Over the past 7 years, Google has acquired over 80 acres of property and spent roughly $532 million on land acquisition.
In 2019, in an effort to combat housing affordability issues in the Bay Area, Google announced a $1 billion commitment to invest in at least 20,000 homes at a range of income levels throughout the area. Of this commitment, a $250 million affordable housing investment fund was created to create and preserve Bay Area affordable housing developments. They have funded several projects that are currently under construction.
In May of 2021, Google received entitlements for “5,900 residential units; up to 7,300,000 gross square feet (GSF) of office space; up to 500,000 GSF of active uses such as retail, cultural, & arts; up to 300 hotel rooms; up to 800 rooms of limited-term corporate accommodations; up to two event and conference centers totaling up to 100,000 GSF; up to two central utility plants totaling approximately 130,000 GSF; logistics/warehouse(s) totaling approximately 100,000 GSF; and approximately 15 acres of open space” (1500 of the units are required to be Affordable Housing). This took them only 20 months.
Google has estimated that this is a 10-year build-out and will cost roughly $19 billion, inclusive of over $1B of infrastructure work inclusive of their own micro-grid.
In October of 2022, Google started demolition, environmental remediation and historic work on their first phase. They completed this work in February of 2023. (roughly 5 months)
When Google completed the demolition of Phase I, a nationwide article said that Google was pausing construction. This was inaccurate, as they had just finished their scope of work. This was debunked by Google at a press conferenceon the same day with the Mayor of San Jose where they reaffirmed their commitment to downtown San Jose.
Google has hosted community gatherings and launched a recurring event called “Creekside Social” and has embarked on a concept to energize two city blocks adjacent to the SAP center, home of the San Jose Sharks:
September 9, 2023 was the first Creekside Social
Michael Phillips, the president of Jamestown stated that Creekside Socials is the first step in generating a sense of place at Downtown West and is aligned with the long-term vision to create a commercially and socially thriving district
Has put on over 60 social events attracting 3,500 people, in partnership with their development ally Jamestown
Google has entered into a multi-year lease with Jamestown along Barack Obama Boulevard and South Montgomery Street, to add a series of new food & beverage, health & wellness, and retail concepts
Google’s decision to host the socials is part of its commitment to bring the vision of Downtown West to life throughout the multi-decade development process, Scott Foster, vice president of real estate and workplace services, said in a statement.“We’re investing millions of dollars to improve the site and bring the community together,” he said. “Creekside Socials is the first step in activating this part of San Jose for the future.”
Facing reports that its massive campus project in San Jose has been shelved, Google LLC's parent company Alphabet Inc. sent its chief investment officer, Ruth Porat, to assuage those concerns.
"Here in Downtown West, with input from San Jose residents, businesses and civic leaders, we have created a multi-decade opportunity and development plan," Porat said in a speech during a Google organized block party on Saturday. "We did that because we believe in the people who live here, who work here and are committed to being here in San Jose."
Dubbed the "Creekside Socials," the arts and food gathering was organized by Mountain View-based Google in partnership with real estate firm Jamestown, and was within the footprint of the tech titan's proposed mixed-use transit village near Diridon Station and SAP Center. The party featured multiple food truck vendors, local arts and crafts proprietors, and musicians.
"We are going to continue to see the development of some really exciting efforts, office development, residential housing, and something I am particularly excited about, acres of public space," Porat added.
In January of 2024, Urban Catalyst met with Riccardo Benevidez - Google’s Director of Community Development heading up their San Jose development portfolio, and asked when Google planned to start vertical construction, and if they were delayed as the papers were suggesting. He said they were not delayed, and actually ahead of their schedule. He mentioned two things that put his statement into context.
This is Google’s third major campus in the Bay Area. The first is in Mountain View and the second is in Sunnyvale. Google is still working on building out its Sunnyvale campus. As they complete the construction of that campus, they plan to start the San Jose campus.
Google anticipated that this project (as it is a large complicated project) per typical California standards, would take 4-6 years to receive the entitlements. Google completed this in 20 months, way ahead of schedule.
We anticipate that Google will continue with the construction of their first building in the next 12 months, and continue to prepare the site over the next year or two in anticipation of full vertical development.
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