SAN FRANCISCO-The historical class B Rialto Building at 116 NewMontgomery St., at the corner of Mission in the South FinancialDistrict of San Francisco, recently went through a historicalrestoration, leading to a jumpstart of leasing activity.

Built from 1898 to 1902 and redone after the earthquake/fire of1906 the building went through a historical restoration of thelobby interior of the building including the common area andhistoric staircase starting in late 2008 and finishing up in mid2009. As a result, over the past 18 months, the building, owned bya partnership between Bomel Cos. and AFIUSA and well as CWRHoldings has signed more than 100,000 square feet of new officeleases.

Of those new leases only about 5% were renewals to existingclients. Most recently, real estate website, Trulia Inc., signed a32,000 square-foot lease to anchor the building. Steven Firtel,managing director of development and corporate counsel at BomelCos., who serves as the ownership representative and asset managerfor the property, while also serving as legal counsel in leasenegotiations, tells GlobeSt.com that the company’s four-year dealhas annual rent bumps and an allowance for a portion of the likelyconstruction costs. As for the rent, although Firtel would not namespecifics, he says that the rent is competitive for the market.“When you factor in rent bumps, we hope it is consistent with amarket recovery,” he says. Cornish & Carey Commercialrepresented Trulia in the transaction.