Third Acquisition Brings Meridian’s Development/Acquisition Total to More than 1.3 Million SF

SAN RAMON, CALIF. – Meridian, a full service real estate developer and owner of medical real estate, is pleased to announce that it has closed escrow on the purchase of a 19,202-square-foot medical office building located in Alameda County at 380 W. MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California. Meridian purchased the property from BIC Oakland, LLC of Kentfield, California, in an off-market transaction. The sales price could not be disclosed.

This is Meridian’s second speculative purchase this year, after the acquisition of a property in Berkeley, California in March. “Location, economic conditions and liquidity in the debt markets made this acquisition possible,” said Meridian’s COO John Pollock. Built in 1977, the two-story building sits on 1.07 acres and was completely vacant at the time of the sale. The building is located one block from Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and just four blocks from Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

According to Meridian’s acquisition team, headed by Joseph Crist and John Moutsanas, Meridian plans to invest an estimated $2.2 million into the building. Meridian’s renovation plans include making a variety of upgrades to the facade, completing all necessary ADA work, and upgrading the utilities and water lines to enable a medical tenant to begin their user specific improvements once the shell is ready. Meridian also plans to increase the building’s footprint to 20,500 square feet in order to create a new lobby with a brand new elevator. Meridian expects to commence the renovation of the building in the fall of 2015, once all necessary permits and approvals are in place.

“It is a great location with tons of parking,” said Meridian’s Acquisition Manager Joseph Crist. “We know that there will be a significant amount of renovation, but we are excited at the opportunity to be located so close to Kaiser’s new Oakland hospital and Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. The finished product will provide a unique opportunity for a medium-sized medical user to occupy their own building so close to these huge campuses.”

According to Sonny O’Drobinak of Transwestern, the building’s exclusive leasing agent, “The market for this size of contiguous freestanding space, with this kind of parking, is non-existent in Oakland. We are currently talking to multiple medical users who are interested in taking over the completed building.”

This transaction marks Meridian’s first value-add medical office acquisition in the Oakland submarket, and brings Meridian’s development and acquisition total to more than 1.3 million square feet. The existing portfolio of assets are located in both northern and southern California. “Our acquisition team continues to seek out other well-located suburban medical and general office value-add opportunities,” stated Rachel Caskey, head of marketing at Meridian.

“2015 has been a great year for Meridian with three acquisitions in northern California totaling over $18 million,” said Caskey. “In January, Meridian closed escrow on The Atrium at 5776 Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, and in March, the firm closed on 2920 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.”

About Meridian

A division of Marcus & Millichap Company, San Ramon, Calif. based Meridian Property Company is a full-service real estate developer having completed over one million square feet of innovative and integrated commercial office, primarily medical, since its inception in 2000. Meridian's services are broad in scope but meticulous in detail — from site evaluation and land acquisition to entitlement and planning to construction and management. For more information, see mpcca.com.