SAN JOSE — Silver Spring Networks has signed leases that would allow the tech company to shift its corporate headquarters into two North San Jose buildings where it could potentially employ about 1,000 people, city officials and the company said Tuesday.
Redwood City-based Silver Spring Networks leased 192,000 square feet in two buildings on West Tasman Drive, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The energy technology company would be shifting its corporate headquarters to the new location, Noel Hartzell, a spokesman for Silver Spring, confirmed on Tuesday.
“Silver Spring moving here is another sign that north San Jose is extraordinarily attractive right now,” said Kim Walesh, San Jose’s director of economic development.
The lease transactions include a 144,000-square-foot building that Silver Spring intends to occupy in January 2016 and a 48,000-square-foot building that the company will occupy in January 2017, according to the SEC filing.
“We are excited that Silver Spring is moving its headquarters to San Jose,” said Nanci Klein, the city’s deputy director of economic development. “They are in the whole Internet of Things space.”
The buildings are at 210 W. Tasman Drive and 230 W. Tasman Drive, between Rio Robles and Lick Mill Boulevard. A check of the addresses from Web map databases indicates that the buildings were once occupied by Cisco Systems.
“The base annual rent will range from $3.9 million to $7.5 million during the Initial Lease Term, for an aggregate base rent obligation of $60.8 million,” Silver Spring said in the SEC filing.
Silver Spring provides Internet-based networks consisting of hardware and software components that enable utility companies to transform their legacy power systems into a modern smart grid energy system.
Over the 12 months that ended in June, Silver Spring generated revenue of $326.3 million and suffered a loss of $18 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
Silver Spring sells its platform to electric, gas, and water utilities. San Francisco-based PG&E is one of its customers.
In March 2013, Silver Spring raised $81 million through an initial public offering of its stock.
Silver Spring’s shares were priced at $17 for the IPO. On Tuesday, its stock closed at $13.09, or 23 percent below the IPO price.
Cupertino-based Apple also has been assembling buildings and vacant land that could accommodate a big campus in North San Jose.
Apple’s North San Jose campus would be a satellite location to Apple’s current and future primary hub of operations in Cupertino, where the tech giant has its headquarters and is building a huge complex that’s been dubbed the “spaceship” because of its circular shape.
A number of other big tech companies, including Samsung and Broadcom, have taken steps to expand their operations in North San Jose. In addition, Google is seeking about 100,000 square feet in the same part of San Jose, said sources familiar with the search giant’s hunt for offices.
“North San Jose is ideal for growing companies that need a significant amount of high-quality space near transit, housing, and other tech companies,” Walesh said.
Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167. Follow him at Twitter.com/georgeavalos.
