Google's San Jose Plans Could Swell to 8 Million Square Feet
BY The Mercury News
SAN JOSE — Google’s plans to reshape a wide swath of downtown San Jose could get even bigger than previously indicated, potentially reaching 8 million square feet, according to a new staff memo prepared for a key City Council meeting next week.
That could boost Google’s already massive development plan by 2 million square feet, making it a third larger than previously indicated by San Jose city officials. At the upper end of the city’s new estimated range for the project, it would equal roughly five major regional shopping centers the size of Valley Fair mall in San Jose.
“Preliminary discussions with Google indicate interest in planning and building a master-planned transit-oriented development that includes between 6 and 8 million square feet of office/R&D space and retail/commercial amenities,” according to a city staff report.
The project’s development footprint could dramatically increase downtown San Jose’s office market, though it’s unclear at this stage how much of the project would be developed as office space.
“Eight million square feet is basically the size of all of downtown San Jose’s office market,” said Mark Ritchie, president of San Jose-based Ritchie Commercial Development.
Numerous far-reaching changes loom, which would alter people’s driving and access habits for an array of activities, including attending San Jose Sharks games and other events at the SAP Center. That’s because some of the largest of the government-owned parcels that the city proposes to sell to Google as part of the project are the big surface parking lots next to SAP Center.
“Staff will work collaboratively with the SAP Center to address the parking impacts of any proposed development,” the staff report stated. “The City’s goal is to develop shared parking infrastructure.”
Google intends to bring 15,000 to 20,000 of its employees into the project area, which is near Diridon Station and the SAP Center entertainment and sports complex.
“We’re excited about the possibilities,” a Google spokesperson said Monday in an interview with this news organization.
Google added that the potential size and transit-oriented nature of the development area were big draws.
Real estate investors connected to Google or its development partner, Trammell Crow, have spent a combined $124 million already to gobble up an array of properties inside a 240-acre part of downtown. A Trammell Crow affiliate has struck deals to purchase at least five more parcels.
“The estimate of 8 million square feet is one of those core planning issues where they contemplate the max build-out, which you usually see with transit-oriented projects,” said Bob Staedler, a principal executive with San Jose-based Silicon Valley Synergy, a development consultant.
Google and city agencies also will negotiate the purchase of 16 publicly owned parcels.
“Securing a marquee employer like Google as a lead private partner can help accelerate the quality, and timely development of the Diridon Station Area,” the city report stated.
Among the parcels Google wants to buy is one that contains the city’s fire training complex, located at the corner of Park Avenue and Montgomery Street. Those training facilities would have to be relocated.
“The development will engage and integrate with the surrounding community and be a permeable, open-style development with active, high-quality public open spaces,” the city report stated. “The company has demonstrated a commitment to quality and innovation in workplace design and sustainability.”
Google’s development plan would clearly be a yearslong project. City staffers said that development applications aren’t likely to be submitted to the city during 2017.
“Diridon Station will become the Bay Area’s transit hub and the premier location in the Bay Area for significant transit-oriented job growth,” the staff report said.