SAN FRANCISCO—“It's a massive understatement to say that the Bay Area office market is on fire.” That is according to Adam Hooper, CEO and founder of RealCrowd, based in Palo Alto, CA, who recently chatted with GlobeSt.com in preparation for the upcoming RealShare Bay Area conference, where he will serve as a panelist on the creative office panel.
“We're seeing huge transactions by corporate users—Google having spent over half a billion dollars to acquire office properties in the last two years alone—a massive demand pipeline with over 6 million square feet reportedly active in the market, and a venture capital funding environment that has hit its highest quarterly investment amount since Q2'01,” he says. “This is all driving the market in a very heated way, and doesn't appear to be showing any signs of slowing down.”
But is it a bubble or is it sustainable? Hooper tells GlobeSt.com that “time will tell as always, but the Bay Area is definitely enjoying one of the most dynamic job growth markets in the country and the impact on the built environment will be long lasting.” The office space of prior generation companies is long gone, he says.
“Companies that are fueling this market want open, creative and collaborative office space,” Hooper explains. “As a result, the usage per person of office space has dropped substantially from only a few years ago, meaning more productivity—and revenues—can be squeezed into that same square footage and higher rents are easily absorbed.”
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
