Google, development ally prepare huge housing push

Projects planned for Sunnyvale, downtown S.J., Mountain View

Google has reached an agreement with a real estate ally to help the search giant realize its wide-ranging ambitions to create several mixed-used neighborhoods — including more housing — in three Bay Area communities: downtown San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View, the companies said Wednesday.

Lendlease, a mixed-use urban developer, has teamed up with Google on what is expected to become a $15 billion development venture to dramatically transform large swaths of all three cities. The money represents the estimated value of the investment needed to develop and complete the mixed-use projects, according to Google.

Up to 15,000 homes, along with restaurants, shops, hotels, open spaces, parks, and other amenities will be developed by Australia-based Lendlease on land owned by Google in the three cities, under the new partnership agreement.

The partnership will help Google develop projects it is working on and fulfill part of its $1 billion housing commitment for up to 20,000 homes in the Bay Area. Google has not previously said where in the Bay Area the housing will be built.

Mountain View-based Google intends to concentrate its efforts on the development of office buildings in the neighborhoods where the mixed-use efforts will materialize, while Lendlease focuses on everything else.

“Lendlease has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in residential, retail, and mixeduse developments,” said David Radcliffe, Google’s vice president, real estate and

workplace services.

Denis Hickey, chief executive officer of Lendlease Americas, said the joint agreement between Google and Lendlease will help address the need for new housing in the Bay Area. “We’re eager to contribute our world-class approach to creating unique urban communities,” he said.

One of the areas where a mixed-use Google and Lendlease community could sprout is near the Diridon train station on the western edges of downtown San Jose.

In that area, Google has proposed a transitoriented community of office buildings, homes, restaurants, shops and open spaces where 25,000 people could work, including 15,000 to 20,000 of the search giant’s employees.

In northern Sunnyvale, Google has spent well over $1 billion purchasing an array of sites that include office buildings, research sites and industrial lots where the company has said it intends to develop modern offices as well as homes, along with retail, restaurants and other amenities such as parks.

In north Mountain View, Google has floated the concept of “complete neighborhoods” that would add offices, homes, restaurants, hotel facilities, shops, and parks to that part of the South Bay city. It is the same area where Google has supported the proposed development of up to 8,000 housing units near its headquarters.

In all three cities, Google and Lendlease said they would work closely with municipal leaders and planning staffers, as well as obtain community input, to help them craft the new mixed-use developments.

“We are focused on delivering outstanding places that redefine how people choose to live, work, connect and contribute to creating an active community,” Hickey said.

Development work on some of the projects could begin as soon as 2021, depending on the pace and outcome of the planning processes in the respective three cities, Google and Lendlease said.