Astra Space asks for $776K rent delay on Alameda Point

Astra Space has asked the city of Alameda for a huge break in rents at its industrial headquarters at the former Naval Air Station Alameda, now known as Alameda Point.

The aerospace research and design firm, the largest tenant on the city-owned property, seeks $775,619 in deferred rent payments, citing cash flow problems after the firm went private, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The rocket firm led by Chris Kemp has been among the fastest-growing tenants at the former naval air base, taking up four buildings with up to 220,000 square feet.

Now Astra Space has requested Alameda City Council amend its lease agreement to defer rent payments for nine months, which it plans to repay between July and June of next year.

The company, which went private in July, said it’s still adjusting to becoming a private company and that the break in rent payments would give it time to right its finances, according to the Business Times.

Astra also plans to close its 60,000-square-foot Sunnyvale engine testing facility at 415 Oakmead Parkway and consolidate its operations at its Alameda Point headquarters at 1900 Skyhawk Street.

The city may be open to giving the wobbling rocketmaker a break. City staff said it would be challenging to find another tenant willing to assume such a large lease and its air-quality testing needs.

In a proposed lease amendment, the company agreed to vacate 180,000 square feet at 1900 Skyhawk Street in 60 days if it can’t pay the rent on time. It would also hand over three clean rooms in the building as collateral for the value of the rent deferral.

Astra estimates those rooms are worth $1.2 million, and make the property more marketable.

Abby Thorne-Lyman, Alameda’s director of base reuse, said Astra has invested millions into the 1900 Skyhawk property, and that Alameda staff hope a deferral would help support the company in its transition to a private company.

Astra has “done a lot to that building, and a lot to stay in that building. It’s something [it’s] put a lot of money into and brought a lot of jobs to Alameda,” Thorne-Lyman told the newspaper.

The rocket firm anchors other aerospace industry tenants at Alameda Point. The military base, which opened during World War II, closed in 1997.

In 2022, Astra Space, which develops, builds and launches rockets, leased the nearly 180,000-square-foot headquarters at 1900 Skyhawk Street. Alameda now favors a site-by-site approach to its commercial buildings at the former base, selling some and leasing others.

— Dana Bartholomew