Two More East Bay Office Buildings Strategically Default

With prices and rents collapsing, it’s not surprising that more commercial properties are in default.

The Contra Cost Times reports:

The buildings involved in this foreclosure process are the Jackson Center complex, at 1111 Jackson St. in Oakland, and the Berkeley Tower, at 2120 University Ave. in Berkeley, according to Alameda County property records. A vacant lot next to the Oakland building also is menaced by a foreclosure

…

The default offered ominous evidence that pricing woes and foreclosure ailments still afflict the commercial property market.

In the case of Jackson Center and Berkeley Tower, SKB voluntarily decided to surrender the properties to the bank. Each building is about 40,000 square feet in size.

“(SKB) has elected to return two of the firm’s commercial real estate assets to its lender, Bank of America,” the company said in a prepared release. “

…

“Since SKB’s purchase of the assets in 2007, economic conditions have made it impossible to maintain tenant occupancy sufficient to ensure viability of the investments,” SKB stated.

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory was the primary tenant in the Berkeley Tower, but it exited the offices about a year ago. That left the office building empty.

The Jackson Center building is roughly 75 percent full. The two main tenants in the building, including a National Park Service operation, have signaled their intentions to depart.

You’ve gotta wonder how many other owners are considering walking away as well…