Port of Oakland - Newsroom

Groundbreaking Ceremony for A State-Of-The-Art Telecommunications Access Center at Jack London Square

Who: M.A. Mortenson Company
What: Groundbreaking ceremony for a telecom center
When: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 at 10am
Where: Castro St. between 2nd and 3rd near Oakland's Jack London Square
Honored Guests: Mortenson's Director of Development Tom Lander, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Councilmember Nancy Nadel, Port Commissioner Phillip Tagami, Port of Oakland Deputy Executive Director Tay Yoshitani, Port of Oakland Director of Commercial Real Estate Omar Benjamin.

The Port of Oakland joins M.A. Mortenson Company's Director of Development Tom Lander, Mayor Jerry Brown and Oakland City officials, in a formal groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a brand new state-of-the-art $30 million telecommunications center. It is one of the first facilities of this type to be built from the ground up in the country. The new facility will occupy the block bounded by Brush, Second, Castro and Third Streets.

Oakland is gaining recognition as a key telecommunications hub. And the Port of Oakland is attracting high tech business to the Jack London Square area. The 113,000 sq. ft. facility is designed by telecommunications experts Cabrillo Architects and Mortenson's Communication Technology Group. M.A. Mortenson has built some 120 telecommunications facilities across the country.

"New Economy businesses -- Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Access Service Providers (ASPs) and co-location companies -- have special requirements," explains Tom Lander, Mortenson's Director of Development. "They've got to have proximity to a variety of fiber optic carriers, heavy power, space for generators and fuel, strong floor loads, high ceiling heights, 24/7 security, and more.

We've drawn on our broad telecom experience with companies like MCI/Worldcom, Sprint, Qwest, and Level 3 to select a premier location, and to create a facility precisely tailored to provide the 100% reliability and redundancy that telecom, access and co-location companies require."

Oakland is already hosting more than 200 internet, software and hardware companies. M.A. Mortenson project manager and engineer James Fey says Mortenson was drawn to the Jack London Square area by a number of things, including the fiber optic infrastructure for business and the proximity of new residential options, and a variety of popular restaurants and entertainment for employees.

"This new telecommunications facility is a catalyst for technology business development in our area. The Mortenson building will deliver the telecommunications access other high tech companies need to operate, including critical mission data storage. This is part of the Port of Oakland's continuing commitment to provide a quality mix of business, residential and entertainment facilities to the thriving Jack London District," said Port of Oakland's Director of Commercial Real Estate, Omar Benjamin.

The event begins at 10am. A light breakfast will be served. After a few comments from key speakers, a traditional groundbreaking ceremony complete with shovel will kick-off construction for the new Oakland Telecommunications Access Center.


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