Oakland building bought for $7.5 million

A historic building in downtown Oakland has been bought for $7.5 million by an investor who gained ownership of the property after it had been foreclosed upon by a bank.

Hamilton Zanze & Co. bought the building, which is at 1500 Broadway. The four-story building has a mix of retail and offices. The deal was arranged through commercial realty brokerages Cassidy Turley and Cornish & Carey.

The 1500 Broadway building was initially constructed in 1923, gained an addition in 1975 and was renovated in 1990. As a result, the exterior has a mix of architectural styles.

In 1998, the 92,000-square-foot building was placed on the California and National registers of historic places.

Ikanos CEO gains stock options

Fremont-based Ikanos Communications has granted a stock option plan to its new chief executive and president, Omid Tahernia.

The broadband communications equipment company provided Tahernia with an option to purchase up to 2.1 million shares of the company's stock.

The option will vest, with respect to 1.5 million shares, over a four-year period. The remaining 600,000 shares will vest over a one-year period. The option expires in June 2019.

Ex-Chevron CEO sees continued oil imports

The former CEO of San Ramon-based Chevron, David O'Reilly,

While O'Reilly was upbeat about the potential for supplying enough natural gas and coal for U.S. electricity, he said the country should worry about its transportation system, given its reliance on oil, absent a technological breakthrough.

"I do believe that we will still be importing oil 20 to 25 years from now, and that is the one area of vulnerability we have in our supply system," said O'Reilly, now chairman of the National Petroleum Council. O'Reilly made the comments at an energy policy conference at Stanford.

-- Staff