The Bay Area real estate landscape is much like a puzzle with different submarkets acting as individual pieces, each playing their own role in this dynamic economy. The Fremont submarket continues to remain favorable for tenants as slow leasing conditions and a generous supply of R&D and manufacturing space is keeping rental rates low. Combine this with having the highest concentration of computer/electronic equipment manufacturing employees in the region, and Fremont is very well positioned to capitalize on the resurgence of tech manufacturing in Silicon Valley.

And folks are catching on. Already home to manufacturing heavyweights such as Tesla Motors, Lam Research, Western Digital, and Boston Scientific, Fremont saw some significant transactions in 2013.

  • Seagate Technologies acquired the former Solyndra headquarters/manufacturing plant in order to expand their existing Fremont R&D operation.
  • EFI relocated their headquarters facility from the Peninsula to Fremont where it will occupy 220,000 square feet in the Ardenwood business park.
  • Tesla Motors continues to experience rapid growth at its factory in the Warm Springs area, acquiring an additional 30 acres of land immediately south of the factory.
  • Overton Moore purchased a site at Dixon Landing and I-880, where it has broken ground on a 700,000 square-foot industrial facility; the first of its kind to be built since 2000.

Relating real estate forecasts to the weather, Fremont has certainly weathered the storm, and is currently experiencing partially cloudy skies with a warming trend ahead. As the Warm Springs plan comes to fruition with major transportation infrastructure improvements on the horizon, look for things to really start heating up.