Comstock’s Moving to Campus Commons Office

Comstock’s magazine will leave its downtown office later this year for a 4,000-square-foot space in Campus Commons, going into a building that’s benefitting from some new investment, according to the broker on the deal.

“We’re excited about it because it’s a new anchor tenants,” said Jon Lang of Turton Commercial Real Estate, which handled the deal for both the tenant and the landlord. “Comstock’s coming tells a lot about the building and how it’s changed.”

At 2335 American River Drive, the 48,000-square-foot brick building was at one time a landmark structure for the Campus Commons area and housed SmithBarney and AECOM, among other tenants, according to Lang. But for much of the last decade, it was vacant because of some substantial deferred maintenance, until a new owner bought it last year.

Since then, Lang said, the new, locally based owner has invested more than $1 million in upgrades, from the parking lot to the roof to carpeting. That’s paid off in more tours, and within the last month, leases by not only Comstock’s but legal firm Del Rio and Carichoff, which is occupying another 4,000 square feet.

Because the building is at the corner of Howe and American River, it’s always had good visibility and location, Lang said. But it was ample free parking that attracted Comstock’s, which needed more spaces than it could find with the downtown California Fruit Building it’s in now, he said.

That led Comstock’s, a monthly Sacramento-area business magazine in its 25th year, to look more suburban, he said. “They really felt this building fit their vibe,” Lang said, adding the lease begins Dec. 1.

With the two leases, which Lang did with Aaron Marchand of Turton, occupancy for 2335 American River is now at 35 percent.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Lang said. “But this is a great cornerstone for the building.”

The California Fruit Building is in the midst of a total renovation itself, and project partners John Leonard and Richard Rich said they expect to begin leasing the restored spaces in the building by year’s end.