When longtime San Jose law firm Berliner Cohen LLP entered the market looking for a larger downtown office, the scene looked different than Managing Partner James Cashman remembered. This time, the company was courted by landlords.

Ultimately, Berliner Cohen chose to expand within 10 Almaden, where it has maintained offices for nearly 40 years.

“It’s a good time for tenants in downtown San Jose because there’s so much space down here,” Cashman said. “We had a lot of people who wanted us.”

Berliner Cohen outgrew its one and a half floors of office space as the firm’s headcount grew roughly 20% over the last five years. The company recently signed a 10-year lease for a full two floors of 10 Almaden, making up roughly 43,400 square feet, beginning next year.

Berliner Cohen has about 80 attorneys and a total headcount of roughly 150, Cashman said. The firm has two other offices in Merced and Modesto, though downtown San Jose serves as its main site.

The recent headcount growth was largely driven by business in litigation, employment and estate planning, Cashman said.

For the last seven years, Cashman said Berliner Cohen’s lease has been for floor 11 and half of 12 of 10 Almaden. The other half of floor 12 was leased to Kimley Horn, but the firm is relocating to a different downtown San Jose office.

“Every time we renew our lease, we look at other locations, and this year was no exception,” Cashman said.

He said the firm looked at six other office buildings. Downtown San Jose is part of Berliner Cohen’s identity as a company, so the search focused there, Cashman explained.

“Last time we went down this road the market was very different,” he said. “It was not a tenant market; it was a landlord market.”

Downtown San Jose has tracked a higher overall office vacancy rate and lower asking rent compared to Silicon Valley overall, according to a market report from Cushman & Wakefield. The downtown vacancy rate sits at 30.8% while Silicon Valley has an overall office vacancy rate of 18.8%.

“From a negotiation standpoint, being in the driver’s seat, where we’re sort of being courted, has been a much better position that it was the last time,” Cashman said.

He said the landlords were competitive and Berliner Cohen was able to get a good deal through negotiations. The firm did its lease negotiations internally, relying upon the company’s real estate attorneys.

In the end, the economics were good at 10 Almaden, Cashman said. Another strong factor in the firm’s decision to stay at 10 Almaden was location, being close to San Pedro Square and the courthouse, Cashman said.

Berliner Cohen was one of the first tenants in 10 Almaden, moving in 1989, Cashman said. The firm’s office needs have fluctuated over the years, with the company cutting or adding space at different points.

“We’re really happy with this building,” Cashman said. “We always have been.”

Story first published in Silicon Valley Business Journal