The Bay Area Real Estate Journal
Wareham to Build On Spec In Emeryville
Submitted February 22, 2010, 10:25 PM
The Emeryville City Council has approved a long-planned transit-oriented development proposed by San Rafael-based Wareham Development, EmeryStation West at Emeryville Transit Center.
The 4-1 council vote clears the way for Wareham to seek building permits for the $78 million development, which is to include offices, lab and retail space, a seven-level parking structure and loading bays for Amtrak buses.
Wareham has a history of taking on speculative development. It is a practice it followed with success with the 245,000-square-foot EmeryStation East building. That property is now home to Amyris Biotechnologies and the Joint BioEnergy Institute.
The planned EmeryStation West at Emeryville Transit Center involves the redevelopment of two sites: a 1.58-acre site located at 59th and Horton Streets that is known as the Mound Parcel site, and a surface parking lot located at 62nd and Horton Streets. The first parcel will be developed into the $60 million, 358,000-square-foot EmeryStation West building, including 200,000 square feet of office, lab and retail space, and 150 parking spaces.
A roof terrace on the third floor of the building will connect to an existing pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks. The second, parking-lot parcel is intended for a private 675-space parking structure, the $18 million Heritage Square Garage, with 3,620 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
EmeryStation West, which will be adjacent to the Amtrak Station at 5885 Horton St., also will incorporate four Amtrak bus bays and ground-level space to accommodate retail and transit functions, according to city documents. The proposal includes a public plaza between the Amtrak Station and EmeryStation West.
Wareham also built the 11,000-square-foot Amtrak Intermodal Station in 1994.
The transit-center project is the result of a 2005 agreement between Wareham and the Emeryville Redevelopment Agency.
Wareham, which specializes in R&D buildings for life-science companies, develops, builds and owns commercial and residential properties in Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond and Marin County in California. It also has three developments in Sun Valley, Idaho.
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