Commercial Real Estate · San Mateo, California
Founded in 1997, The Trafton Group advises landlords and tenants on commercial sales, leasing, acquisitions and property management across the San Mateo Peninsula and greater Northern California.
About the firm
The Trafton Group was founded in 1997 and has represented hundreds of clients on the San Mateo Peninsula, among them GTE/Sylvania, Cellular One, Computer World, Affiliated Bank Shares, BWFS Bank, Fish & Neave, Total Petroleum, Patson, EW Blanch, Wellfleet Communications, C-Rem Engineers and Rosan Inc.
The firm's primary focus is professional representation of landlords and tenants. Bruce Bean's architectural background is a real advantage on that work: it lets him read a building the way an occupier and an owner both have to read it — the shell, the systems, the improvement cost, what a space can reasonably become — and translate that into appropriate selling, purchasing and leasing decisions for building owners and users alike.
That same discipline shapes how deals get done here. The Trafton Group's in-depth analysis of space needs and requisite improvements streamlines lease negotiations and results in significant savings to landlords and tenants. Less back-and-forth over unknowns, fewer surprises after signature.
Before founding the firm, Bruce Bean was with Cushman & Wakefield of California (1995–1997), TRI Commercial ONCOR International (1989–1995), The Rubicon Group (1988–1989, merged into TRI in 1989), and was partner and president of Beavers, Bean & Hale Associates from 1976 to 1988. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Crystal Springs/Uplands School and for HIP Housing, is a member of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association, and sits on the board of OP Contract, a Herman Miller dealership.
The team today is Bruce Bean, Suheil Sahouria, Billy DeMartini and Matt Lennon, working out of the San Mateo office on Amphlett Boulevard.
“The Trafton Group's in-depth analysis of space needs and requisite improvements streamlines lease negotiations and results in significant savings to the landlord and tenants.”
What we do
Institutional and private clients, across the asset classes that actually trade on the Peninsula.
Vast experience with both institutional and private clients across the specialised corners of the market.
Landlords are unique operators who wear many hats. We take a partnership approach, identify credit tenants strategically, and maximise sales and leasing results through marketing that goes well past a sign on the building.
Our professionals align financial analysis, operational objectives and business strategy to help you navigate a lease, a renewal or a build-to-suit.
The Trafton Group owns proprietary software that leverages data to identify buying opportunities. A trusted group of high net worth individuals, investors, developers and creative business leaders partners with us to purchase and reposition properties.
We apply key investor decision-making analyses and forecast investment performance by quantifying real estate risk, using analytical tools that improve decisions and optimise returns.
A seasoned management team maintains the quality of your assets, with extensive experience in everything critical to keeping a building full and running well.
How an assignment runs
The same sequence whether you are leasing 950 square feet or repositioning a 30,000 square foot centre.
We start with what the asset or the occupier actually needs: timing, capital available, operational constraints, and what a good outcome looks like twelve and sixty months out. Everything downstream is calibrated to that.
The in-depth look at space needs and requisite improvements. Bruce's architectural background is applied here — what the shell will allow, what the improvements will really cost, and which of those costs belong on which side of the table.
Comparable sales and lease transactions, current availabilities, and where the competing space sits. You get the numbers behind the recommendation, not just the recommendation.
On the landlord side, property websites, drone films, 3D virtual tours and broker cooperation. On the tenant side, a canvassed survey including quiet availabilities that come through long-standing landlord relationships.
Terms, improvement allowances, escalations, options and credit review. Because the improvement work is already analysed, negotiation moves faster and fewer items get renegotiated late.
Documentation through to signature, coordination with counsel and contractors, and — where the client wants it — ongoing property management or portfolio review after the deal closes.
Owners and investors
Bring us the asset. We will quantify the risk, model the alternatives and tell you what the market will actually pay — before you commit to a direction.
Where we work
Home base is San Mateo. Closed and active assignments run up and down the Peninsula and out into the wider Northern California market.
The office is at 1650 S Amphlett Boulevard, and downtown is where much of the work sits — second-floor office space on South B Street, storefronts on East Fourth and East Fifth Avenue, North San Mateo Drive, and larger plays such as One Baywood Plaza. Deep B Street and Third Avenue retail frontage, Caltrain and 101 access, and a landlord community we have known for years.
