Google has picked a development firm to shepherd the company's ambitious plans to construct thousands of new homes in Mountain View. On Thursday, Google officials confirmed the Australian company Lendlease will be leading its efforts to build a series of new South Bay neighborhoods in Mountain View, Sunnyvale and San Jose.
Under the agreement, Lendlease will reportedly work over the next 10 to 15 years to redevelop Google's sizable South Bay real estate holdings with a focus on mixed-uses that include housing. These new neighborhoods would include a variety of retail and recreation amenities as well as the corporate office space needed for Google's regular operations.
"Lendlease will play a key role in helping deliver at least 15,000 new homes on our land,” said David Radcliffe, Google vice president of real estate, in a statement. “Today's agreement expands on an existing and successful partnership that will help us deliver on two important objectives: our commitment to accelerate the production of residential units in the Bay Area, and our plan to build mixed-use developments."
For Mountain View, the news is a sign that Google is moving into a new phase to build housing near its global headquarters, something the company has sought for more than a decade. Up until recently, those efforts have been focused on local politics, encouraging Mountain View's City Council to amend zoning and planning guidelines in the North Bayshore area to allow for dense new housing.
Last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged a $1 billion investment to spur housing construction in San Francisco and Santa Clara County. Promising a minimum of 20,000 new homes, Pichai said Google would repurpose some of its office properties for new mixed-use residential developments.
The deal with Lendlease dovetails on that commitment. In a statement, Lendlease officials said that new housing construction could begin as soon as 2021, "subject to planning approval."
“This joint agreement between Google and Lendlease will help address the need for new housing in the San Francisco Bay Area," said Denis Hickey, Lendlease CEO for North America. "We are focused on delivering outstanding places that redefine how people choose to live, work, connect and contribute to creating an active community."
Comments
Registered user
Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Jul 22, 2019 at 5:24 pm
Registered user
on Jul 22, 2019 at 5:24 pm
Why are we even listening to Google, when they have not produced any housing in the 6+ years of promising to do so in Mountain View?
This whole plan is going to disappear once AB5 is signed into law. Google and the rest of the valley has been breaking the laws regarding misclassifying independent contractors instead of employees. The TECH companies have been using 60%+ contractors in the valley for more than 20 years. This new law will force these companies to either transform these contractors into employees, not hire contractors for more than 6 months, or simply fire all of them and build a new town outside the state.
The result will be even less stable employment in the valley, a spike in unemployment, and the significant shrinkage in needs for housing in the area. But whose fault was it? It was not the workers, it was these companies trying to cheat both the IRS and the state of California. And what do these companies do, try to put the blame of their misdeeds on everyone else.
The fact is with $15 Billion they can build a state of the art city in Kansas, Nebraska or other states, with the ability to design on fresh land and practically no obstacles regarding existing streets, plumbing, and energy infrastructures.
This is again the Carrot tied to the stick strapped to the Horses Head of Mountain View. When are the people going to realize this is never going to happen, like the forever postpones Google Complex, that hasn’t even being starting to shovel. It’s the famous Valley motto: “Fake it until you make it”. This has been going on for 6 years plus.
another community
on Jul 22, 2019 at 6:44 pm
on Jul 22, 2019 at 6:44 pm
I tried to post my comment on Saturday but it seems both the Weekly and the Voice had problems and nobody was able to post.
What will this mean to bringing more people to live and work in the Bay Area from Australia? More H1b visas? More people to house?
Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Jul 22, 2019 at 8:53 pm
on Jul 22, 2019 at 8:53 pm
So once again Google cannot find any local Bay Area or California company to work this project for the next 10 to 15 year????? Really???? This constant outsourcing of every single aspect of Google's workforce has got to stop. This area cannot sustain the tremendous number of employees they are forcing on the Bay Area and our city.
And at the end of the second paragraph is what this generous offer is all about: "corporate office space needed for Google's regular operations." They couldn't get the additional office space so now they're offering some housing.
The city council needs to develop serious backbone and realize that they are the ones to define the type of city we want to live in -- not Google!
Castro City
on Jul 24, 2019 at 9:02 am
on Jul 24, 2019 at 9:02 am
Well, if the California Supreme Court enforces the Dynamax decision RETROACTIVELY, then the valley is in for a heck of a shock.
Imaging all of the tech companies having to RETROACTIVLY pay the IRS, the state of California, and all their contractors back payments to the Contractors they tried to cheat?
Let the stampede out of California begin.
AND SAY GOODBYE to the Google proposal