Mountain View office tower grabs lively tenant activity with leases

MOUNTAIN VIEW — An office tower in downtown Mountain View has landed several leases in a hopeful sign for the Bay Area’s wobbly commercial property market.

The upswing in tenant activity has sprouted at 444 Castro Street, a highrise that is one of downtown Mountain View’s prominent office buildings.

The 12-story office building at 444 Castro Street has grabbed five leases, consisting of a rental deal with a new tenant and renewals with four others, according to The Swig Co., the principal owner of the building.

“Tenants are responding positively to the features and amenities that 444 Castro offers,” said Swig Co. vice president of asset management Elaine Dell’Aquila.

Brisk leasing activity offers a welcome contrast to a brutal Bay Area office market that’s haunted by rising vacancies, foreclosures, tenant exits and weak rents.

Here are the recent leases signed at 444 Castro Street, according to Swig and Newmark, a commercial real estate brokerage that is seeking tenants for the office tower:

— CMS U.S. Representative Office, which is a unit of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS leased 2,300 square feet. CMS is a new tenant.

— Boston Consulting Group leased 19,500 square feet.

— MatX Inc. rented 10,500 square feet. The company makes computer chips for artificial intelligence markets and was founded by former Google employees.

— Megagon Labs, a tech company, leased 4,000 square feet.

— Level.AI, a tech company, rented 2,500 square feet.

Commercial real estate firms Colliers, Newark, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE and Transwestern represented the tenants in the leasing deals.

The office tower totals 165,400 square feet. It was built in 1971 and renovated in 2001.

“The building has a common conference room, EV chargers, free secured parking, a bike storage cage, a fitness center with showers and lockers, an outdoor courtyard with a communal gathering area, and on-site banking,” Swig Co. said.