FREMONT — A big office and research park in Fremont occupied by a German tech titan has been bought in a deal that shows some sections of the Bay Area’s battered real estate market remain robust.
Prologis, a Bay Area real estate behemoth, has paid $71.3 million to buy four research and office buildings on Bayside Parkway in Fremont, according to documents filed on Sept. 24 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office.
Four office and research buildings at 46859, 46871, 46889 and 46897 Bayside Parkway in Fremont, shown within the outline. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)
Siemens Industry Software, a unit of Germany-based technology giant Siemens, sold the quartet of buildings to affiliates controlled by Prologis, one of the nation’s largest real estate development and investment firms.
San Francisco-based Prologis bought the buildings through an all-cash deal, the county property documents show.
Over the last year or two, office, retail and hotel buildings have flopped into a morass of fading property values, rising vacancy levels and feeble rental rates.
Foreclosures or building sales at prices that are far below their prior purchase amounts or current assessed valuations have occurred more frequently.
The Prologis purchase of the Siemens buildings offers a hopeful counterpoint to the forbidding landscape of a frail commercial property market.
That’s because the Prologis affiliates paid a price that topped the current assessed value for the properties.
The $71.3 million purchase price for the quartet of buildings was about 23% higher than the January 2024 value of $57.8 million that is reported by the Alameda County Assessor’s Office.
The problem of faltering property values in the Bay Area is far more than an academic question for public officials.
Lower real estate values could lead to reduced property tax revenue for cities, counties, school districts and other government agencies that depend on this stream of cash to finance an array of operations and services.
Regarding the recent Fremont deal, the values might have headed higher for the four buildings because they are occupied by Siemens, one of the world’s biggest tech industry players.
