Albany Racetrack is Finalist for New Berkeley Lab

, which  in March to become the next site for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has made the shortlist for the project, according to information released Monday afternoon. 

The University of California, which runs the Berkeley lab, has released six finalists for the proposed second campus:

• Alameda Point, Alameda
  
• Berkeley Aquatic Park West, West Berkeley
• Brooklyn Basin, Oakland
• Emeryville/Berkeley, (includes properties currently occupied by the Lab in Emeryville and West Berkeley)
• , spanning the cities of Berkeley and Albany
• Richmond Field Station, a site owned by the University of California

The university received more than 20 responses when a Request for Qualifications was released earlier this year. The goal is to consolidate programs in leased spaces throughout the Bay Area, and to save some money, according to Monday's press release.

The finalists were chosen , including a location within 20 to 25 minutes of the original campus; land capacity to accommodate potential future growth; and easy access to public transportation and other amenities.

The university plans to make a final decision in late November, with occupancy scheduled for mid-2016. (Originally, the final decision was .)

"While the University’s original intent was to identify a preferred site by this summer, it became clear during this very competitive process that the next steps of due diligence, site inspections, and negotiations will extend that timeline," according to Monday's release.

Most of Berkeley Lab’s 4,200 employees work at its main site, but about 20 percent work in leased facilities around the East Bay, including at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, and the Lab's life science facilities in Berkeley.

A second campus would bring researchers who are scattered throughout the East Bay to interact more with each other, and with faculty and students throughout the UC system, according to Monday's news release.

“We had tremendous response to our call for qualifications,” said Berkeley Lab Director Paul Alivisatos, in the statement. “We really want to thank all the cities and developers that presented their ideas. The large number of visionary responses created by so many communities in the East Bay is an impressive reminder of the value that our region places on science in service of society. And now that we have identified our top candidates, we look forward to working with them as we move closer to selecting a preferred site.”

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a call at 510-459-8325 or shoot her an e-mail at emilier@patch.com.