Solyndra's asset story is reaching its final chapters -- although its political story might still have some legs.
Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate services and investment management firm, has been selected by Solyndra to sell the bankrupt and beleaguered solar panel manufacturer's headquarters in Fremont, California. This arrangement has been approved by the bankruptcy court in charge of Solyndra's bankruptcy case.
- A 450,000-square-foot facility with 280,000 square feet of manufacturing on a 30-acre parcel completed in 2010.
- The 280,000-square-foot manufacturing floor is rated as a Class 100,000 clean room.
- The property includes plans for a 200,000+-square-foot expansion facility.
- The building exceeds California seismic standards.
- The site has a 21-kilovolt electrical service backed up by two megawatt-capacity diesel generators.
- The building's roof comes with a 1.2-megawatt solar installation (no guarantee on the panels, though).
“This is a unique opportunity for a manufacturer or other user to acquire a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley,” Bart Lammersen, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Palo Alto office, said in a statement.
Solyndra still faces an investigation by congressional Republicans over its DOE loan guarantee and $700 million solar factory. Bloomberg Businessweek's Joshua Green writes, "There's been no evidence found of wrongdoing in the Solyndra case despite the 187,000 pages of administration documents, 72,000 pages of documents from Solyndra investors, nine committee staff briefings, five committee hearings, and a sworn committee interview with the Obama bundler who raised money from people involved in the company."
Allegations continue to be made. The DOE and Obama administration continue to reluctantly provide additional documentation -- usually late on Fridays.
For sheer archival interest, here's a link to one of our earliest articles on Solyndra from 2008 in which we express some skepticism about their design.