Hacienda at Your Fingertips

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

People of great renown are sometimes granted the key to their cities, but Hacienda has just awarded the key to the park to all its employees, residents, businesses, and owners: the new Hacienda web site.

Hacienda's web site provides you with details on all things Hacienda and one-stop-shopping for the park's benefit programs, including free WHEELS transit passes, as well as resources like special offers from local businesses, Hacienda NETWORK news, commute assistance, and information on housing, childcare, recreation, security, and more.

Everything You Want to Know

Anyone visiting www.hacienda.org can access an introduction to the park, including its history; recent park press releases and articles about Hacienda; and resources and amenities available to park employees, residents, businesses, and owner/investors. You can find everything the park offers its various stakeholders by clicking on the various headings located on the Hacienda home page.

Tools Provide the Answers

The site's core functionality can be accessed by clicking the "Tools" icon in the upper right corner of any page. This allows access to a drop-down menu with six different choices: Project Overview, Hacienda Online, Special Offers, Property Profiles, Business Locator, and Calendar.

The Project Overview section is packed with information. Discover Hacienda history by clicking on Background; the Location tab includes area and demographic information on the San Francisco Bay Area, Tri-Valley, and Pleasanton. The Description section covers details like a park map, land uses, construction, population, and valuation. Click on Activity for occupancy, development, and sales news, or check out the Economy section for a background on the business environment in Pleasanton, Alameda County, the East Bay, and the greater Bay Area. Click on Infrastructure for details on the park's robust delivery systems for data and telecommunications, power, and water. The Sustainability menu includes information on Hacienda's efficient and sustainable use of resources like air, water, and energy, proper waste recycling and disposal, and green design and operations resources.

Hacienda Online! is the overall heading for the park's various e-newsletters. Registered users - there is more about how to register below - can sign up to receive any or all of these Hacienda Online! e-mails automatically. Here is a brief description of each of the park's six e-mail services:

HO! NETWORK: Yes, the park's monthly newsletter will now be available exclusively in an electronic format, but little else is changing. You will still find the stories and features that have filled NETWORK for over 20 years: news from Hacienda businesses, company profiles, an interview with a park executive, the latest on community non-profits and events, Business Bits, and the Hacienda Index of the park's publicly-traded companies.
HO! Connection: This e-newsletter is the place to find out about special offers for park employees and residents as well as news from around the park such as infrastructure improvements like street repairs or additions to the Iron Horse Trail.
HO! Community News: This is your source for information from the local Tri-Valley communities, including listings of special events, fundraisers, and updates from agencies like BART and Tri-Valley city offices.
HO! Property Resource: This service provides important information for park owners and their agents about the management of their Hacienda project. Bulletins issued through Hacienda Online! Property Resource outline everything from key rules and regulations applicable to park properties to assistance programs designed to simplify property management.
HO! Development Update: Would you like to know the latest information about Hacienda tenant transactions, occupancy, development, population, demographics, valuation, and other items? Then this is the news source for you!
HO! Press Releases: Hacienda issues press releases on park development, absorption, and other newsworthy items. Subscribers to this distribution list will receive all of these announcements as they are released.

Each month, Hacienda collects and posts new offerings for our community. A complete listing appears on all the Special Offers pages found under the new "Tools" menu at hacienda.org. Park residents and employees are eligible for discounts at both local and regional attractions, sporting events, and special activities. Local discounts include savings for Pier 39, Discovery Kingdom, Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Golden State Warriors. For travels out of the Bay Area, discounts are also available for many popular vacation spots in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Central Valley areas. Whether you'd like to get a reduced admission for Disneyland, Great America, Six Flags, Knott's Berry Farm, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk or other theme parks, terrific savings on sporting events, or simply receive special discounts or coupons, Hacienda has an offer that fits the bill.

In addition to the attractions noted above, coupons are available for various businesses in Hacienda. You can take advantage of the many discounts these businesses have established especially for people living or working in the park. Hacienda businesses interested in making a special offer available to the Hacienda community are invited to contact the Hacienda Owners Association at (925) 734-6500 or to submit their offer online using the form in the Special Offers section. Hacienda's Special Offers discounts are routinely distributed through information packages and special promotions and present an excellent opportunity to reach the nearly 22,000 employees and residents who make Hacienda their home.

