Following Salesforce's lead, the healthcare giant will relocate to a high-rise urban headquarters, transitioning out of seven locations it currently occupies in the East Bay.
Kaiser Permanente's planned new headquarters will encompass 1.6 million square feet of floor space, making it "one of the largest new buildings in the Bay Area — larger in space, though not height, than San Francisco's Salesforce Tower," Roland Li writes.
The healthcare corporation, already Oakland's largest employer, will consolidate over 7,000 employees from seven locations into the new 29-story tower, which is set to open in 2023. Occupying a site currently graced with "a parking garage and vacant lots," the new headquarters will be dubbed the Kaiser Permanente Thrive Center and cost a total of $900 million, saving the firm $60 million a year compared with its current set-up.
Kaiser's move makes it one of the latest major firms to set up shop downtown, moving away from the suburban office park mode. "The building is comparable in size to the huge suburban buildings occupied by tech giants Facebook and Google in Silicon Valley," Li writes.
FULL STORY: Kaiser Permanente to build giant, new $900 million Oakland headquarters
City to Bicyclists: Berkeley Not in Idaho
Berkeley, California might have a reputation of a very progressive city, but when it comes to cycling, it appears to have little tolerance for cyclists who roll through stop signs. Police are justifying the crackdown on the terms of a state grant.
Second Largest Bikeshare in U.S. will be Bay Area's by 2017
Bay Area Bike Share will grow from 700 to 7,000 bikes by 2017 after the expansion proposal was approved by a unanimous vote of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. It is a regional, not a city program, though most usage is in San Francisco.
Transportation Start-up Fails for Being Too Public-Minded
Night School, planning to use school bus fleets to supplement late-night Bay Area transit, lost the regulatory fights Uber and Lyft handily won.
The End of Single-Family Zoning in Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is the latest jurisdiction in the country to effectively end single-family zoning.
The Quiet Housing Crisis in Rural America
While housing shortages in major cities are grabbing headlines, rural communities are seeing higher rates of growth in housing prices and a silently spreading homelessness crisis.
Skyline-Defining High-Rise Potentially Coming to Boise
A rendering making the rounds in Boise depicts a 40-story apartment building that would be taller than all other buildings in one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
11,000 Housing Units Possible with S.F. Office Conversions, Study Says
A new study by SPUR and the Urban Land Institute’s San Francisco chapter estimates a specific number of apartment units that could be built from vacant office units in the city.
‘Arrested Mobility:’ How Transportation-Related Laws Impact Black Americans
A far-reaching new study highlights the disproportionate effect of biking and walking laws on the mobility of Black Americans.
California Attorney General Wants to Get Serious About Housing
A bill sponsored by the AG’s office would give the state’s top attorney more power to intervene in lawsuits related to the state’s housing laws.
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
City of Kingsville
Princeton Planning
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
