Case Study

Summary

Gateway Technology Centre is a 115-acre development project at the intersection of the Dumbarton Freeway (Highway 84) and Thornton Avenue in Newark, California. The site is the ninth major business park land development project of Orchard and its predecessors.

Situation

  • Sensing that the technology market recovery was about to accelerate, Orchard acquired the former salt processing site from Cargill, Inc. in 1997.
  • Orchard master planned the site, then worked through re-entitlement of the site with the City of Newark in order to allow for additional flexibility for technology users.
  • Orchard constructed the road and utility infrastructure in accordance with first class technology park standards, while at the same time working through a myriad of environmental nuances of the site.
  • Following completion of site improvements, Orchard recovered its infrastructure costs through creation and execution of a improvement bond assessment district.

Results

  • Having created a first class business park environment, Orchard received a full price offer from Sun Microsystems to purchase a total of 104 acres for construction of its East Bay campus–far in excess of Orchard’s original investment.
  • Orchard subsequently developed two buildings totaling 100,000 square feet, both of which were leased on long term leases by Sun Microsystems and ultimately sold to an east coast based investment fund.
  • The final site within the park was sold at full price to Gatehouse Capital, which developed a W Suites hotel.