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CamelBak to occupy showcase McDowell Landing site

HYDRATION-PACK MAKER TAKES 29,500 SQUARE FEET AT RNM PROPERTIES PROJECT

PETALUMA – Hydration-pack maker CamelBak has signed a lease on 29,500 square feet of showcase space at South McDowell Landing in Petaluma.

CamelBak, which is owned by investment and securities giant Bear Stearns, declined to detail its plans for the new headquarters but reportedly is looking into a possible LEED green certification.

RNM Properties is the developer of the 144,000-square-foot office complex at 1800 and 2000 Corporate Circle in Petaluma.

According to Brian Eisberg of Orion Partners, who represented CamelBak in the deal, the company “wanted something new and cool that would reflect their corporate culture more accurately” than its current headquarters at 1310 Redwood Way.

Although CamelBak reportedly looked for new quarters as far south as Hamilton Landing in Novato, consideration for its staff led it back to Petaluma.

Most of the company’s approximately 80 employees live in Sonoma County.

CamelBak’s new headquarters will be on the top floor of 2000 Corporate Circle, with views of the Schollenberger Park wetlands and access to the park’s many bike and jogging paths. The space, which CamelBak will most likely occupy in July, has room for the company to grow. Terms of the lease allow additional space in the same building for further expansion.

CamelBak got its start as a maker of mobile hydration systems for hikers, joggers and cyclists, expanding into systems for the U.S. military and rescue agencies.

It was purchased by Bear Sterns in 2003 for $200 million. Since then, CamelBak has expanded both its military and recreational markets. In 2006, it acquired Southwest Motorsports Enterprises, an internationally known tactical glove maker that had just been awarded a $7 million contract by the U.S. Army to produce lightweight gloves for use in hot climates.

A year earlier, CamelBak entered the large-pack and load-bearing market by forming a partnership with Mystery Ranch in Bozeman, Mont. CamelBak also developed a hydration reservoir liner to protect water in a sarin or mustard-gas attack, since adapted by military and police units worldwide.

Last year, the company announced partnerships with Peregrine Outfitters and Quality Bicycle Products.

CamelBak has manufacturing operations in Mexico, China and the Philippines as well as the U.S. At the behest of the U.S. military, products that equip American soldiers are manufactured domestically.

As the first tenant of the new South McDowell Landing complex, CamelBak is expected by RNM and the project’s brokers to draw other similar tenants.

“It’s a great first tenant for us,” said RNM President Paul Elmore. “CamelBak is in an exciting industry and has good management,” he said. Steven Leonard of NAI BT Commercial represented RNM in the lease.

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