OAKLAND — A proposal to build a stunning office highrise that would be Oakland’s tallest tower — and the tallest Bay Area skyscraper outside of San Francisco — has hopped a giant step ahead in the city approval process.
The Oakland Planning Commission has voted 5-0, with one abstention, to approve an office tower that would be 622 feet high — 200 feet taller than what is currently Oakland’s tallest highrise, the Ordway Building.
“It is a beautiful-looking building,” Oakland Planning Commissioner Sahar Shirazi said prior to the panel’s vote. “Yes, it’s tall. But it looks great.”
The 38-story office tower would be developed at 415 20th St. near the corner of Thomas L. Berkley Way and Franklin Street. The tower would include 862,000 square feet of office space.
Hines, a Texas-based real estate firm, is leading the development of the building, which would sprout a block away from the 19th Street Oakland BART station if it’s built.
“This is a true Oakland project,” Paul Paradis, a senior managing director with Houston-based Hines, told the Planning Commission before its vote this week.
Hines touted the project’s location as being among the tower’s attractions.
“It is right on the 19th Street BART station in the heart of Uptown,” Paradis said. “The building’s open spaces allow full enjoyment of the great Oakland weather. We are just a short walk to beautiful Lake Merritt.”
A big lease with tech financial services firm Square and another rental deal with utility behemoth PG&E are among recent real estate transactions that suggest Oakland is becoming a magnet for larger companies.
That attraction also poses a problem, however: Oakland could start to run out of big chunks of office space to dangle before big users.
“Oakland is very much in need of high-quality office space to continue attracting world-class employers, which this building will do,” Paradis said.
