Seeking lower rents and greater space, a wave of high-tech firms is gearing up to relocate to this city on eastern edge of Silicon Valley. Software giant Sybase is the first major firm to begin construction, breaking ground on their 420,000-sf campus last week at Hacienda Drive and New Dublin Boulevard.

The two-building facility will house 1,000 employees, and lots of perks. The campus will include a fitness center, a gourmet cafeteria, dry-cleaning services and child care facilities.

That, however, is just the beginning, says Dublin director of community development Eddie Peabody. "Other companies are proposing to move to Dublin," Peabody tells GlobeSt. "We are working on projects now that will actually be bigger than Sybase."

Two of the biggest and most imminent projects involve Pleasanton-based Commerce One and San Jose-based Cisco Systems. Commerce One, an e-commerce management firm, has proposed building a 700,000-sf main plant near the new Sybase campus. Cisco, the Internet networking conglomerate, last month entered into exclusive negotiations on a 35-acre parcel of surplus land owned by Alameda County.

There's a lot more to be had. Eastern Dublin still has more than 2,000 undeveloped acres. "If you're interested in the Tri-Valley and in large-scale projects," says Peabody, "probably Dublin is the best bet at the moment."

The city's plan for its eastern area, where the high-tech companies are locating, has been on the books since 1994. The region began developing in 1996 and has shaped up as a mixture of new commercial and industrial as well as residential projects. Now, with the skyrocketing rents in the Bay Area, it's taking off.

"Dublin's had a plan for a very long period of time for major office and commercial development in the area where it's occurring right now, so it's not any surprise that there would be companies such as Sybase that would want to locate there," Peabody said. "I think it's very positive. The City Council has been very supportive of what's going on."

Sybase Rick Myllenbeck says Dublin will translate into substantial savings in the long run. "Over the course of the lease, which is 15 years, Sybase will end up saving tens of millions of dollars versus what we're paying (in the current Emeryville quarters) in terms of upgrades and everything else," he said. "Everybody is very excited."

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High Tech Firms Retreat to Valley's Eastern Edge

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