Office space bustling in San Mateo: New building planned for SolarCity, GoPro headquarters site

Despite years of few new office buildings being constructed within the city, things are picking up. The Hines Office Complex is currently under construction along Concar Drive, Bay Meadows is working on the first commercial office space at the massive transit-oriented development and two smaller projects proposed at the Three Corners Site neatly situated in a prime entrance to downtown are also underway.

Embarcadero Capital Partners and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management partnered last year to purchase the six-building Executive Office Park and are planning to redevelop a new three-story class-A office building.

Overlooking State Route 92 at 3000-3155 Clearview Way, a groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday to celebrate the site’s new office building and six-story parking structure.

The site will also boast a large outdoor workspace — an increasingly popular amenity for employees looking to collaborate out of the typical office space environment, said John Hamilton, co-founder and principal at Embarcadero Capital Partners.

“San Mateo is a great city to do business with. And this location, halfway between [Highway] 101 and [Interstate] 280 on 92 with great views, great accessibility; you can get anywhere from there,” Hamilton said. “There’s two corporate headquarters, GoPro and SolarCity, so those companies are both doing very well. It’s exciting they chose Clearview for their headquarter sites and we’d like to keep that momentum going.”

While both companies are continuing to expand, the new class-A office building is being developed on speculation — meaning there isn’t an identified tenant lined up. However, Hamilton said they’ve already received interest from several companies and he’s confident the new site will rent quickly once it comes on line in September 2016.

The Clearview Way project is joining the city’s recent list of long-awaited office buildings coming closer to fruition, a stark contrast to the more than a decade that passed without any new office developments breaking ground, said Darcy Forsell, the city’s zoning administrator.

While building on spec may be risky, Forsell said many of these projects, particularly at the former Bay Meadows race track, have long had the city’s approval and officials are interested in seeing them completed.

“We don’t want these things siting out there. We want them built and occupied and I think San Mateo is a great location. In addition to Caltrain, which is what we’re trying to promote the usage of, for those who Caltrain isn’t a feasible option for commuting, we have access to 101, 280, 92 and the San Mateo Bridge. So we have a much better connectivity to the Bay Area than other areas down the Peninsula,” Forsell said.

Despite buying the property with entitlements in hand, Embarcadero Capital Partners returned to the city earlier this year for a few modifications to the original proposal such as the outdoor workspace as well as an additional level to its new parking garage.

Outdoor collaborative spaces that provide Wi-Fi and comfortable seating are becoming increasingly popular amongst large corporations seeking to attract employees, Forsell said.

“A lot of big employers need to be able to retain employees in this highly competitive workforce. So it is very important for employers to have amenities for their employees,” Forsell said. “And I think San Mateo has great shopping, we have great dining, we have great access to parks and recreation. I think those are all amenities and services that are desirable to employees.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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