12.01.17 

Social networking giant Facebook is expanding into Fremont, signing a lease for two office buildings near the Dumbarton Bridge with room for hundreds of workers, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

The new buildings, at 6530 Paseo Padre Parkway and 6422 Commerce Drive, sit next to one another and total about 190,000 square feet. They’re located in Fremont’s Ardenwood business district, and are about a 10-minute drive from the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park.

Facebook did not comment on the report.

Construction crews were onsite this week, renovating both buildings. Once complete, they could house as many as 1,000 employees.

In October, Tesla leased 229,000 square feet of office space in the same area, suggesting Ardenwood could be poised to become Silicon Valley’s next hot commercial real estate market.

Traditionally, Ardenwood has been home to stodgier companies, like Logitech and Electronics for Imaging. Facebook’s new buildings will share a parking lot with Johnson & Johnson.

Opening a location in Fremont makes sense for Facebook, which has said it wants to invest in the Dumbarton Bridge corridor. The company is rapidly expanding in Menlo Park, where it’s planning a mixed-use neighborhood near its headquarters with retail space, housing and recreation areas.

As an interesting aside, this is the second time this year a company has a signed a lease for 6530 Paseo Padre Parkway. 

In May, Brisbane-based medical device company Cutera signed a 10-year lease for the building, putting up a $1.8 million letter of credit to do so, with plans to move into the building in December, according to a regulatory filing.

Two months later, Bay Area developer The Sobrato Organization, which owns the building, offered Cutera $4 million in cash to terminate the lease.

In plans filed with Alameda County, Facebook said it had no immediate plans to buy the buildings, the Mercury News reports.