East Bay office sector shows recovery

The office sector and overall economy in the San Francisco East Bay area are beginning to turn the corner, according to Transwestern.

The overall market rental rates in the East Bay increased 1.6 percent in the first quarter 2021 compared to fourth quarter 2020, with average direct class A rents accounting for most of that increase at $3.95 per square foot (PSF). Average class B asking rents increased slightly, 0.9 percent to $3.19 PSF while class C asking rates decreased 0.5 percent to $2.50 PSF.

Downtown Oakland class A rents continue their supremacy as the highest in the entire market with an average asking rent of $5.12 PSF, an increase of 1.9 percent from last quarter. Using year-over-year comparisons, all submarkets combined were approximately 5.3 percent lower than this time last year, with the I-80/880 Corridor having the steepest decline at 6.0 percent. These statistics compare to the first quarter 2020, the last quarter that was predominantly pre-COVID. These