WALNUT CREEK — A big office complex in Walnut Creek has been bought for more than $100 million in a deal that highlights the widening weakness for values of Bay Area office buildings.
Ygnacio Center, a three-building office hub in downtown Walnut Creek, has been bought for $111 million, according to documents filed on May 20 with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office.
One of the buildings in Ygnacio Center, an office complex with addresses of 2001 and 2033 North Main Street and 1990 North California Boulevard in downtown Walnut Creek. (Google Maps)
The deal suggests that the office complex’s values have declined, a slump that is part of what appears to be widening woes for the office market in the Bay Area.
Walnut Creek-based real estate firm Hall Equities Group headed up nine affiliates that joined forces to purchase the office complex, county documents show. Mark Hall, a veteran Bay Area real estate executive, is chairman of Hall Equities.
The seller was an alliance led by Hines Interests, one of the nation’s most successful real estate firms; and OakTree Capital Management, an investment firm.
“This is a Class A building, just a block away from the Walnut Creek BART station,” said Jeffrey Weil, an executive vice president with Colliers, a commercial real estate firm. ”
Ygnacio Center’s three buildings total 536,000 square feet, according to a website for the just-bought office hub.
The new price for the office complex shows that the high-profile property has lost value in a big way.
In January 2024, Ygnacio Center had a value of $143.3 million, according to information on file with the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office.
This means that the purchase price was 22.5% below the assessed value as of early last year.
Yet the relatively low price the Hall Equities-led affiliates paid for Ygnacio gives the new owner some crucial advantages, in Weil’s view.
The new owner can offer tenants attractively low rates to rent the offices — yet can also make top-notch tenant improvements for the spaces — he added.
“If Hall Equities does it right, this might be a great play for them,” Weil said.
