Urban Green Investments, a fully integrated real estate investment and development company based in San Francisco, recently acquired 1924 Franklin Street in Oakland. As the Manhattanization of San Francisco continues and demand for office space continues to cause price inflation, Oakland will become the next logical place for businesses to move to. The average square-foot rent for the highest quality office space in San Francisco is 75 percent higher than that for similar properties in Oakland.

The price of office space in the developing Uptown Oakland submarket is one of the factors that attract businesses to the area. Only about a two-minute walk from the 19th Street Oakland BART station, the Franklin Street building is close to the variety of independent merchants and cultural amenities in the Lake Merritt District, one of Oakland’s most sought-after locations. In 2014, the nonprofit American Planning Association included Uptown Oakland on its top 10 "Great Neighborhoods" list.

In developing 1924 Franklin as upscale

office space, Urban Green is planning for

the needs of the creative and high-tech

communities. Plans include modification of

the four-story building’s basement to house

shower areas and bike racks, as well as

renovations to the exterior and the

common spaces in order to achieve a

more attractive, modern aesthetic in

keeping with Uptown’s rapid revitalization.