Google details plan for Moffett Park development
$1 billion property investment includes huge two-building project in Moffett Park
SUNNYVALE » Google on Wednesday unveiled its plans for a striking new development in Sunnyvale’s Moffett Park, where thousands of the company’s employees could work in more than 1 million square feet of offices.
The search giant filed a proposal with Sunnyvale city officials late Wednesday for a two-building, 1.04 million square foot project, called Caribbean, that would be large enough to accommodate 4,500 Google workers.
The plans are the clearest indication yet of at least a portion of Google’s plans in Sunnyvale, where the company this year has amassed roughly 50 properties valued at more than $1 billion during an eye-popping shopping spree.
“Google has made a significant investment in Sunnyvale,” Mark Golan, chief operating officer of Google’s global real estate investments & development unit, said during an interview with this news organization. Asked about the large stretches of undeveloped properties the company has purchased, Golan said, “Our intent would be to develop that out over time.”
One of the new Google office complexes would be a five-story building totaling 505,000 square feet with a future address of 200 W. Caribbean Drive. The other would would total nearly 538,000 square feet and be located at 100 W. Caribbean Drive.
“The proposed project aligns with the city of Sunnyvale’s goals to maximize Moffett Park development with headquarters, office, and research-development facilities,” Joe Van Belleghem, Google’s senior director of construction and design in the Bay Area, wrote in a letter that was part of the company’s development proposal.
Conceptual images of the buildings reveal striking designs for both structures, featuring long inclines that would allow Google employees to walk, ride bicycles and even roller blade to any level of the
buildings.
The offices, in the renderings, appear to embrace a connection to nearby streets so members of the public could potentially access open spaces in front of the buildings.
However, the complex would not be filled with Googlers until 2021 at the earliest, the company emphasized. “This is the start of a process with the city of Sunnyvale,” Golan said, adding that the company already has a significant presence in the city.
Mountain View-based Google has bought enough sites that housing, along with offices, could become part of the development mix that Google contemplates for Sunnyvale’s Moffett Park area.
“Housing is part of our thought process in Moffett Park,” Golan said. “A new mixeduse community where you have live-work capabilities, makes a lot of sense. Housing and transportation are two huge issues for the Valley overall, and they are huge issues for Google. One of the best ways to address this is by creating mixed-use communities that allow people to live close to where they work, which allows for a vibrant community and also helps the transportation.”
Earlier this month, Google paid just over $210 million for buildings, land and a parking garage in the area that had been owned by NetApp. However, the majority of Google’s Moffett Park purchases this year occurred in July, when the company bought
about four-dozen properties from affiliates controlled by one of its real estate partners, CBRE.
The latest properties that Google seeks to develop are roughly bounded by Mathilda Drive on the west, Bordeaux Drive and Caspian Court on the south, Borregas Avenue on the east and Caribbean Drive on the north. The entire site would be about 40.5 acres.
“The proposed project will enhance the area by replacing a collection of aging, low density structures with two new buildings and a redesigned site,” Google stated in documents submitted to the city.
Currently, 13 single-story buildings dot the parcels that Google intends to develop. Together, they total 802,000 square feet and contain primarily office, industrial, research, light manufacturing and lab operations.
Sunnyvale is just one facet of Google’s Silicon Valley expansion plans. The company has also been buying and leasing buildings and property, and sketching out development plans near its Googleplex headquarters in northern Mountain View.
And in downtown San Jose, Google and its development ally Trammell Crow are buying properties to create a transit-oriented Google village near the Diridon train station and SAP entertainment center. The tech giant hopes to build 6 million to 8 million square feet of offices as the primary feature of a transit village on the west side of downtown San Jose, where 15,000 to 20,000 Google employees could work.