PG&E completes nearly billion-dollar deal to buy Oakland HQ, nearby site

REAL ESTATE

Utility finalizes massive property transaction that tops $980 million

Seen is an office and retail complex office tower at 300 Lakeside Drive in downtown Oakland, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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By George Avalos

gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com

OAKLAND — PG&E finalized a nearly billion-dollar purchase of its downtown Oakland headquarters and an adjacent property in a deal the investor-owned utility hopes will help save money for its customers.

PG&E paid $906 million for a parcel that contains an office high-rise and $79.5 million for the adjacent parcel that includes a mixed-use office and retail building at 300 Lakeside Drive, according to documents filed on Tuesday with the Alameda County recorder’s office.

Oakland-based PG&E has established its headquarters in the 28-story office tower that’s perched on the shores of Lake Merritt. It is the home office for about 7,000 of PG&E’s 26,000 workers, the utility estimated in 2023.

The transaction completes an intricate set of Bay Area real estate deals that PG&E hopes will help it pass along savings from a more efficient operation to its customers through their monthly electric and gas bills.

PG&E has also sold its former headquarters complex in San Francisco for $800 million as part of a relocation of the company’s head offices to downtown Oakland.

The utility company estimated that it would be able to save $400 million through a more efficient operation in a single office tower and that it would pass the savings along to customers over a five-year period.

The company anticipated that the cost savings would help moderate the rise in monthly bills for ratepayers.

In 2020, PG&E said it had struck a deal to lease the 300 Lakeside office tower from TMG Partners. That rental agreement also provided PG&E with an option to buy the tower from TMG, a purchase that has now occurred.

“Our Oakland headquarters is a critical hub for our operational and innovation progress,” PG&E CEO Patricia Poppe stated in a web post in 2023.

PG&E began moving workers into the 300 Lakeside office tower in 2022.

The move from San Francisco and the consolidation of other East Bay offices into Oakland represent a 50% reduction in PG&E’s major Bay Area office space since 2020, the company stated previously.

“We love being a part of the community in Oakland and look forward to our future in this vibrant city,” Poppe previously stated.