Columbia Property Trust has enhanced the 451,000-square-foot University Circle campus in East Palo Alto by completing the construction of a new outdoor event and gathering space at the center of the campus.

One of the premier office addresses in Silicon Valley, University Circle comprises three fully-leased office buildings and the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley (separately owned), surrounding a large central courtyard. The campus’s location and quality have attracted a variety of leading tech, legal and financial tenants such as DLA Piper, Amazon Web Services and NTT.

Columbia has redeveloped the campus’s central courtyard into an activated communal outdoor event area called “the Circle.” The enhanced space features a large lighted trellis structure with seating and a food service area, as well as an outdoor fireplace and televisions, new greenery, and a walkway suspended over the campus’s central reflecting pool. Since construction was completed in April, tenants have already begun putting the Circle to good use, and several community events have been scheduled as well, including festivities for Silicon Valley’s GranFondo bicycle race later this month.

“As part of our vision to firmly establish University Circle as the premier mixed-use office campus in Silicon Valley, we recognized the opportunity to not just activate the common areas but to also create a sense of place and to support events for our tenants and the community,” said David Dowdney, who heads leasing for Columbia Property Trust, as well as leading its San Francisco office.

“The new Circle amenity has been well received by our tenants and is already functioning as we’d hoped, creating a sense of community and connection here at University Circle,” said Michelle L. Goudeaux, senior property manager, who leads Columbia’s onsite operations and management team. “This is a key step and one of many that we are taking to ensure that we are operating as a good corporate citizen of East Palo Alto, by caring for the people who work onsite every day and ensuring the improvements we make to the property have a positive impact on the community.”

About Columbia Property Trust

Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) owns and operates Class-A office buildings concentrated in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Its portfolio includes 19 properties with approximately nine million square feet. Columbia carries an investment-grade rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. For more information, please visit www.columbia.reit.