AAA will move 225 to office in Fairfield

AAA will move 225 to office in Fairfield
San Francisco Business Times
by Albert C. Pacciorini

AAA Northern California will move 225 employees to a new office in Fairfield next year — 165 of them from its main office in San Francisco and 60 from an existing office in Fairfield — as part of the company’s upcoming cost-saving move out of San Francisco.

Aphased move should begin in March and be complete by June, said Matt Skryja, a representative for AAA Northern California.

AAA, also known as the California State Automobile Association, is building a new headquarters near the Pleasant Hill BART station.

It plans to move about 1,000 jobs there from its current headquarters in San Francisco by early 2010, one of the largest corporate headquarters departures from the city in a decade.

The Fairfield office is part of a 108,000-square-foot complex, of which AAA will lease 55,000 square feet for 10 years. The buildings are owned by SAR Enterprises of Aptos and were vacated by State Compensation Insurance Fund, which moved to a Vacaville campus.

Tom Maloney, managing director, and Kameron Schroeder, senior associate, of commercial broker Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. represented AAA.

“Where we locate specific functions is based on what makes the most sense for the business unit and the company,” Skryja said. “It also is the most efficient and cost-effective way to organize our work groups.”

AAA wouldn’t disclose lease details. Lease rates for similar properties have been $14.40 to $15.60 a square foot per year, triple net, with the tenant paying taxes, insurance and maintenance.

Skryja said AAA is joining its business fulfillment center operations already in Fairfield with similar operations from San Francisco. Such operations include accounts receivable, billing, copy center, corporate mail, membership operations, records services and travel accounting.

“The costs of operating in the East Bay are significantly less than the annual operating costs in downtown San Francisco,” Maloney said.

Operating costs like utilities, security, property taxes, range from $11 to $13 a square foot in the East Bay, Maloney said. In San Francisco, those costs range from $15 to $20 a square foot. That doesn’t include rent and items like San Francisco’s payroll tax.

apacciorini@bizjournals.com / (925) 598-1430