Google proposes new campus billed as a 'neighborhood' with homes, shops and parks
The plan includes up to 1,850 residential units in the search giant's hometown of Mountain View, California.
Google unveiled plans for a new campus in Mountain View, California.
Google wants to build a new corporate campus in Mountain View, California, aiming to develop a 40-acre site with a mix of office buildings, housing, shops and public spaces.
The plan, unveiled Tuesday, would expand the company's presence in its hometown, where its sprawling Googleplex headquarters is already located, about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Google said the new site would include more than 1 million square feet of office space, 30,000 square feet of retail and active use space, and up to 1,850 residential units.
The search giant is working with the Australia-based developer Lendlease on the design. The Mountain View Voice earlier reported the news.
The announcement comes more than a year after Google pledged $1 billion to help build a total of 20,000 homes in the region over the next 10 years. The company promised to repurpose $750 million worth of its land, which is currently zoned for commercial and office space, to build 15,000 residential homes. That includes housing for mid- and lower-income people.
"We really see this proposal as taking another step forward with our housing commitment, and we look forward to working with the City and community on next steps." Michael Tymoff, Google's Mountain View development director, said in a statement about the new campus on Wednesday.
A rendering of Maude Park
The focus on housing, though, comes as Google and other tech giants face criticism for contributing to higher rents in the Bay Area. The company has major real estate developments underway in nearby San Francisco, San Jose and Sunnyvale.
For the Mountain View expansion, almost a quarter of the land will be designated as residential, while almost 30% will be office space, according to the project's pitch deck. The planned site includes a plaza full of shops, a walkway to a light rail track, and a handful of parks, including Maude Park, described in the proposal as "the heart of a new neighborhood."
The plan is in its early stages, Google said. At the moment, the company doesn't have much use for office space. Google, like many of its rivals in the tech industry, has sent most of its employees to work remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company's workers aren't due back in their offices until at least July 2021.