TMG Partners is expected to request an extension of the city’s approval for Telegraph Tower at 2201 Valley Street in Downtown Oakland. The developer had received approval for a 450-foot office tower in 2019.
While the developer worked on permitting and city approval from 2017 to 2019, San Francisco was experiencing record-low office vacancy rates. Oakland was an attractive alternative for companies looking for office space in the Bay Area. In October 2019, TMG’s David Cropper told the San Francisco Business Times that the developer sought a single tenant to occupy the 875,000-square-foot tower, and construction was expected to start in mid-2020.
Telegraph Tower view within the city skyline, rendered by Steelblue
Over two years after approval, Matt Field, now to co-CEO of TMG, told the Business Times in 2021 that the firm was still ‘very optimistic’ about building Telegraph Tower. Field emphasized that most office workers in the Bay Area workforce live in the East Bay, so Oakland is a closer commute than San Francisco. He declined to project an expected start for construction at the time.
TMG Partners has yet to reply to a request for comment by YIMBY.
Telegraph Tower interior lobby and balcony space, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Telegraph Tower balcony view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Telegraph Tower pedestrian view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
The approved plan calls for a 450-foot structure with 740,000 square feet of office space, 1,600 square feet for an arts or maker space along West Grand Avenue, and 2,800 square feet of commercial space for arts, a maker space, or a performance arts space.
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is responsible for the architectural design. Illustrations show the glass-wrapped structure carved by a string of balconies that separate volumes for an articulated facade. The curtainwall skin will be adorned with perforated patinaed metal panels. SCB writes that each portion of the “glass façade contains a unique pattern of pleated curtain wall modules with exterior vertical fins optimized to reduce solar loads and glare.”
Telegraph Tower establishing view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Telegraph Tower, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
2201 Valley Street outlined approximately by YIMBY, image via Google Satellite
The property is on a lot bound by Telegraph Avenue, West Grand Avenue, 22nd Street, and Valley Street. The site is close to the recently opened Moxy Hotel and a block away from 2016 Telegraph Avenue. The 19th Street BART Station is two blocks away, where transit riders exit next to the 39-story 1900 Broadway apartment tower. The Behring Company is expecting to open the housing complex next year.
The Oakland Planning Commission is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, December 6th, at 3 PM. The meeting will be held in person only. For more information about how to attend and participate, visit the meeting agenda here.
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I don’t think this is going to be built.
Same. Will most likely downsize, & converted to mix use, with majority housing. 800k sq ft is a lot even pre-covid. Would like to see it built, but im expecting a scaled-backed project to move forward.
Before 2020 I would agree with this take, but ever since the pandemic started Bay Area cities have seemed much more likely to approve tall building projects, most of which are housing. Especially since this one has already been approved since 2019
Why doesn’t the project include at least some residential housing as either condominiums, apartments or something else? I may have missed it
No one project is enough, but each project with some housing will help remediate San Francisco’s housing shortage
It should be housing, not office. Office is still going to be in glut for a long, long time.
Office occupancy is still only 50% nationwide and 40% in the Bay Area.
*Fact: IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Save your excitement for Carl the fog as that’s the only guarantee Oakland has coming in its future. High rise office space is deader than dead in Oakland. This, like many other ventures is a ploy by TMG to figure out what they really wanna do with the space (make it a Home Depot or something just as pathetic).
Sorry to say this will not see the light of day unless they switch to a housing project that is all. Oakland is good for now. All eyes and attention will be on the Colosseum and how to rezone and redevelop that land