News & Awards.
TMG Partners has won awards for many projects
including honors for “Best Mixed Use,”
“Best Office,” and “Best Historic Rehabilitation”.
Global consulting firm Arup plans to open its first Oakland office as more multinational companies look to expand in the East Bay.
The firm inked a 16,000 square-foot, 10-year lease with landlord TMG Partners in 1330 Broadway, a newly renovated, 315,000 square-foot office tower. Software giant Oracle recently grabbed space in the building, which sits above the 12th Street BART station.
“Oakland is a hot place to be right now, a lot of people didn’t previously have it on their radar screen and now they do,” said Adam Chall, partner at TMG Partners.
The landlord spent about $30 million renovating 1330 Broadway with a new lobby, new restrooms, modern elevator and other upgrades after buying the building in 2015. The 18-story tower features a style of architecture known as International Style distinguished by rectilinear forms and minimalist design.
The building is “iconic,” Chall said. “Tenants are starting to appreciate it for what it is.”
Arup could house about 100 employees in the new Oakland office and hired Gensler to design the interior. With more than 90 offices worldwide, Arup employs more than 12,000 workers including close to 300 in the Bay Area, according to Business Times research.
The company’s San Francisco office has worked on projects such as the new Apple campus in Cupertino and the upcoming Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco.
“Arup is excited to grow our Bay Area presence to better serve our East Bay clients and to be part of the Oakland community,“ said Aidan Hughes, managing principal of Arup, in a statement.
Many companies are looking to add offices in Oakland to better accommodate employees who live in the East Bay as opposed to relocating the entire operation, said John Dolby, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield who represented Arup in the deal along with Greg Fogg. Dane Hooks, also of Cushman & Wakefield, represented TMG.
In the past few weeks, WeWork, a co-working space operator, signed an 80,000 square-foot lease for its first Oakland location.
Tenants are looking for attractive space and proximity to BART, Dolby said. Oakland’s market is tight right now with few options for tenants that need a large chunk of space.
Demand from prospective tenants in the East Bay was around 1.5 million square feet during the first quarter, according brokerage firm CBRE. About 60 percent of that demand is coming from tenants seeking 50,000 square feet or more, which is hard to come by in Oakland. Vacancy was around 4.5 percent in downtown Oakland during the first quarter with asking rates around $53 per square foot.
With Arup’s deal, 1330 Broadway is now nearing 80 percent leased up with about 65,000 contiguous space available between the seventh and 10th floors.
The landlord moved around some tenants to consolidate them on other floors to open up a larger space, Chall said.
“We’ve been really happy with the tour activity,” he said. “Our new lobby, amenities, and extensive building improvements are strategically intended to meet the wants and needs of tenants.”