Zoox Doubles Down on Hayward With Latest Lease

Zoox is doubling down on Hayward with additional industrial space to support its growing fleet of robotaxis.

The Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company leased a 10.2-acre site at 25555 Clawiter Road in Hayward, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The property spans 34,000 square feet and will function as a logistics and staging hub for finished vehicles built across the street at Zoox’s manufacturing plant.

The expansion follows Zoox’s opening last year of a 219,000-square-foot production facility down the block at Exchange @ 92, a 635,000-square-foot industrial campus developed by Hines. That plant is designed to eventually churn out up to 10,000 of the company’s autonomous robotaxis annually at full capacity. Zoox also maintains a site in Fremont used for retrofitting test vehicles. Last year, Zoox also leased more than 200,000 square feet of offices near its Foster City headquarters as it prepares for a wider rollout in more cities nationwide.

The site is owned by industrial landlord Terreno Realty Corporation, which said the deal required a complex lease buyout and coordination with the city, according to the Business Times.

Earlier this year, Zoox expanded its service area in San Francisco — growing beyond South of Market, the Mission and Design Districts — to now include other neighborhoods including the Marina District, North Beach, Chinatown, Pacific Heights and the Embarcadero. The Zoox app is not yet fully open to the public and has a long waitlist for interested customers.

Service in Austin and Miami is expected to launch later this year, while its Las Vegas driving area is expected to grow as well. In Los Angeles, riders will be able to call a Zoox robotaxi through their Uber app after the two companies announced a partnership last month, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Last month, Zoox revealed plans to open a customer lounge in San Francisco’s Union Square to serve users as Alphabet-owned Waymo dominates the autonomous ride-hailing market. The facility will take up a three-story, 2,025-square-foot building where customers can eat free food and charge their phones while they wait for rides.

— Chris Malone Méndez