Bayview Development Modifies Silicon Valley Office Design for Safer Re-entry

SANTA CLARA, CA—Lawrence Station, a class-A office/R&D project under construction, has modified its design to provide a safer and healthier work environment as companies and employees begin workplace re-entry. Owned and developed by Bayview Development Group/BDG, Lawrence Station is a 173,472-square-foot five-story project located at 3655 Kifer Rd.

The project sits at the heart of the emerging urban node catalyzed by the Lawrence Station Area Plan/LSAP which was jointly adopted in 2016 by Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Office/R&D, residential and retail have sprouted up around the Lawrence Caltrain station and LSAP’s success has led to talks of expanding it.

“Other key factors making Lawrence Station so attractive for companies are its central Silicon Valley location and ease of accessibility,” says Ted McMahon, BDG chief investment officer. “Although public transportation, like the nearby Caltrain station, has challenges in the near term due to the pandemic, public transit will still be a major consideration for employers in the long term.”

Focused on delivering a project for the safety and security of its occupants, Lawrence Station features a new MERV 13 filtered VRF HVAC System with a dedicated outdoor air system that employs energy recovery ventilation providing maximum use of outdoor air with minimized energy costs. The fan coil units can be upgraded with carbon filters and UV/photocatalytic air sanitizer systems as part of a user’s tenant improvements.

BDG worked with RMW Architecture and Interiors to redesign restrooms for single occupancy use, stairwells for increased usage and one-way path of travel to facilitate social distancing protocols. BDG swiftly redressed its original occupancy density plans, pivoting from a higher to a lower density plan. Additionally, the building features balconies and outdoor space for employees to work, gather and breathe fresh air.

“Many of the old work environments with combinations of meeting spaces, individual and shared desks will be reimagined,” McMahon tells GlobeSt.com. “Many of these will shift in the near term and will likely have a lasting effect on how work is done. Despite working from home becoming the norm, companies will still rely on office space to reflect their culture and especially in Silicon Valley, they will rely on the office to support hardware engineering functions that cannot be done in a home environment.”

Cushman & Wakefield’s Gregory Davies, Brandon Bain, Greg Bennette and Erik Hallgrimson in the firm’s San Jose/Silicon Valley office are handling the leasing efforts for the project. The building can accommodate Silicon Valley’s variety of corporate users from tech to professional to medical device, and can be leased to either a single tenant or divisible to 70,000 square feet. Lawrence Station is estimated to be shell-complete by fourth quarter 2020 with occupancy possible by that date.

“Silicon Valley has always been recognized as one of the most innovative places in the world and Lawrence Station is exemplary of that innovation,” said Davies. “We are proud to be part of this project, and of Bayview and RMW’s expedient redesign and implementation at Lawrence Station which has launched the project to the forefront in helping provide a safer work solution.”

New product under construction across the region currently stands at approximately 5.2 million square feet. This is comprised of 3.5 million square feet of speculative product and 1.7 million square feet of build-to-suits, according to a second quarter report by Cushman & Wakefield. It is important to note that 1.3 million square feet of the spec space is preleased, leaving 2.2 million square feet that will enter the vacancy rolls if not leased prior to completion, says the report.

With the future Google development in downtown San Jose as well as the future BART extension, the Downtown submarket had been gaining increased interest from both tenants and landlords. Jay Paul Company’s 200 Park is under construction with an 840,000-square-foot spec building. Also, Jay Paul just received approvals for the CityView redevelopment project at a total of 3.8 million square feet.

There are several other downtown developments in the pipeline, but with the pandemic and shelter in place, some large tech companies have put expansion plans on hold. Understandably, current tenant tracking has decreased and Cushman & Wakefield is tracking 4 million square feet of active office/R&D tenant requirements.