The NeXT big thing: OncoMed finds a home - Dallas Business Journal:

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But there was a The neighborswere animals. Literally. During the post-dot-co m years while 800 Chesapeake Drive hadsat vacant, the subgrade and foundation separated from each other enoug for wildlife to move in underr the 44,000-square-foot structure. Foxes, skunks, feral cats and large rodents were eventualluy trapped andreleased elsewhere, and the foundation was The work was worth the trouble, said Chuck OncoMed's director of operations. The site was betweemn South San Francisco andMountain View, the company's formedr home, and close for employee coming from San Francisco, San Jose or the East Bay via the San Mateok Bridge.
What's more, he said, the space allowed the company, which is developing ways to destrohy cancerstem cells, to consolidate outsourced animal labs, keep its out-of-pocket expense low and retai space for growth. It didn't hurt that the buildinhg has anentrepreneurial heritage. It's wheree Steve Jobs first based NeXT Jobs commissionedarchitect I.M. Pei to design a "floating that remains a dramatic centerpiece ofthe building, albeitg updated to meet buildinvg codes. "It is a very nice It's on the waterfront, lookingy out at the harbor," Alaimo said. "It'sw peaceful and calming. I don't think you can put a dolla r valueon that.
" Still, even aftefr the wild animals had left the building and the subgrads was shored up, much work remained before OncoMeed could move in. The foundation still wasn't strongy enough to support mechanical systems that the companu needed as it moved its offices and15 labs, includinh a vivarium that had been DES Architects & Engineers proposefd an 8,000-square-foot annex, linking 800 Chesapeake and 900 Chesapeake. That includede an HVAC system, water system and high-pressure steam boiler, with shaftsd and pipes over to800 Chesapeake. The annex also gave OncoMedd space for a loading dockand elevator. The work was paid for througbha $6.
3 million tenant improvement Alaimo said, that OncoMede negotiated with , which then owned the Slough sold the site and the rest of its U.S. biotechj portfolio earlier this yearto . OncoMed, with 47 full-times employees, moved into the building in mid-January. The companh was started in August 2004by Dr. Michael Clarks and Dr. Max Wicha, researchers who led the discoveryu of cancer stem cells while atthe . Clarke now is the associats director of the Stanfordd Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicineat . The move to Chesapeake Drive and the annex addition has helped OncoMed consolidate stafv as its early preclinical programsramp up, Alaiml said.
Before the move, employeea could make multiple trips betwee the Mountain View offices and the outsourced vivarium in Palo That was an important consideration as CEOPaul Hastings, corporate developmeng head Martin Goldstein, R&D chief John Lewicki and Austin the vice president of moleculard and cellular biology, looked to leave Mountain There OncoMed would have been boxed in by , Alaim said. OncoMed is mullinv subleasing 15,000 square feet of office space on the firsft floor of the RedwoodCity building, Alaimo said, but that leasw would likely be short term. "Our programs are getting larger scale, and we're bringing more function s intothe fold," he said.
"We've been scaliny up to a point that we had to brinf itall together."