North Bay Business Journal

So on a beautiful quiet day in pastoral Sonoma County, after almost three years, my 61-year-old client Diane finally received the final order from the court. It was ordered that a bank return the excessive prepayment/lockout fee that it had woven into the loan documents, unbeknownst to Diane at the time of origination.

SANTA ROSA — A Southern California real estate investment trust for medical office buildings purchased the 100,125-square-foot Sutter North Bay Health Plaza building, mostly occupied by Sutter Health, fronting on the west side of Highway 101 in northwest Santa Rosa.

TIBURON — Two North Bay commercial property investment companies purchased 10 downtown Tiburon buildings with 72,000 square feet of retail and office space from a major force for real estate development in the town more than a half-century ago.

SANTA ROSA — NeoMicro, Inc., a reseller of medical and laboratory equipment, relocated from the East Bay two years ago and now plans to more than double the size of its facility early next year.

SANTA ROSA — Oak Creek Apartments, a 100-unit complex in Santa Rosa, sold for $15 million.

Two major owners of commercial property in Marin and Sonoma counties have put 20 office buildings with 951,000 square feet on the market for sale in recent weeks in what some market watchers are anticipating will test institutional investor views of the long-term outlook for the North Bay business community.

AMERICAN CANYON — A Rochester, N.Y.-based private real estate investment trust today said it acquired The Hess Collection winery, warehouse and distribution building for $27.8 million.

FAIRFIELD — Westfield Solano is part of an eight-property, $1.154 billion pending sale of “non-core” shopping centers across the country announced today.

Commercial real estate leases and sales in the north San Francisco Bay area

Commercial real estate leases and sales in the north San Francisco Bay area

Commercial real estate leases and sales in the north San Francisco Bay Area

In the fourth quarter, U.S. gross national product has been revised upward to 2.8 percent — not great but better than the 2 percent GNP growth rates of the previous two quarters. Are we pulling out or falling back? What does either mean for the North Bay?

MARIN COUNTY — More than half of all small apartment sales in Marin County (two to four units) were distressed sales in 2011, according to a recent survey by the Apartment Investor’s Advisor.

MARIN COUNTY — Central and northern Marin office space markets have strengthened significantly in the past 12 months, with vacancy rates finally dipping below 20 percent for the county.

Commercial real estate leases and sales in north San Francisco Bay Area counties

SAN RAFAEL — A major Bay Area commercial property investor and manager purchased six San Rafael industrial buildings.

As part of a ramp up of Bay Area service, Phoenix, Ariz.-based regional overnight package courier OnTrac is expanding its North Bay hub. … The Marin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday could postpone a decision to purchase part of a large San Rafael commercial property to be the new home for the Sheriff’s Department and other emergency services currently located at the Civic Center to the south in San Rafael. … Fairfield-based developer, owner and property manager The Wiseman Co. acquired the 30,000-square-foot class A Westside Professional Building at 2480 Hilborn Road and an adjacent pad. … Groskopf Warehouse & Logistics found a large Napa Valley warehouse for its expansion. … Steve and Judy Mahrt, owners of Petaluma Farms, which produces Judy’s Family Farms organic eggs, are back to buying Petaluma office buildings and converting them back to industrial buildings for business expansion, according to local real estate sources.

SAN RAFAEL — The purchase of a mostly full 127,000-square-foot San Rafael office building was part of a a Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust’s plan to grow quickly in key Northern California and Pacific Northwest job markets.

NAPA — A New York-based health care real estate firm has closed on the Trancas Medical Center, a 65,000-square-foot medical office building adjacent to Queen of the Valley Medical Center, for $11.2 million and plans significant upgrades to the building.

One of the North Bay’s largest commercial buildings, a 607,200-square-foot distribution warehouse at 5195 Fermi Drive in Fairfield, sold to US Industrial REIT III, an affiliate of San Antonio, Texas-based real estate investment trust USAA Real Estate Co., for $33.5 million, or about $55 a square foot.