A long-established commercial real estate powerhouse has joined with a tech startup in a search for enough space for a $1 billion research and development campus in the East Bay.
Houston-based Hines, known for developments of Class A office buildings among other sectors of the market, is on the hunt with Pacific Fusion, a two-year-old specialist in clean energy.
Fremont-based Pacific Fusion has sought entitlements for a research-and-development facility at Alameda Point but now is eyeing a 15-acre site in nearby Livermore, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
After pursuing entitlements to build a new research and development facility at Alameda Point, Pacific Fusion is now eyeing a 15-acre site in Livermore to house its billion-dollar expansion.
Pacific Fusion has signed on with Hines as a development partner on the project. The two entities have narrowed the search down to the Alameda Point and Livermore sites, with a decision expected later this year, according to the Business Times.
The startup, with plans to hire as many as 250 workers, has apparently gotten a warm reception from city officials on both sites. It has raised about $900 million, and counts Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, as an early investor.
“Both Alameda and Livermore offer extremely compelling reasons to be the home of this project, and we’re grateful for the thoughtful engagement from both communities,” a spokesperson for Pacific Fusion told the publication. “Our goal is to choose the site where we can build most quickly and cost effectively — and of course, community support and partnerships are an essential part of this.”
An initial announcement on plans called for a 220,000-square-foot facility covering up to 24 acres at Alameda Point. It signed a 24-month exclusive negotiating pact on the Alameda site, leaving open the possibility of hitting upon another site.
Pacific Fusion entered into a 24-month exclusive negotiation agreement with Alameda in February, estimating a need for $700 million worth of infrastructure improvements and various upgrades at the site it would want from the city.
It has made a similar proposal to city officials in Livermore.
The focus on the East Bay would keep Pacific Fusion near the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a federal research center that has taken the startup on as a collaborator.
Demand for research and development space in the Bay Area has cooled in the past few years after a hot streak during the pandemic.
Livermore’s research and development sector notched an 8.2 percent vacancy rate at the end of last year while Alameda’s held at 14.3 percent.
— Jerry Sullivan