Time needed to determine the size and shape of the Office of the President
The University of California's Office of the President has announced that it will undergo a comprehensive organizational review and has postponed its consolidation initiative and the planned lease of 190,000 square feet of office space proposed at 1100 Broadway in downtown Oakland.
UC President Robert C. Dynes, in consultation with the UC Board of Regents, is looking at the future organizational structure of the Office of the President, which is systemwide administration for UC's 10 campuses and the three national laboratories UC manages for the federal government.
"Due to this change in circumstances, it is no longer an appropriate time to lock UCOP into a 10-year commitment for a substantial amount of its lease requirements, and we need to preserve flexibility as UCOP moves forward with its organizational planning," said Larry Hershman, UC vice president for budget.
Last November, the University of California announced that it had selected 1100 Broadway as the new site for an office consolidation. Currently, UCOP has five satellite offices in and around Oakland, housing various university operations including systemwide human resources and benefits, the UC treasurer's office, the California Digital Library, and several special research and academic preparation programs. These five offices are in addition to the building at 1111 Franklin St. in Oakland owned by the University of California.
In April 2005, UC published a request for proposals for an office space consolidation. In July, four proposals were selected for the final phase of the evaluation process. A proposal from Oakland East End I LLC, a partnership of Townsend Transactions of San Francisco (a subsidiary of Swinerton Inc.) and Eastmont Properties of Oakland, was selected as the preferred alternative for the lease consolidation project.
"Given the reorganization effort the regents have called for, we need to know what we are going to look like and how we are going to be organized before we can make long-term space plans," Hershman said. "Over the next several months, we will carefully examine the consolidation initiative and will consult internal and external sources for advice on how best to move forward."
University staff housed in leased space will continue to occupy that space through their lease agreement, generally set to expire in 2008 or later.
Planning for future space needs will not occur until after the organizational planning process has been completed, but will likely include allowing some leases to expire, renegotiating some of the current leases and possibly adding some newly leased space.
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