Exclusive: Google won Moffett Field, but a Bay Area real estate firm was in the running
Vicki Thompson
Hangar One at the NASA Ames Research Center will be re-skinned by Google within two years.
- Nathan Donato-Weinstein[1]
- Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
In the hunt to lease Moffett Federal Airfield, Google Inc.[4] faced competition from one other entity hoping to land the deal: An East Bay developer that was targeting the iconic base's enormous hangars as a unique commercial real estate play for science and technology tenants.
Orton[5] Development Inc., an Emeryville-based firm with a long history of historic renovations, was the only other potential lessee whose response to NASA's 2013 request for proposals to lease the airfield was "deemed responsive," according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Google, through its Planetary Ventures LLC affiliate, won the lease last year[6], agreeing to pay hundreds of millions to improve the property and $1.16 billion in rent over 60 years[7].
Federal officials had not previously disclosed who else was in the running to lease Moffett Field[8], which includes the historically significant but dilapidated Hangar One, two active runways plus a golf course. The presence of just one other serious contender could suggest the complexity of the opportunity, which will require massively expensive environmental cleanup.
A third proposal from the Moffett Federal Airfield Alliance (also known as the Silicon Valley[9] Space Center) was deemed "non responsive" and was returned to the applicant, NASA said.
The Business Journal requested all of the responses to the request for proposals that NASA and the General Services Administration received for the opportunity. On Jan. 20, NASA provided Google's and Orton[10]'s, both with redactions of information deemed confidential.
Orton[11]'s name should perhaps not be surprising. The firm in 2010 announced it wanted to rehabilitate Hangar One[12]— which was slated to have its toxic siding removed but not replaced by the U.S. Navy — and lease space inside the structure to companies. Orton[13] specializes in major historic renovation, such as the award-winning reuse of the mammoth Ford assembly plant in Richmond.
Nathan Donato-Weinstein covers commercial real estate and transportation for the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
References
- ^ Nathan Donato-Weinstein (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Google Inc. (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Orton (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ won the lease last year (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ millions to improve the property and $1.16 billion in rent over 60 years (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Moffett Field (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Silicon Valley (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Orton (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Orton (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ announced it wanted to rehabilitate Hangar One (www.mv-voice.com)
- ^ Orton (feeds.bizjournals.com)