Facebook’s expansion into Fremont will be centered around its Dumbarton Campus, a network of 14 buildings in Ardenwood bounded by Kaiser Drive (north), Dumbarton Circle (south and east), and Campus Drive (west). The buildings, constructed in the mid-1990's, range in size from 41,000 to 65,000 square feet and total over 750,000 square feet.

The first two campus buildings were occupied earlier this year, and another five are targeted for occupancy in November 2019. The occupancy for the remaining buildings is tentatively scheduled for 2021. The total employee count for the campus will be roughly 5,000 employees.

In addition to office space, the campus buildings will include fitness center, dining, and event space uses. Improvements to the site include a large, centrally located open space area (the “Central Green”) consisting of multiple spaces for outdoor activities, including a basketball court, a synthetic turf field, a tree-rich meadow with walking trails, dining areas, and a main assembly area. Other site improvements include redesigned parking areas, new landscaping and accessible paths of travel, and the addition of access/security infrastructure.

Additional plans include the preservation of 1,000 existing campus trees; the creation of a transit island off Campus Drive that will include a bus shelter area for the fleet of regional buses that deliver employees to and from the campus; and the addition of shuttle stop locations around the campus to transport employees to other Facebook office locations, including their existing facilities in Menlo Park. Facebook also plans to provide nearly 500 campus bikes for employee use, in addition to bike parking/storage for nearly 600 private employee bikes.

Did you know we have a mapping tool that allows you to see development activity through Fremont? Civic Insight is an interactive map that plots major development (vertical construction) permit activity throughout Fremont over the past 10 years. It includes building, engineering, and planning permits. You can search by address, permit number, neighborhood, street name, and/or time period.

To get started, visit Fremont.gov/CivicInsight.

In June 2018, the Fremont City Council directed City staff to study the Mission San Jose Town Center to determine the potential for commercial success in the area—with special emphasis on retail, restaurants, entertainment options, and mixed use developments that include housing—and to develop strategies to support it accordingly. The Mission San Jose Town Center is a commercial district near Washington Boulevard and Mission Boulevard, anchored by the historic Mission San Jose church and museum. See a map of the area.

The City has concluded the study, and City Council reviewed and accepted the final report for the study in May 2019. Key strategies include focusing revitalization efforts on a smaller “primary commercial area” within the Town Center; enhancing the identity of the area through marketing, events, and signage; incorporating a leasing/merchandising plan for property owners and commercial tenants; and improving the public realm. 

City staff is conducting another community meeting to outline the findings in detail. The community is invited to attend this meeting on Thursday, July 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Olive Hyde Center, located at 123 Washington Blvd in Fremont.

The Study Report and the City Council Report are available at Fremont.gov/MissionSanJoseStudy. 

For more information, please contact Wayne Morris, Deputy Community Development Director, at 510-494-4729 or by email.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of synthetic organic chemicals that have been detected at elevated levels in certain sport fish in the San Francisco Bay. Effective July 1, 2019, all whole building demolitions (with the exception of single-family homes and wood-frame structures) that were constructed or remodeled between 1950 and 1980 are required to submit the PCBs Screening Assessment Form. In addition, a representative sampling of priority building materials and subsequent lab summaries are required prior to permit issuance. Further information about the new PCB protocols is available at Fremont.gov/PCBprotocol. Developers, building owners, and other concerned parties are advised to assess for PCBs in building materials as early as possible in the development review process to avoid unanticipated project costs and delays.
 
To protect human health, PCB sources to the Bay are currently being identified and controlled. Certain building materials (e.g., caulks, sealants, insulation) have been identified as a source of PCBs entering urban stormwater runoff during building demolition activities. This new requirement is issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) and carried out by local agencies.

For more information, please contact the City's Environmental Services Division at 510-494-4570 or by email.

On June 11, the Fremont City Council held a Council Work Session on possible revisions to the City's Affordable Housing Ordinance. City staff provided a high level overview of the ordinance; data regarding housing production; and legislative changes and court decisions that have taken place since the adoption of the ordinance.

As next steps, the City Council directed staff to conduct a Residential Nexus Study. The study will help inform Council’s decision on whether to continue to allow residential developers to pay affordable housing fees as one of the options for complying with the ordinance. Should the Council decide to keep the fee option, the study would help establish the appropriate fee level. Other next steps include gathering community input; conducting work sessions with the Planning Commission and City Council on the ordinance revisions; holding public hearings; and adopting the revised ordinance.

The City will continue to provide updates on this topic. Stay tuned.