California On Sale Part II

As referenced in my March 2, 2010 post: For Sale (slightly used) - ALL State of California Buildings.... the State of California has decided to sell off 11 state-owned office buildings. Well, the bids are in, and according to reports in the San Francisco Business Times, "Multiple bids were received for the entire portfolio that totaled in excess of $2 billion."

The Business times quoted Kevin Shannon, a vice chairman of CBRE who is running the sale process, "The bids received confirmed that the current supply/demand imbalance for investment product is clearly playing into the State of California’s favor...Based on the bids received, we will be focusing on portfolio buyers only in the next phase of the sales process.”

California wants to sell off the properties, and use the funds to retire up to $1 Billion in bond debt.

For Sale (slightly used) - ALL State of California Buildings....

The never ending garage sale that is the State of California rolls on, as 11 state-owned office buildings, totaling 7.3 million square feet, officially went on the market this week. The state believes the portfolio will draw "significant interest" from potential investors worldwide, potentially bringing more then $2 Billion into the state coffers.

In the Bay Area, the buildings "For Sale" are :

• Public Utilities Commission Bldg at 505 Van Ness in SF - LEED Silver
• San Francisco Civic Center at 350 McAllister & 455 Golden Gate Ave in SF - LEED Gold
• Elihu Harris Building at 1515 Clay Street in Oakland - LEED Certified

Check out the marketing brochure (HERE)

Job growth in January...

Some positive news on the job-growth front, as The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine survey reported advertised vacancies (unfilled jobs) rose by 382,000 to 4,024,000 in January. The latest increase, on top of increases in November and December of 2009, put the online advertised vacancies over 4 million for the first time since November of 2008.

The report noted that gains have been widespread throughout most states, with California posting the largest month over month gain of + 67,600 new advertised vacancies, the most since the survey began in 2005.

California Economy likely to grow in 2010 (no really...,)

I had to look long and hard, but I finally found an independent third party that is forecasting GROWTH for California in 2010.

"CALIFORNIA LIKELY WILL SEE JOB INCREASES IN EARLY 2010" said Dana Johnson, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. Johnson bases this bold statement on the results of the Comerica "California Economic Activity Index".

The latest results from the index reflect data from October 2009. The October results were 102, unchanged from the prior month, but up 12% from the low of March 2009.

To see the actual survey results click (HERE)

California is growing Green Jobs...

A recent report titled, Many Shades of Green:Diversity and Distribution of California's Green Jobs  details the explosion in "green" businesses and jobs in California over the last 13 years.

Issued by the non-partisan group Next 10, the report states that "green" employment expanded 36% between 1995 and 2008, while "all" employment expanded only 13% during the same time period. 

The complete report can be viewed (HERE).

The Golden State is turning Greener...

The state of California boasts 33 LEED certified state office buildings, within their portfolio of more than 350 buildings totaling more than 32 Million square feet of space. The certified buildings are a mix of LEED for New Construction and LEED for Existing Building, and include two LEED Platinum certifications.

Elihu Harris State of California Office Building, designed by AECOM -- Image courtesy of AECOM Design and Greener Buildings.com.

Under Executive Order S-20-04, The Green Building Initiative,  the state is mandated to bring all existing buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, and design all new buildings larger than 10,000 square feet, to the minimum standard of LEED Silver certification. Buildings under 10,000 square feet must adhere to the LEED Silver design principles, but are not required to be certified.

To see a complete list of California's LEED building efforts, click HERE and for a link to the comprehensive California Green Building Directory, click HERE.

More Used Office Furniture - Now The State of California is a Competitor

As if there aren't enough competitors in the market place already, this week we got to compete against the Great California Garage Sale, as the state tries desperately to raise cash by selling off its surplus equipment (including hundreds of old file cabinets, desks, and chairs).

Surplus State of California File Cabinets For Sale

The State used every tool in their arsenal to move their product including Ebay, Craig's List and YouTube (click HERE to view the clip).