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Google’s 80-acre Downtown West mega-development scores unanimous approval from San Jose City Council

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Google’s 80-acre Downtown West mega-development scores unanimous approval from San Jose City Council

The San Fernando Street area of Google’s newly approved 80-acre mixed-use neighborhood/corporate campus planned for San Jose. (Courtesy Google)

Google’s plans to bring a transit-oriented, mixed-use corporate campus to an 80-acre swath of land adjacent to downtown San Jose, California, were officially approved on May 25 by the San Jose City Council. The council’s formal blessing follows an enthusiastic thumbs up from the San Jose Planning Commission in April. The environmental review process will come next.

“Tonight, our council unanimously made a historic decision, one that will enable San Jose to lead the nation not merely in economic recovery from this pandemic, but in an equitable recovery,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo in a statement. “With tonight’s vote, Google will make the largest private sector investment in San Jose’s history–and just about any other city’s history–while also delivering more than $1 billion in public benefits, ranging from affordable housing to parks to job training and college scholarships.”

As previously reported by AN when Google first revealed plans for the sprawling and sustainability-oriented project in October 2020, the design of the so-called Downtown West campus is being led by head urban designer, San Francisco-based SITELAB urban studio. An impressive roster of domestic and international firms—Grimshaw ArchitectsHeatherwick StudioSHoPKohn Pedersen FoxWest 8, Fougeron ArchitectureSCB, and others—have been tapped to design different buildings and landscapes within the development. Most notably, the campus will be open and integrated into the surrounding urban environment in a stark departure from the cloistered tech hubs spread throughout Silicon Valley. In that sense, Downtown West is being posited as less of a traditional tech campus and more an entirely new San Jose neighborhood in which Google will serve as both anchor tenant and co-developer alongside the city.

illustrated map of san jose including a large planned development called downtown west
(Courtesy SITELAB urban studio)

That said, Google’s corporate footprint across the park-studded new neighborhood is expected to be formidable in size as plans call for a total of 7.3 million square feet of office space to accommodate an estimated 25,000 employees. Joining the corporate digs are a half-a-million square feet dedicated to retail and restaurants along with cultural venues and nonprofit organizations; 100,000 square feet of event and hospitality space, including a sizable hotel and temporary corporate accommodations, and 4,000 new units of housing, with 25 percent—1,000 units total—being earmarked as affordable.

As envisioned by SITELAB and its principal and cofounder Laura Crescimano, Downtown West will be fully net-zero and include nearly all-electric buildings, a microgrid, 7.8 megawatts of on-site solar generation, energy-efficient shared district utilities, an on-site water reuse facility, and the use of recycled water for all non-potable uses. The entirety of the campus is targeting LEED Gold ND while the individual buildings are aiming for LEED Gold certification. As mentioned, the development is a transit-oriented one and single-occupant vehicles are anticipated to be something of a rarity: it’s expected that 65 percent of trips made within the neighborhood will be made by bicycle, foot, public transit, or carpool.

map of a large planned development in san jose at downtown west
(Courtesy SITELAB urban studio)

Major proposed elements of Downtown West include The Gateway, a central plaza centered around the iconic San Jose Water Company Building; a 1.5-acre “urban-to-nature connector” dubbed Creekside Walk, and a spacious “urban promenade” featuring, among other things, a public programming-ready expanse of grass.

As detailed by the Mercury News, Mountain View-headquartered Google is providing a historic $200 million in community benefits to the city in exchange for its acquisition of the large swath of prime real estate on the western edge of downtown San Jose. Along with the guarantee of affordable housing, this includes a $154.8 million community fund, controlled by a 13-member community advisory committee, for aiding the city’s substantial unhoused population, providing job training, creating anti-displacing measures, and benefiting other core issues at the top of mind of community leaders and activists.

Per the Mercury News, Google will pay out the total amount over the span of the project’s multi-phased construction, which is expected to take over a decade with work on roads and other infrastructure expected to kick off next year. An early payment of $3 million will be distributed to the city within the next 30 days.

rendering of a large urban plaza filled with people
The Gateway at Downtown West. (Courtesy Google)
illustration of a large urban plaza filled with people
The Meander at Downtown West (Courtesy Google)

Concerned about the potential impact that Downtown West could have on its home at the SAP Center (particularly with regard to parking), National Hockey League franchise the San Jose Sharks has emerged as a major opponent of Google’s ambitious plans and had threatened to sue the tech giant and the city, potentially entangling the project in heated ongoing litigation. A last-minute deal, however, was ultimately struck and the Sharks backed down from taking legal action.

“This is indeed the gold standard for how a private developer can work together with the city and the community to truly be able to benefit everyone involved,” the Mercury News reported Councilmember Raul Peralez as saying following the project’s approval.

The locally celebrated news of Downtown West’s approval came just ahead of a time of extraordinary heartbreak for California’s third-most populous city. Click here to find out how you can help the victims and others impacted by the May 26 mass shooting at one of San Jose’s VTA light rail maintenance yards. Everytown also provides resources and news on the ongoing campaign to end gun violence in the United States. 

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