He says they did look elsewhere but decided this is where they want to construct the 28-story building.
"At the end of the day, we can think of no better place than Oakland, California and so we're here," said CEO Bernard Tyson.
The location of the new Kaiser Thrive Center - Telegraph Ave. near the Paramount. pic.twitter.com/Jx0yfCC2Ar
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) June 17, 2019
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was on hand for the big announcement and says this is great news for the city.
"I could not be more delighted to announce that Kaiser Permanente is going to be the owner and landlord for Oakland's biggest office building, a beautiful visionary edifice with beautiful design, thoughtful programming," said Mayor Libby Schaaf.
She pointed out that pointed out that the building - while it won't be taller - will be larger than San Francisco's Salesforce Tower- with 1.6 million square-feet of space.
"There's going to be community space, health education, clinics... it really is going to be a community asset, not just another office building," Schaff said.
Here is what the new Kaiser Thrive Center will look like. pic.twitter.com/O5tjkcO4P5
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) June 17, 2019
The new building's address will be 2100 Telegraph Avenue. The restaurant Giant Burgers and a city-owned parking garage now sit at the location.
"There will be some inconvenience, particularly for patrons of the Paramount that depend on that parking garage to park in," said Schaaf, who went on to say, "The new building will have replacement parking in it. We also want to encourage more people to use public transit to get to downtown."
She did not offer any deals to convince Kaiser to stay.
"I have been adamant about not giving tax breaks, even to a wonderful organization like Kaiser Permanente. They are playing their full freight," said the mayor.
The new building is expected to be complete in 2023.
Mayor Libby Schaaf @LibbySchaaf on hand to announce the new Kaiser Headquarters- pointing out that, although it won’t be taller, it will be bigger than San Francisco’s Salesforce tower. pic.twitter.com/N5ZeN53OHD
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) June 17, 2019
Kaiser Permanente announcing construction of new Headquarters, Thrive Center, in Oakland. The new cluster of buildings will give Kaiser 1.6 million square feet of space. pic.twitter.com/HcMWbKcI6K
— Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) June 17, 2019