Kairos Power moves to Alameda Point
The energy technology company’s new home will be a one-time hangar at the former naval air station
Kairos Power is moving its headquarters from Oakland’s waterfront area to Alameda Point, agreeing to lease an old hangar.
The nuclear energy technology company agreed to lease 56,000 square feet at Alameda Point, the site of the shuttered former Alameda Naval Air Station.
Kairos Power will move into West Tower 9, a one-time hangar and manufacturing building constructed in the 1940s. The lease was arranged through Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial realty firm.
The building is undergoing a complete renovation ahead of the Kairos move into the old hangar.
Kairos at present is leasing about 5,000 square feet at 580 Second St. in Oakland, a couple of blocks from the East Bay city’s waterfront.
“This is a watershed deal for the West Tower 9 project and the greater Alameda Point Development,” said Joe Ernst, president
of srmErnst Development, a realty firm.
The site also is part of the revival of Alameda Point, including an adjacent 68-acre, $500 million mixed-use project that Alameda officials approved in 2015.
That nearby project is slated to be developed in three phases. It includes 800 multi-family residential units, neighborhood retail and restaurants, manufacturing space, a full-service hotel with 150 rooms or more, a 15-acre public park and waterfront plaza, and a new ferry terminal less than fiveminutes from West Tower 9. The ferry service is due to begin in 2019 or 2020.
Kairos is attempting to develop a new generation of nuclear energy technologies and aims to provide alternatives to natural gas generation.
“Our schedule is driven by the goal of a U.S. demonstration plant before 2030 and a rapid deployment thereafter,” Kairos stated on its website. “The challenge is great, but so too is the opportunity.” Contact George Avalos at 408-859- 5167.