Vacant SB office building gets tenants

An office building vacated earlier this year by San Bernardino County will soon be used by Early Head Start and a charter school.

The building at 799 E. Rialto Ave. covers 23,500 square feet and will be fully occupied after its new tenants move in, said Rick Lazar, senior vice president with Coldwell Banker Commercial Sudweeks Group in Redlands.

For nearly 20 years, San Bernardino County used the one-story building for medical purposes, including an emergency laboratory, but left last February when its lease expired. The structure has been vacant since then.

Early this month, Granum Partners, a property management company in Los Gatos, bought the building for $1.7 million.

Lazar represented Granum partners in its lease negotiations with Early Head Start, which is part of the federal education program Head Start for young children, and the charter school, which will work with junior high school students.

Both entities signed leases in excess of 10 years, and are both expected to move in this fall. Financial details were not disclosed.

During the past year or so, San Bernardino County has left several office properties in that part of San Bernardino in search of better, more affordable locations, Lazar said.

“They’re looking around and finding better properties at cheaper rates,” Lazar said of county officials. “They’re also filling some empty office space, which is good.”