North Bay Business Journal

Leases and sales: Week of April 2, 2012

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

Sales taxes rise in Vallejo, Mendocino County and Fairfax

NORTH BAY — A majority of new voter-approved sales tax increases taking effect in California on Sunday are in the North Bay.

Clairmail to be acquired for $173 million

SAN RAFAEL — Mobile banking and payments software developer Clairmail Inc. today announced it entered an agreement to be acquired by a London-based publicly owned provider of mobile payment networks for $173 million.

Marin Housing Turnover Index receives national award, grant

MARIN COUNTY — An online tool to illustrate the rate of housing turnover in Marin County, a collaborative project between the Marin Association of Realtors and Sausalito-based Sunshine Marketing, has won the National Association of Realtors’ Game Changer Award.

Bank of Marin forming Sonoma advisory board

NOVATO – With the formation of a dedicated advisory board for the city of Sonoma — and a Napa board in the works — Bank of Marin is furthering its efforts to grow in its newest North Bay markets.

Leases and sales: Week of March 26, 2012

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

Hospital upgrades drag on Sutter Health earnings

Sutter Health, the parent company of Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, today said today its 2011 net income dropped to $634 million from $878 million the previous year across the 24-hospital system, a decline of nearly 28 percent.

North Bay jobless rates barely changed in February

NORTH BAY — Unemployment rates across the North Bay remained high in February and were barely changed from January, but all six counties had considerably lower rates than a year before, according to state figures released this morning.

On Grady Ranch, leaders must not lose sight of big picture

To many observers, opposition to George Lucas’s proposed Grady Ranch digital film studio must seem like a scene from a bad movie.

The first thing to understand is that the master plan under which the project is proposed was approved by county officials in 1996. Sixteen years later, the famed filmmaker is asking to build his dream studio in the very place he started and in the county that has benefited so much artistically and economically from his genius.

Marin chosen for Medicare hospital program

MARIN — A partnership between Marin County public health and two of the county’s hospitals is among 30 similar programs nationwide — and the first in all of California — that will be recognized as a “Community-based Care Transitions Program,” an initiative stemming from health care reform that aims to curb costly hospital readmission among Medicare patients.

Construction: Succession plan for Soiland Co. moves forward

Daily management of Cotati-based Soiland Co. passed to founder Marv Soiland’s fourth son and Chief Executive Officer Mark Soiland. At the same time, the Soiland offices near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport area consolidating to the Cotati office, and Marv Soiland’s oldest daughter, Marlene Soiland, will be stepping out of her 35-year role of administrative and financial manager. … The New York-based U.S. real estate arm of hedge fund Investcorp, which has $11.6 billion in assets under management, commented on its recent joint acquisition of 14 Petaluma office, industrial and retail buildings for about $65 million. [See the Business Journal story "Investors buy 14 Petaluma, Rohnert Park buildings," Feb. 27.] … Chris Craiker, a Napa-based architect and founder of the Napa Valley Architects Exchange, launched Condo Restoration Associates in California and Hawaii. … Heritage Salvage has been repurposing wood from a warehouse owned by hops icon John I. Haas in Washington state since 2010 into reclaimed flooring, custom tables, bars and countertops for local breweries, taverns, wineries and restaurants. … The new classroom building at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera won the Green Building category in the WoodWorks Wood Design Awards, presented in Long Beach on Feb. 29. … The Santa Rosa-based Wine Country chapter of the Interior Design Society received Outstanding Charity Event award at the organization’s Designers of the Year and Chapter Awards Dinner held in Las Vegas on Jan. 28.

Leases and sales: Week of March 19, 2012

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

February foreclosure rates beat state in four of six North Bay counties

NORTH BAY — The proportions of homes in foreclosure in the North Bay last month matched or were below the state average in four of the six counties, and the number of properties at risk of going back to lenders fell throughout the region in recent months, according to a report released today from foreclosure data compiler RealtyTrac.

Best Places to Work nominations open

NORTH BAY — Nominations for the North Bay Business Journal’s seventh annual Best Places to Work competition are now being accepted. To nominate your company, use the online nomination form linked to this item. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, April 27.

Neighbors appeal Lucas project approval

SAN RAFAEL — An organization representing neighbors of a proposed 270,000-square-foot Lucasfilm digital movie production studio in Lucas Valley northwest of San Rafael has appealed the recent project approval by the Marin County Planning Commission.

North Bay hotels see increase in occupancy

NORTH BAY — Occupancy rates and revenue per available room at hotels across Marin and Sonoma counties increased significantly in January and over the year, while both measures decreased in Napa County, according to industry figures released today.

Average daily room rates across the three counties remained relatively flat, according to PKF Consulting.

Napa Valley Destination Council said its data showed increases in all these measures.

Aircraft engine lessor’s 2011 income grows

NOVATO — Willis Lease Finance Corp. (NASDAQ: WLFC), a Novato-based lessor of commercial jet engines and related equipment, today reported net income grew 20 percent at the end of 2011 from a year before.

Survey: 9 in 10 doctors won’t recommend profession

NAPA — A new survey found that nine out of 10 physicians across the country are unwilling to recommend the profession to others, while 43 percent said they are contemplating retirement as a result of “transformative changes” in the health care system — results that will likely exacerbate a well-documented nationwide physician shortage.

Business, education partnership advances in San Rafael

An effort to foster a mutually beneficial partnership between the business and education communities in San Rafael reached an important milestone this month, after the formation of a 12-member business advisory group and the first meeting between that group and leaders from the San Rafael City Schools.

Distressed sales continue to dominate Marin apartments

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.