to Meridian’s COO John Pollock, Meridian plans to invest an estimated $1 million in the building. Meridian’s plans include a large number of aesthetic upgrades to the common areas, walkways, directories and onsite amenities. Meridian will also provide a model suite that will enhance the tenant experience and demonstrate the future vision for the building. Meridian’s strategy also includes increasing the rentable area of the building, completion of deferred maintenance, and adding select ADA upgrades to the building.
“Meridian’s acquisition team identified an opportunity to acquire this well-located general office building in a rapidly improving submarket,” said Pollock. “Aside from the historically low vacancy and rising rents, The Atrium offers smaller medical and professional tenants a unique opportunity to benefit from neighboring amenities typically reserved for Class A, Fortune 500 tenant profiles. Some of these amenities include a location at the intersection of two major highway corridors, walking distance from the West Dublin BART station, and many neighboring retail, restaurant, banking and medical opportunities.”
In addition, The Atrium’s interior courtyard area is a unique feature for any office building in the greater Bay Area, Pollock notes. “The courtyard provides a tranquil environment with its beautiful atrium, abundant plants, a water feature that can be heard throughout the building, and ample seating for informal meetings or lunches. The building also has an onsite café (Atrium Café) that draws employees from neighboring buildings because of its fresh homemade food and excellent customer service,” Pollock added.
Meridian was founded as a suburban general office value-add developer in 2000, but has been focusing on medical office development since 2004. This transaction marks Meridian’s first value-add suburban general office acquisition in nearly a decade and brings Meridian’s development and acquisition total to more than 1.2 million square feet. The properties are located in both southern and northern California.
“This project is exciting and opens the door to a much larger pool of potential acquisition targets for us,” Pollock said. “Our acquisition team continues to seek out other well-located suburban general office value-add opportunities. The project size of The Atrium is within Meridian’s ‘wheelhouse’ and similar in size to our Rohnert Park acquisition in March 2014.”
Pollock adds, “The Atrium has more tenants than our prior acquisitions, but it has a great on-site property manager who has a long history with the building. We are excited that Tony Long, The Atrium’s original developer back in 1982, will continue to manage the property for us.”
About Meridian
A division of Marcus & Millichap Company, San Ramon, Calif. based Meridian Property Company is a full-service real estate developer having completed over one million square feet of innovative and integrated commercial office, primarily medical, since its inception in 2000. Meridian’s services are broad in scope but meticulous in detail — from site evaluation and land acquisition to entitlement and planning to construction and management. For more information, see mpcca.com.
