Newport Beach-based Koll Development Co. has begun speculative development of more than 200,000 square feet of new space at Willowbrook Business Center in Union City.
The 20-acre industrial park, which will total 405,000 square feet after the new space is added, is being developed for Young’s Holding Company, which owns the park.
Located on Whipple Road and Atlantic Avenue, Koll began work on the park in November 1998, renovating and retrofitting an existing 185,500-square-foot freestanding warehouse and manufacturing facility on almost 8 acres. The improvements include landscaping along with street frontage, newly modernized exteriors, new perimeter asphalt, concrete paving and an improved site drainage system and are expected to be completed later this year.
Construction of the second phase will begin in a few months, with completion scheduled for the end of the fourth quarter.
The second phase will feature the construction of four R & D; and light industrial facilities totaling more than 219,000 square feet. Buildings being constructed in the second phase of development include: an 89,200-square-foot warehouse building; a 52,151-square-foot light industrial and distribution building; a 47,912-square-foot industrial building and a 30,200-square-foot light office and manufacturing facility.
“As warehouse and distribution companies increasingly seek viable alternatives to the Bay Area’s more expensive Santa Clara County and Peninsula locations, we expect to see growing demand within the Hayward-Union City marketplace,” said Michael Parker, senior vice president of Koll’s Bay Area office. “Rapidly emerging as one of the region’s premier locations for industrial and R & D; operations, Union City offers a viable, alternative for high-quality light industrial space.”
Immediately accessible to Interstate 880, a major corridor connecting the Bay Area with Silicon Valley, Willowbrook Business Center will feature dock-high truck loading, cross-loading capabilities and 20- to 24-foot minimum clear heights all within a landscaped business park setting. Architects for the project are Ware & Malcomb Architects Inc. of Pleasanton.
In addition to the Willowbrook project, Koll’s Northern California operation has begun development of the first two phases of Koll Dublin Corporate Center in Dublin.
This 35-acre, masterplanned, mixed-use corporate business complex will comprise 584,000 square feet of Class A office buildings as well as hotel and retail sites.
Established in 1962, Koll Development has a development portfolio of more than 70 million square feet of office facilities, industrial parks and retail and entertainment centers throughout the United States, Mexico and Asia.
The firm’s development activity currently includes approximately 70 commercial projects totaling more than 14 million square feet and $1.2 billion in construction costs. n
