OAKLAND — Square said Thursday it has leased the iconic Uptown Station complex in downtown Oakland, marking a major boost for the East Bay city and a deal that will bring hundreds of the tech company’s workers to the city.
The maker of mobile payments technologies and systems, whose chief executive officer is the co-founder of Twitter, said it leased the entire office portion of Uptown Station at 1955 Broadway in Oakland.
“We’re excited to join the Oakland community as a partner, an advocate, a neighbor, and a customer of local businesses,” said Jack Dorsey, Square’s chief executive officer.
The office portion of Uptown Station totals 356,000 square feet, which is enough space to accommodate roughly 1,700 workers or more.
Square intends to move about 300 to 500 employees to the downtown Oakland complex sometime during the October-through-December period of 2019, sources with direct knowledge of Square’s plans said.
“Oakland is committed to attracting businesses whose values align with our community, whose workforce reflects our inclusiveness, and whose greatest priority is the long-term prosperity of every Oakland resident,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “With their proven commitment to empowering new and local entrepreneurs, I believe Square can be that company.”
Uptown Station is at the site of an old Sears department store in Oakland and is undergoing a wide-ranging renovation led by developer CIM Group. Brokers from Newmark Knight Frank and CBRE are marketing the spaces in the complex.
The building also includes 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
“We acquired Uptown Station almost a year ago believing that re-purposing this building to modern creative office space in a transitioning district would be an attractive option for Bay Area businesses like Square,” said Avi Shemesh, a principal executive with CIM Group.
Downtown Oakland is deemed to be an attractive office market because skyrocketing rents in San Francisco have squeezed tenants and forced them to scout for space elsewhere.
Square said it will retain a San Francisco presence at its current offices on Market Street even after it opens the new Oakland work hub.
“As we continue to grow, we want to support our employees wherever they are so they can work and invest in the communities in which they live,” Dorsey said.
The Uptown district of Oakland is an increasingly popular area of restaurants, entertainment venues and night spots, as well as new housing.
“There are few locations in the region that offer such an array of social, economic, and transportation benefits as Uptown Station, and Square could not have selected a more ideal location,” Mayor Schaaf said.