VA Signs Oakland’s Largest Office Lease Since 2021

The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs has committed to 57,000 square feet at 1950 Franklin St. in Oakland, Calif., marking the biggest office lease in the city since 2021, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The 450,000-square-foot property is under Behring Cos.’s ownership. The firm bought the asset from Kaiser Permanente in September 2024 for $14.4 million, according to CommercialEdge information. The transaction included an adjacent, 255,098-square-foot, eight-story parking garage.

Completed in 1975, the 21-story office building features 21,286 square feet average floorplates. Since acquiring the property, Behring has intended to renovate it to match the standards of 1900 Broadway, another asset owned by the company, located across the street. The two properties are linked by an elevated skybridge and provide access to the BART Station on 19th Street.

Located in Uptown Oakland, the office building is near Interstate 80, while downtown San Francisco is some 12 miles west. Other major thoroughfares in the area include interstates 580, 980 and 880. The San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport is some 10 miles southeast.

February saw full-service equivalent listing rates averaged at $33.41 per square foot across U.S., marking a 3 cent increase from the previous month and up 5.7 percent year-over-year, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. Listing rates in San Francisco reached an average of $63.63, up 4 percent since February 2024. The metro’s vacancy rate clocked in at 27.8%, marking a 380-basis-point increase over a 12-month period.