ScanlanKemperBard transforms former U.S. Steel Corporation in West Oakland for technology, biotech, advanced manufacturing and clean energy companies.
The Portland, Oregon-based developer has attracted new tenants to its 440,000-square-foot industrial complex at 1960, 1980 and 2140 Mandela Parkway, The San Jose Mercury News reports. Other construction sites include 2341 Peralta and 1625 24th street.
“This project is creating new energy for West Auckland,” Kristi Childers of JLL, who is in charge of marketing the site, told the paper. “It’s creating jobs for the city. The center is helping start-up companies grow and thrive in Auckland.”
ScanlanKemperBard, also known as SKB, and an unidentified capital partner bought the century-old industrial complex in 2021 for $82.5 million.
It then redeveloped, at an undisclosed cost, the former steel mill and the two main buildings of the artists’ colony and its satellite campus.
The result, designed by Auckland-based JRDV Architects, is a new center for cutting-edge companies.
They include Pyka, maker of driverless and electric cargo planes; Limelight Steel, creator of low-emissions steel production technology; ReSource Chemical, inventor of a sustainable plastic manufacturing system; Molten Industries, commercializing methods to produce clean and low-cost hydrogen; According to Mercury News, Brix Factory Brewing is a craft beer maker.
Other tenants include Fluxion Biosciences; tech startup Magrathea; Biosphere, a biotech company; and Planted Solar, a clean energy company.
Space in the former U.S. Steel and Pacific Pipeline buildings ranges from 3,000 to 30,000 square feet, according to a JLL brochure. A block from the main complex is a much smaller site near the corner of Mandela Parkway and Peralta Street.
“The aim is to adapt the industrial structure to the changing needs of West Auckland’s manufacturers, artists, technology and other creative work businesses,” JRDV Architecture statement on its website. “The ‘flexible future’ strategy will allow the building to adapt to West Auckland’s changing economic dynamics.”
— Dana Bartholomew
