"The front of the building and the lobby often has people walking in thinking it's a hotel," Heller tells GlobeSt.com. "The lobby is quite impressive, with high ceilings and a circular staircase wrapping around a Koi fish pond. From San Jose to north of the Golden Gate Bridge and then back down the I-880 Corridor there truly aren't too many buildings of this age and this size that are built to such a high standard, which is why we went after the assignment. It shows very nicely."

Winward is looking to lease out and/or sell the building because it has discovered a more efficient business model that will allow it to operate just as well in about half as much space, Heller says in lieu of company president Patrick Tai, who was not immediately available. "They used to keep a higher number of SKUs on hand until Mr Tai came up with a strategy that allows the company to continue growing its revenues and profitability while maintaining a reduced inventory," he says.

Winward is now looking for a smaller space in Union City or Fremont or Newark, he says, opening up its relatively fancy headquarters for another company. The triple-net asking lease rate is $0.60 per square foot per month. That's slightly higher than typical "run-of-the-mill" warehouse-distribution space with office build out but has nonetheless attracted interested tenants who are impressed with the space.

"It offers a lot of possibilities, particularly for a business that wants to create some kind of unique atmosphere,--maybe for someone who employs knowledge workers in the city or up on the peninsula." Heller says. "I showed it last week to a Redwood City company that is in 80,000 square feet and bursting at the seams. It was the third building they had looked at they said they'd seen nothing like it and commented that they could move right into it. In the core Bay Area, where most building's this size are twenty- to thirty years old and very basic, this one comes off as brand spanking new."

Located at 3089 Whipple Road, one mile from the entrance to Interstate 880, Winward's mixed-use headquarters has concrete floors; steel columns; stucco walls; 32-foot-clear ceilings; 100% ESFR fire suppression system; one grade-level truck door and 11 dock-high doors. Heller says the building is being aggressively marketed to a wide variety of manufacturers, including apparel, plastics & rubber, computer and electronic productions, appliances and furniture.

"Binswanger tends to look for building that can be more broadly marketed," Heller says. "We thought this would have interest not only to users and investors locally and nationally but also to those in Asia, Europe, Latin America and elsewhere."

There will not be a formal deadline for bidding on the property. "This is first come, first served," Heller says.