Shorenstein Starts on 600,000-SF Office Tower

OAKLAND, CA-Shorenstein Properties LLC has broken ground for 601 City Center, a speculative 600,000-sf addition to its 3.5-million sf Oakland City Center mixed-use development above the 12th Street BART station. Shorenstein last added to the development in 2002, when it delivered 555 City Center, a 20-story building that is now 95% leased.

The $250-million-plus 601 City Center will open two years from now, by which time Shorenstein, the investors in its latest fund and equity partner MetLife Real Estate Investments are betting demand will be there, or at least headed that direction. Regardless, Shorenstein president Glenn Shannon is sure he’s in the right spot.

“We’re not merchant builders, we build to own long term, and so we look for properties that will have durable advantages,” he says. “We continue to believe that City Center–being at the heart of the Bay Area economy, sitting on top of a BART station and at the intersection of major highways, and being [less expensive] than other Bay Area markets–is going to be good long-term.”