Mayor Mike McGinn welcomed Brooks Sports to Fremont on Thursday, Oct 20. The running shoe company will relocate its global headquarters to Fremont along the Burke-Gilman trail on 3400 Stone Way.

Not only will Brooks bring 300 jobs to Fremont, the building that will house Brooks Sports is a new and innovative 120,000 square foot building that will meet the City of Seattle's Living Building Challenge.

Run by Skanska USA Commercial Development, the building project is the second participant of the City of Seattle's Living Building Pilot Program, a program encourages the implementation of innovative and sustainable strategies toward the Living Building Challenge, including reduced water and electricity use, storm drainage, natural daylighting and more.

"This is a very excited day for us," Mayor McGinn said. "Brooks will bring 300 jobs to the Fremont area and it shows that Seattle has what it takes to attract significant new investment even in these tough economic times."

McGinn explained that the "super green building" serves as an example of what Seattle needs to compete in the new green economy.

"The City of Seattle created an amazing program to push these kind of projects forward," said Lisa Picard, executive vice president of Skanska USA Commercial Development's Seattle office. "We are excited to have found a community and a tenant, whose company aligns so well with ours and the deep green strategies planned for this building,"

Brooks Sports looked for 14 months to find a location for their headquarters and couldn't have asked for a better fit than a place across from the Burke-Gilman Trail.

"Brooks' mission is to inspire people to run and be active, and it's our hope that we become a welcoming trailhead along the Burke-Gilman Trail," said Jim Weber, president and CEO of Brooks Sports, Inc.

Weber added that as a growth-oriented company, Brooks is excited to soak up the creativeness and vibrancy of Fremont-based companies like Google, Getty, and Adobe.

Weber also announced that the new Brooks headquarters building will also house the brands' first ever retail concept shop.

The building's move-in date is slated for late 2013.