After roughly 16 years of planning and waiting, the site of the former Oakland Army Base has broken ground this week on the new Oakland Global Trade and Logistics Center. The $1.2 billion project, adjacent to the Port of Oakland, is being developed by California Capital & Investment Group (CCIG), along with Prologis, the city of Oakland and the Port.

Located on 360 acres, the facility is designed to transform the old army base into a world-class intermodal trade and logistics center. The Port of Oakland is the only international container trade gateway for the Northern California region. 

The project approved by the City Council last October, includes three, 66-year leases totaling 120 acres.

The 34-acre West Gateway lease involves renovation and modernization of a former marine terminal into a state-of-the-art, deep-water export terminal called the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, which will operate 24-hours a day to facilitate moving cargo directly between ships and rail and handling up to 12, 50-car trainloads per day.

The Central and East Gateway leases include approximately 1 million sq-ft of trade and logistics warehouse facilities, rapid deployment centers, and regional distribution centers that will be integrated with new and existing rail. Because they are so near to the Port, these gateways will greatly reduce the number of diesel truck trips normally required for port activities.  

The project will also feature approximately 27.3 acres for indoor recycling facilities, seven acres for truck parking, two new rail yards, each with 4,000-ft loading tracks and wide span electric powered rail mount cranes for container handling over each track group.

Construction of the project is estimated to create about 2,800 new jobs, 50 % of which are required to go to local residents. Officials say an additional 2,000 permanent positions will be needed in the coming years. The project’s first step will be significant site preparation and infrastructure work to support the expanded logistics and cargo facilities. This work should take about three years to complete and include soils and materials preparation and construction of rail yards, tracks and roadways.

Other members of the project team include Omaha, NE- HDR Engineering, Inc; Gilroy, CA-based Ruggeri-Jensen-Azar (RJA), engineers, planners and surveyors; Oakland-based PGAdesign inc landscaper designers; Redwood City, CA-based engineering firm, BFK; Pleasanton, CA-based geotechnical company, Berlogar Stevens & Associates (BSA); Oakland-based Northgate Environmental Management; Los Angeles-based Morrow-Meadows Corporation, electrical contracting; and Oakland-based Acumen Building Enterprise, Inc, a construction consulting firm.