Tesla plans for major expansion in Fremont

FREMONT, Calif. (KGO) -- Tesla has announced its plans to expand in Fremont. The electric automaker will soon move 1,500 employees to a newly-renovated office complex in the city's Ardenwood district, just a few miles away from its giant manufacturing facility off Interstate 680.

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Robert Chapman Wood, professor of strategic management in the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San Jose State University, says the move makes sense as the company continues to grow.

"From being a manufacturer of just luxury cars, to being a high-volume manufacturer of cars that someone like me could buy is quite a step," says Wood.

By rezoning the Ardenwood district, Fremont city officials have made a big push in recent years to attract companies from other Bay Area tech hubs. Facebook is currently remodeling a property off Paseo Padre Parkway, not too far from the new Tesla campus. But with all of this growth comes concern from real estate experts as the region suffers from a housing shortage.

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"Even with these great jobs that are paying great salaries, and two incomes, it's still very expensive," says Gustavo Gonzalez, president-elect of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors. "We really need to get a handle on this by building more housing."

Union City resident David Chang says it's great to see the local economy doing well, but he wonders how much worse the traffic is going to get.

"You have to be a master practitioner of timing," said Chiang. "You either go to work a little later, or you take advantage of most tech companies' shuttles, which I do."

With the progress and prosperity of Silicon Valley, now making its way east, up to cities such as Fremont, Newark and Union City, some question who (or what) will be left behind.

Most of the Tesla employees who are moving into the new Fremont complex in April of this year are non-engineers who mainly work in the company's sales, marketing and administrative departments.

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