Coffee importing company acquires big industrial complex
An East Bay coffee importer has bought a 73-year-old industrial and logistics complex in Oakland in a deal that shows some commercial real estate markets remain sturdy despite the wobbly office and retail sectors.
Royal Coffee, acting through an affiliate, has bought a warehouse, distribution and manufacturing property at 5901 San Leandro St. in East Oakland, a building that totals 130,500 square feet.
Emeryville-based Royal Coffee paid $31.7 million for the complex, according to documents filed Feb. 7 with the Alameda County Recorder's Office.
CenterPoint Properties Trust, an Illinois-based real estate company, sold the building, which was constructed in 1950 and renovated in 1970.
The Bay Area office market in particular has struggled in the face of rising vacancies, tech industry job cuts and a corporate appetite for office space that has dwindled.
The industrial and logistics sector, however, appears to be holding up better than other real estate markets. Tenants still demonstrate an appetite to occupy these types of buildings in the Bay Area.
The value of the justbought building appears to be on the rise, a review of Alameda County property documents shows.
In 2019, CenterPoint Properties, the seller in the recent deal, paid a family trust $25 million to buy the building.
The new owner of the property is active in the international coffee market, according to a description on the company's website.
“Royal Coffee is a family-owned and operated importer of specialty green coffees,” the company states. “Royal supplies some of the top roasting houses around the globe.”
Coffee entrepreneurs Bob Fulmer and Pete McLaughlin founded the company in 1978 in a tiny Emeryville office, using a bag of coffee as a desk — until they found a buyer for the sack.
The company now imports coffee from more than 30 different countries of origin as well as from a network of producing partners.
Royal also offers a logistics and trading team to help clients ship containers of coffee worldwide.
One unique component of the Royal Coffee business: The company operates a coffee tasting room at 2523 Broadway in downtown Oakland's Uptown district.
“Join us for a class, event, tasting or cupping in the heart of Oakland,” Royal Coffee says of its tasting room, which is called The Crown.