FREMONT — In a big expansion that potentially could bring 1,000 or more workers into Fremont, Tesla has leased two large office buildings in an area perched near the access roads for the Dumbarton Bridge.
The maker of electric vehicles has leased offices at 6800 Dumbarton Circle and 6900 Dumbarton Circle in Fremont, according to public documents filed with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office. The buildings are owned by development firm Peery Arrillaga.
The county records show that Tesla is the tenant in two buildings that together total roughly 230,000 square feet.
The building at 6800 Dumbarton Circle totals about 116,000 square feet, according to brochures posted on one of the Peery Arrillaga property websites. The 6900 Dumbarton Circle office building totals 114,000 square feet, the Peery Arrillaga website shows. The county documents also were posted on the entry doors of each of the buildings.
Palo Alto-based Tesla builds electric vehicles at a large auto factory in Fremont, and the buildings the company has leased are located between Tesla’s Peninsula headquarters and the company’s East Bay vehicle factory.
Based on typical zoning and planning regulations, potentially 1,000 or more people could work in the two buildings combined. The 116,000-square-foot building could accommodate 580 workers and the 113,000-square-foot building could house 570 employees.
Neither John Arrillaga nor Richard Peery, the principal executives of Peery Arrillaga, responded to phone calls about the situation.
Tesla as of Thursday afternoon had not responded to multiple inquiries regarding the company’s expansion in Fremont.
“This is a great location and easily accessible from either the Peninsula or the East Bay due to its proximity to the Dumbarton Bridge,” Peery Arrillaga stated on its website, referring to the two office buildings Tesla has leased. Both buildings, according to the web post, are in a “shell condition.”
On Thursday, a significant amount of construction work was underway inside and outside both buildings. Heavy construction equipment was visible working on the buildings, rubble was stacked up inside at least one building.
“Improvements are to be constructed on the premises,” the county records stated, referring to work planned for both office buildings. The documents, filed in Alameda County on Sept. 19, stated, “The name of the lessee (tenant) of said premises is Tesla Inc. and the name of the party who contracted for the work is Tesla.”
Fremont officials in recent years changed the density rules for an array of sites in the Ardenwood area, to lure companies that might want to occupy top-notch offices between their Silicon Valley or Peninsula operations and the labor pools in the East Bay and Central Valley.
“That would allow Fremont to be able to better compete with Class A buildings for the surge of expansion that we saw spilling over from the Peninsula,” said Kelly Kline, Fremont’s economic development director. “Ardenwood is an attractive place to accommodate these office needs.”
Kline didn’t want to comment directly about the Tesla deal with Peery Arrillaga, but indicated she believes Fremont is a logical place for the automaker to expand.
“We are aware that Tesla has been in the market for substantial office needs beyond their Palo Alto headquarters,” Kline said. “We’re very hopeful that Fremont would be a strong contender for that requirement.”
