OAKLAND — PG&E said Thursday it has decided to buy its downtown Oakland headquarters and complete the purchase in 2025, a move that further cements the utility titan’s presence in the East Bay’s largest city.
The utility began moving workers in 2022 into the office tower, which is perched on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland.
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The company announced in 2020 that it had decided to lease the 28-story highrise at 300 Lakeside Drive in Oakland. At the time of that disclosure, PG&E also said it had obtained an option from property owner TMG Partners to buy the iconic tower.
Now, the utility has revealed when it will complete the purchase of the downtown Oakland highrise.
“PG&E is exercising its option to purchase its Oakland headquarters, with a closing date on the transaction in 2025, through an agreement with Bay Area developer TMG Partners,” PG&E stated in a post on its website.
The company has been moving workers into the office tower on a phased basis. Tenant improvements are almost complete on the highrise, PG&E said.
“Our Oakland headquarters is a critical hub for our operational and innovation progress,” said Patti Poppe, PG&E’s chief executive officer.
PG&E’s move to Oakland occurred in tandem with the sale of its long-time headquarters campus in San Francisco. PG&E has sold the San Francisco office towers to real estate titan Hines.
The intricate set of real estate transactions will help PG&E operate more efficiently and at a lower cost for its real estate.
Oakland-based PG&E also decided to spend the money for the Oakland tower two years from now so it could deploy the cash into more immediate needs such as upgrades and improvements to its utility systems.
“Moving the closing date for the purchase to 2025 allows PG&E to continue to focus on prioritizing investments in natural gas and electric system safety and reliability and adding grid capacity to support growing customer needs,” PG&E stated in the web post.
Over the long term, owning the Oakland tower is expected to be more cost-effective than leasing the highrise over the same lengthy period.
The 300 Lakeside Drive building is the home office for about 7,000 of PG&E’s 26,000 coworkers. The move from San Francisco and the consolidation of other East Bay offices into Oakland represents a 50% reduction in PG&E’s major Bay Area office space since 2020.
“We love being a part of the community in Oakland and look forward to our future in this vibrant city,” Poppe, the PG&E CEO, said in the web post.