Burlingame Avenue and the Broadway district hold some of the tightest retail vacancy on the Peninsula, and Primrose Road sits a step off the main run at rents that still make sense for service and professional uses. Small floor plates, high pedestrian counts, and landlords who care who they let to.
The most-changed submarket on the Peninsula. Downtown has absorbed a decade of mixed-use development around the county centre and Broadway, while Fourth Avenue and Berkshire Avenue keep the older industrial and residential-income stock that investors still want. Our 348 4th Avenue and Berkshire Avenue assignments both sit in that pocket.
An owner-user and small-investor market: Magnolia Avenue, Mills Avenue and Madera Way have traded through our hands, from single-family income property to multi-unit buildings. Close to SFO, on BART, and priced below the mid-Peninsula — which is exactly why the buyer pool stays deep.
The northern gateway, where San Francisco pricing gives way. We have handled both residential income on Irvington Street and a multi-address commercial group on East Moltke Street. Dense, transit-served, and a reliable market for neighbourhood retail and small mixed-use.
Over the hill from San Bruno, Pacifica trades on light and outlook rather than commute time — our Stanley Avenue sale is representative of the larger coastal homes that draw Peninsula buyers. Limited commercial supply and slow entitlement make what does exist unusually durable.
Also active in
Insights & recent activity
A snapshot of the property types moving through the firm. Ask us for the detail behind any of them.
Smaller professional suites in downtown San Mateo — including our 307 South B Street second-floor space and 517 South B Street — continue to attract users who want walkable downtown without a full-floor commitment.
Centre-scale work runs well past San Mateo County: 2101 East Pacheco Boulevard in Los Banos at 30,056 square feet, 3261–3269 Stanford Ranch Road in Rocklin at 17,184 square feet, 2609–2651 Decoto Road in Union City at 13,180 square feet, and Floresta Plaza in San Leandro.
Automotive uses, self storage and multi-tenant retail sit inside the brokerage remit alongside conventional office and industrial — the Sawyer Shops, an eleven-tenant retail property of 23,408 square feet, closed at $6,125,000.
In their words
“Bruce Bean has helped navigate commercial real estate needs of my firm on two separate occasions. He is very personable and someone of the highest integrity in a business that does not always foster this value. Most importantly, he has repeatedly gotten results — sometimes against pressing deadlines or in difficult market cycles.”
— Christopher Dawson
“Bruce Bean of the Trafton Group has found high quality business tenants for my building over several years. He works fast, does careful screening, offers excellent advice during negotiations, provides protective lease agreements and follows up very effectively.”
— Liz Tsuji
“I have worked with Suheil Sahouria on many transactions throughout the years and have always been impressed by his integrity and professionalism. Suheil is highly personable and his responsiveness is second to none.”
— Sheldon Abrams
Questions
Industrial, office, retail, development, apartments, automotive uses, self storage, adaptive reuse, mixed use, hospitality, medical, land and other specialised opportunities — for institutional and private clients alike.
Both, and that is the firm's primary focus. Any single assignment is handled on one side of the transaction so the representation stays clear, and the space-need and improvement analysis is done the same way whichever side we are on.
The San Mateo Peninsula is home — San Mateo, Burlingame, Redwood City, San Bruno, Daly City and the coast. Closed and active assignments also include San Francisco, the East Bay, the South Bay, the Sacramento region and the Central Valley, plus select out-of-area work for existing clients.
Yes. Our property management team covers tenant sourcing, property compliance, operations, facility maintenance and vendor relations, and we are committed to sustainable operations and maintenance practices.
The Trafton Group owns proprietary software that leverages data to identify buying opportunities. We partner with a trusted group of high net worth individuals, investors, developers and creative business leaders to purchase and reposition properties. If you have a value-add opportunity, or want to join that group, get in touch.
Call (650) 888-6792 during office hours, Monday to Friday, 9AM–5PM, or email bhbean@icloud.com. The office is at 1650 S Amphlett Boulevard, Suite 223, San Mateo, CA 94402.
Work with us
Whether you are leasing space, filling a vacancy, buying, or deciding what to do with an asset you already own, the first conversation costs nothing and usually saves time later.
Contact
Call during office hours or send a note and we will come back to you with next steps — not a brochure.
