2018-06-15, 10:37 PM
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco...ffice.html
Exclusive: Facebook extends leasing spree with 750,000 square feet in Fremont for a new campus
![[Image: cmargaretaustinphotography-139jt*750xx2800-3733-0-0.jpg]](https://media.bizj.us/view/img/10943242/cmargaretaustinphotography-139jt*750xx2800-3733-0-0.jpg)
John Tenanes, vice president of global facilities and real estate for Facebook.
By Blanca Torres – Reporter, San Francisco Business Times
Jun 14, 2018, 1:29pm PDT Updated Jun 14, 2018, 11:09pm PDT
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) leased 750,000 square feet of space in Fremont to create a “book-end” campus to complement its Menlo Park headquarters.
The social media company leased 14 buildings from development company Peery Arrillaga across the street from other properties it leased last year.
Like many tech companies, Facebook is looking east for potential growth to accommodate employee commutes.
“Our workforce has grown in the East Bay,” said John Tenanes, Facebook’s vice president of global facilities and real estate. “We were lucky that (these properties) were convenient and available and provide the kind of a campus environment we like.”
Fremont is a mere eight-minute drive across the Dumbarton Bridge from Menlo Park, where the company leases, owns or is developing more than 2 million square feet of space, said Tenanes.
"The (Fremont) site is fully entitled and buildings are already complete," Tenanes said. "We are kind of like hermit crabs. We like to move into buildings fairly quickly."
Tenanes said the company has about 300,000 square feet in Fremont from the Sobrato Organization and has already moved some technical and lab workers into that space. Last year, the company leased a 6530 Paseo Padre Parkway and 6422 Commerce Drive in Fremont’s Ardenwood business district.
"We’re delighted to see them expanding their presence in Fremont so soon," said Christina Briggs, Fremont's deputy director of economic development. "It really validates the attractive nature of the Ardenwood area."
The Ardenwood district is an established business park that was once mostly home to biotech companies, but is now drawing more tech companies. Last year, Tesla grabbed 229,000 square feet in buildings also owned by real estate development company Peery Arrillaga.
For the new space, Facebook has brought in San Francisco-based Studios Architecture to design a campus plan. The company expects to move employees into the recently leased Fremont buildings in six to nine months.
“These are spaces where we will grow over time,” Tenanes said. “This fits our long-term strategy for growth.”
That strategy, he said, is to have enough space ready where and when the company needs it. Facebook has been on a leasing tear in the Bay Area with a recent blockbuster deal to take the entire 750,000 square feet in Park Tower at 250 Howard St. in San Francisco.
The company also recently leased more than a 1 million square feet in Moffet Towers II in Sunnyvale and recently inked a deal to sublease 220,000 square feet from co-working operator WeWork in Mountain View.
Finding large spaces in the Bay Area to meet the company’s main real estate goals is competitive, Tenanes said. Those goals are access to talent, housing for workers and transportation.
With traffic in Silicon Valley worsening, Facebook has teamed up with regional transit agency SamTrans to explore a new passenger rail line over the Dumbarton Bridge.
“The infrastructure connecting the East Bay to Silicon Valley is really tough,” Tenanes said.
Facebook has grown to about 14,000 workers spread through its Bay Area offices, he said. Worldwide, the company is at about 28,000 employees.
Exclusive: Facebook extends leasing spree with 750,000 square feet in Fremont for a new campus
John Tenanes, vice president of global facilities and real estate for Facebook.
By Blanca Torres – Reporter, San Francisco Business Times
Jun 14, 2018, 1:29pm PDT Updated Jun 14, 2018, 11:09pm PDT
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) leased 750,000 square feet of space in Fremont to create a “book-end” campus to complement its Menlo Park headquarters.
The social media company leased 14 buildings from development company Peery Arrillaga across the street from other properties it leased last year.
Like many tech companies, Facebook is looking east for potential growth to accommodate employee commutes.
“Our workforce has grown in the East Bay,” said John Tenanes, Facebook’s vice president of global facilities and real estate. “We were lucky that (these properties) were convenient and available and provide the kind of a campus environment we like.”
Fremont is a mere eight-minute drive across the Dumbarton Bridge from Menlo Park, where the company leases, owns or is developing more than 2 million square feet of space, said Tenanes.
"The (Fremont) site is fully entitled and buildings are already complete," Tenanes said. "We are kind of like hermit crabs. We like to move into buildings fairly quickly."
Tenanes said the company has about 300,000 square feet in Fremont from the Sobrato Organization and has already moved some technical and lab workers into that space. Last year, the company leased a 6530 Paseo Padre Parkway and 6422 Commerce Drive in Fremont’s Ardenwood business district.
"We’re delighted to see them expanding their presence in Fremont so soon," said Christina Briggs, Fremont's deputy director of economic development. "It really validates the attractive nature of the Ardenwood area."
The Ardenwood district is an established business park that was once mostly home to biotech companies, but is now drawing more tech companies. Last year, Tesla grabbed 229,000 square feet in buildings also owned by real estate development company Peery Arrillaga.
For the new space, Facebook has brought in San Francisco-based Studios Architecture to design a campus plan. The company expects to move employees into the recently leased Fremont buildings in six to nine months.
“These are spaces where we will grow over time,” Tenanes said. “This fits our long-term strategy for growth.”
That strategy, he said, is to have enough space ready where and when the company needs it. Facebook has been on a leasing tear in the Bay Area with a recent blockbuster deal to take the entire 750,000 square feet in Park Tower at 250 Howard St. in San Francisco.
The company also recently leased more than a 1 million square feet in Moffet Towers II in Sunnyvale and recently inked a deal to sublease 220,000 square feet from co-working operator WeWork in Mountain View.
Finding large spaces in the Bay Area to meet the company’s main real estate goals is competitive, Tenanes said. Those goals are access to talent, housing for workers and transportation.
With traffic in Silicon Valley worsening, Facebook has teamed up with regional transit agency SamTrans to explore a new passenger rail line over the Dumbarton Bridge.
“The infrastructure connecting the East Bay to Silicon Valley is really tough,” Tenanes said.
Facebook has grown to about 14,000 workers spread through its Bay Area offices, he said. Worldwide, the company is at about 28,000 employees.