SANTA CLARA, CA-GlobeSt.com has learned that Palo Alto Networks has signed a 110,000-square-foot office lease at 3300 Olcott St. here. The network security company expanded and relocated its corporate headquarters from its previous location at 232 E. Java Dr. in Sunnyvale to optimize space efficiency.
According to Mike Haro, director of communications, Palo Alto Networks was approaching the end of its lease and occupying space that “did not reflect its culture and changing needs.” PAN leased 35,000 square feet at 232 E. Java Dr. Despite having added temporary rental space across the street, he says, the company’s existing space was “functionally inefficient and unable to accommodate future space needs,” Haro says.
He points out that “The incredible rate of our company’s expansion has surpassed everyone’s expectations. The vision for the company’s new HQ was to support accelerated growth, customer service, R&D, and recruiting efforts.”
Robin Weckesser, CresaPartners’ principal of the Bay Area project management group, and Doug Schmitt, project director, oversaw the project management and relocation planning. According to Weckesser, working with Palo Alto Network’s internal team, CresaPartners provided strategic planning, program development, site selection, lease negotiation, construction project management and facilities support.
The vision for PAN’s new corporate headquarters was to provide physical space that supported accelerated growth, brand recognition, and product development. Location, rent, and capital costs were also key factors, according to CresaPartners. The assignment included challenges of scope, budget, and a tight timeline for delivery.
“Through consistent collaboration and careful attention to detail, CresaPartners helped meet Palo Alto Network’s project objectives of optimal space efficiency, flexible space planning, more natural lighting, and lower workstation heights for improved workforce collaboration,” Weckesser says. Additional benefits cited by Weckesser include more effective use of meeting space to promote employee communication and interaction, building-top and monument signage with excellent Highway 101 visibility, ample on-site parking, an enhanced environment for recruitment, and all operations located under one roof.
The process of finding the site was a very details process. Site selection began to zero in on an optimal site solution among available properties. CresaPartners’ transaction management team initiated the RFP process with landlords while the company’s project management team proceeded with the design and construction team assembly. With landlord responses to the RFP in hand, the company’s transaction team then provided PAN with a detailed economic analysis of the responses. Through client collaboration, a site selection short list was developed while the project management team conducted a due diligence review of the prospective sites. That review, says CresaPartners, included condition reports on existing building systems along with creation of interior test fits.
Upon completion of the RFP process and with an agreed-upon letter of intent, lease negotiations and space planning kicked into high gear, says the brokerage firm. The CresaPartners teams continued to collaborate at every turn, and the lease negotiation phase was “strategically timed to take advantage of favorable market conditions.”
According to Brady, it was gratifying for CresaPartners to offer integrated corporate services as a means to realize optimal efficiencies for Palo Alto Networks. “We strive to provide seamless planning and execution, and this was a great example of all the pieces coming together,” he says.
CresaPartners points out that a major trend, especially in the Silicon Valley market, is optimizing workspaces into more creative and collaborative environments, and this deal “is an example of that creativity and productivity resulting in optimal space efficiency.”
CresaPartners could not provide further information regarding aggregate lease value or lease terms at this time.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
