Construction has begun on one of Oakland's few new office projects. Ellis Partners and Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. broke ground on The Key at 12th, a Class-A office tower at 1100 Broadway in Downtown Oakland. The Gensler-designed 334K SF tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy in late 2019.

The University of California has already pre-leased 165K SF. About 154K SF on the upper eight floors remains available for lease.

The building will include two rooftop decks, 11K SF of ground-floor retail and restaurants and a parking garage with 145 spots. Amenities will include a dedicated bike parking entry with ample ground-floor racking, a private locker room and showers for building tenants and a dedicated elevator bank serving only the remaining available vacancy on the upper eight floors.

The Key at 12th will have a side-core layout with minimal interior columns to maximize floor space for open-office plans. The building will have floor-to-ceiling windows that can work with open or dropped ceilings.

The project will include a renovation of the historic Key System Building next to the new 18-story tower. The Key System Building was built in 1911 and was shuttered after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

JLL International Director Chris Roeder, Managing Director Sam Swan and Senior Vice President Jon Elder will lead the leasing efforts.