Oakland-based office furniture manufacturer Friant has signed a 274,147-square-foot lease with Clarion Partners in San Leandro as the site of its future corporate headquarters.
The property, located at 1980 West Avenue 140th St., was a former Sears Roebuck warehouse built in 1958. The 312,866-square-foot industrial building was purchased earlier this year by New York-based Clarion by for $26.5 million. Clarion plans to renovate and update the property by improving exterior cosmetics, removing unnecessary infrastructure and building a new 15,000-square-foot office showroom for Friant’s products.
Around 180 people will be employed at Friant’s San Leandro location, which will function as a corporate headquarters, along with hosting a revamped showroom and manufacturing center for the company. It also serves to consolidate some of the company's warehouse and manufacturing operations, which were spread out across three different facilities in the East Bay.