North Face, JanSport, Lucy Coming to Town

Come next summer, there'll be a new business campus with a view of San Francisco in the Harbor Bay Business Park.

City leaders and representatives from VF Outdoor, Inc. gathered at the 11-acre site of the company's future corporate headquarters along Harbor Bay Parkway Tuesday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony.

The "green" campus will house 450 employees of three of the brands that make up VF Outdoor, Inc.: The North Face, JanSport and lucy. 

"We're excited to be here and we're looking forward to becoming an important part of this community," said Steve Rendle, group president for VF Corporation, the parent company of VF Outdoor, Inc. "We looked at many, many sites and everything else paled by comparison."

"We are thrilled to have you here because we know in these tough economic times you have many choices," said Mayor Marie Gilmore, before she joined with other officials in scooping a symbolic shovel of earth. "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."

The facility, in the works since 2006, will house the company's administrative offices as well as the product design, marketing, sales, operations and research groups for the company.

The Alameda site is desirable for many reasons, said Rendle, including its accessibility to current VF employees.

"We did an employee concentration map of where our employees live, and this is the epicenter," Rendle said. About a third live in San Francisco, he said, and will able to commute by ferry.

The four buildings will be constructed to accord with green building standards. Aiming for LEED Gold status, the buildings will utilize both wind turbines and photovoltaic panel sunshades, which will cool the interior workspaces while generating solar power.

The heating and cooling system will use use 100 percent outside air, with no compressors or refrigerants.

"We'll be using ambient air to cool our space," Rendle said.

The four facilities will total 160,000 square feet and house a gym, cafe, yoga studio, decks for outdoor meetings, an onsite organic garden and other amenities to support the company's employees.

"This campus will empitomize the brands' outdoor ethos and dedication to our employees and the local community," Rendle said.