If you are looking for a detailed breakdown of the characteristics of a particular park facility, the new Tools menu has another treat for you: the Property Profiles section. This area of the site provides a way to search for park properties by address, project name, or project number, and shows you its location on an interactive park map. For example, if you select "Filter by Address," a new drop-down menu with the street address of nearly 100 properties will appear. Select any of those addresses and the name of the property will be displayed; click on that name and the property will be identified on the map. By clicking on the name of the project in the map display, you can see a list of that facility's tenants, project characteristics, total and available square footage, and contact information for the property manager and broker.

The Business Locator also uses a custom map to help you find specific businesses in the park, specific industry segments, or even new tenants. To use it, begin by selecting "Business Locator" from the tools menu, which will present you with a custom search field and the option to filter results by business type or business name, or to search only new park tenants. If you were looking for Simpson Manufacturing, for example, you would simply enter "Simpson" in the search field and hit return. For a broader search - for all the biomedical companies in the park, for instance - you can leave the search field blank, filter by "Business Type" in the drop-down menu, and then select "Biomedical" in the new menu that appears. It is all at your fingertips!

The Calendar on the new site provides a comprehensive listing of events taking place both in the park and in the surrounding community. Networking opportunities, art shows, music and theater performances, and meetings of community service and special interest clubs are just some of the items you can find. To access it, simply choose "Calendar" from the Tools menu and you will see the complete calendar for the current month. You can move forward or backward a month by clicking on the arrows on the left side of the page, alternate between day, week, and month views, and filter events by category: Community; Arts & Entertainment; Sports & Recreation; Education & Training; Associations & Non-Profits; and Travel & Transportation. It's easy to submit items for the calendar as well. Simply click on "Submit Event" on the main Calendar page and fill in the requested information. Once approved by Hacienda staff, it will be added to the main listing.

Even More for Registered Users

While the new Hacienda web site is packed with information, even more features and services are available to users who register for an account. For example, anyone accessing the Hacienda web site can view a comprehensive listing of the amenities programs available to members of the Hacienda community, but registered users receive access to even more.

Among the most popular Hacienda amenities are a number of commute benefits for both employees and residents. Hacienda's nationally recognized commute programs help make traveling to and from work more efficient, more economical, and more productive, in a manner tailored to your individual needs. To name one sought-after perk, anyone who works or lives in Hacienda is entitled to a free WHEELS Ecopass, which allows free travel on the local transit system. Similarly, Hacienda denizens are eligible for a number of first-time rider programs, which provide a free trip on other nearby rail and bus services. Commuters may also enjoy discounts on DASH, a CityCar Share program which allows use of electric vehicles stationed at pods at different locations in the park. Hacienda also provides free carpool or vanpool matchlists, information about local transit options and the location of park transit stops, walking and bicycling support services, a free Guaranteed Ride Home when you use a commute alternative, and individual support in planning your commute. Information and applications for all of these benefits are made available to registered users.

Hacienda's amenities programs extend beyond commuting, though. Hacienda Security provides continuous monitoring of the entire park using both patrols and watches, making officers highly visible deterrents to crime, accidents, vandalism, and malicious mischief. Any time of day and any day of the year, Hacienda Security officers are available to meet the needs of employees, residents, businesses and owners simply by calling (925) 734-6520 or e-mailing requests to security@hacienda.org.

Using the new Hacienda web site, you can also find information on local health care providers, childcare and education, housing opportunities, local shopping, and the area's various recreation outlets. Registered users also get access to a host of resources regarding housing, including documents covering Pleasanton's Down Payment Assistance Program as well as affordable housing opportunities for renters, buyers, seniors, and the disabled.

To create an account, access www.hacienda.org and click on "Log In" at the top of the page, and click on "Create an Account" on the following page. (If you have already registered, enter your username and password to log in.) When you register, you get to choose what sort of account(s) apply to you, whether you're a Hacienda employee or resident; the owner of a park business; a property owner or investor; a firm interested in doing business with Hacienda companies; or simply a subscriber, someone who wants to know more about park news, programs, and events. Applications for specialized accounts are subject to approval and verification. Once created and approved, you will be able to access the content relevant to your user group or groups.

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