Google’s plans for San Jose ‘village’ advance
Google’s plan to develop a huge complex in San Jose took a step forward Wednesday, as the city and Santa Clara County came to a compensation agreement for the sale of five former development properties to the tech behemoth.
Google has been in negotiations with San Jose since June for a planned “village” that would feature up to 6 million square feet of office, research and development, retail and amenity space near San Jose’s Diridon Station. The development could bring 15,000 to 20,000 jobs, Nanci Klein, San Jose’s assistant director of economic development, previously told The Chronicle.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo emphasized what he views as the generous terms of the compensation agreement. The five properties would be sold for $67 million, or an average price of approximately $237 per square foot.
“This compensation agreement ensures that our taxpayers receive 2½ times what we originally paid for these properties and, just as importantly, it allows us to advance discussions about how we can create a vibrant, architecturally iconic, transit-focused village around Diridon Station,” Liccardo said in a statement.
The properties to be purchased are located at 8 S. Montgomery St., 105 S. Montgomery St., 510 W. San Fernando St./102 S. Montgomery St., 150 S. Montgomery St. and 645 Park Ave. Google is negotiating with the city and county for other publicly owned land.
Liccardo said Google has been a fair negotiating partner, and the city hasn’t had to lure the company with special perks. “The contrast is instructive at a time when cities are falling over themselves to offer Amazon and GE and other companies a space for their headquarters,” Liccardo told The Chronicle. “Google came to us months ago and did not demand a dollar in subsidies and tax breaks.”
Google has been seeking space for its expanding workforce. The company is also building a new campus in Mountain View that is expected to open in 2019. Klein previously told The Chronicle that San Jose, and the space around Diridon Station in particular, are attractive to Google because of their accessibility by public transit.
Google declined to comment on the compensation agreement.
Liccardo said this was the “second mile of a marathon,” and it could be a decade before the vision for this village is realized.
The agreement will be presented to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the San Jose City Council for approval on Tuesday and Feb. 13, respectively. It will also be presented to the Successor Agency Oversight Board for approval on Feb. 22.
Public engagement will be encouraged. “There’s a lot of interest and concern about the development,” Liccardo said. “We’d like to reconvene everyone and talk about what we can imagine creating.”