Tech cluster emerges at huge revamped industrial complex in Oakland

OAKLAND — A long-time industrial center and former artists’ colony in West Oakland is being reimagined as a bustling hub for tech, advanced manufacturing, biotech and clean energy firms.

The vast American Steel building and nearby industrial sites in Oakland have been reborn with a new mission as a cradle for an array of cutting-edge companies.

Now, a marketing team consisting of JLL commercial real estate brokers Kristi Childers, Eddie Shuai and Charlie Sweeney is scouting for tenants for numerous spaces in the complex, which totals about 440,000 square feet.

“This project is creating new energy in West Oakland,” said Childers, who is an executive vice president with JLL. “It’s creating jobs in the city. This center is helping emerging companies grow in Oakland.”

Several tenants have flocked to the site so they can set up shop in the repurposed industrial sites, at least one of which dates back to the 1920s as the former Pacific Pipe building.

Among the tenants: Pyka, a maker of a pilotless and electric cargo plane; Limelight Steel, which has crafted technologies to produce iron and steel with low emissions; ReSource Chemical, which is creating sustainable systems to make plastics; Molten Industries, which is commercializing ways to produce clean and low-cost hydrogen; and Brix Factory Brewing, a maker of artisan beers.

Other tenants include Fluxion Biosciences; Magrathea, a tech startup; Biosphere, a biotech firm; and Planted Solar, a clean energy firm.

In 2021, the revamp of the industrial complexes launched when ScanlanKemperBard, or SKB, teamed up with an unnamed capital partner to buy a pair of West Oakland sites that included the American Steel complex and the Pacific PIpe building. The alliance bought the properties for $82.5 million.

“With West Oakland quickly becoming one of the Bay Area’s leading manufacturing, bioengineering and research locations, SKB plans to reposition the manufacturing facility into a multi-tenant industrial campus, catering to a diverse set of users,” ScanlanKemperBard stated at the time of its all-cash purchase.

One property is bounded by West Grand Avenue, Mandela Parkway, 18th Street and Poplar Street. Its addresses include 1901 through 2107 Poplar Street. and 1960, 1980 and 2140 Mandela Parkway. This site includes the old American Steel property. The other site includes the addresses of 2341 Peralta Street and 1625 24th Street.

“The American Steel vision plan is designed to intentionally support a more diverse and sustainable local economy in Oakland,” JRDV Architecture, which is the principal designer of the complex, stated in a post on its website.

SKB, JLL and JRDV Architecture envision the revamped site as more than a static set of spaces that cater only to one type and one size of tenant.

“Our idea is to accommodate companies at every stage of their growth, from startups to growing companies to larger companies,” said Childers, the JLL executive. “We can provide space for companies at every stage, and help them to continue to grow in Oakland.”

To that end, the spaces in the massive American Steel building typically range from 10,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet, according to a JLL marketing brochure.

Seven of the American Steel spaces range from 20,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. A few spots, though are more around 3,000 square feet.

In the Pacific Pipe building, one space is around 21,600 square feet, but the rest of the available spots are around 3,000 to 8,000 square feet in size, the JLL flyer shows.

About a block away from the main complex is a site near the corner of Mandela Parkway and Peralta Street. Most of these are much smaller spaces than the two large buildings.

“The goal is to adapt the industrial structure to the changing needs of makers, artists, technology and other creative work businesses in West Oakland,” JRDV Architecture stated on its website. “The ‘flexible-futures’ strategy will allow the buildings to adapt to the changing economic dynamic of West Oakland.”

The emerging tech hub isn’t just all work and no play.

Touchstone Climbing has opened a huge climbing gym totaling 55,000 square feet in the Pacific Pipe building. An amenity lounge and cafe are in spots next to the climbing center.

The property developer and the site’s real estate agents believe the complex is in a spot that can attract startups from both Silicon Valley and the East Bay.

“It’s close to companies that are growing out of UC Berkeley or Stanford,” Childers said. “They can start their research and development in the small spaces and then grow into the big spaces.”