Despite Google’s offer of new bike paths, pedestrian bridges over a major highway, two new parks, wetlands restoration, and other perks, the city of Mountain View, Calif., denied the company the development rights to construct a grand new headquarters.
The Mountain View City Council instead gave another Internet giant, LinkedIn, about 1.4 million sf of the roughly 2.2 million sf of available commercial space in the area. Google was promised just 515,000 sf, or enough for one component of its four-part campus expansion.
City councilors spoke approvingly about the snazzy design proposal of the new Googleplex, but also said they were concerned about stunting growth in the city for LinkedIn.
The council wants to promote business diversity and not have the city’s business base be dominated by one company.
Google proposed adding 5,000 units of housing on the grounds of the new headquarters to help alleviate the housing shortage in Silicon Valley.
That proposal did not sway Mountain View officials. “Housing by companies went out with the mining towns,” one councilor reportedly remarked.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Jan 29, 2024
Top 80 Workplace Interior Construction Firms for 2023
STO Building Group, HITT Contracting, Clune Construction, Hensel Phelps, and JRM Construction Management top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest workplace interior and interior fitout general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Jan 29, 2024
Top 50 Workplace Interior Engineering Firms for 2023
AECOM, Jacobs, Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers, Tetra Tech High Performance Buildings Group, and IMEG top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest workplace interior and interior fitout engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Jan 29, 2024
Top 160 Workplace Interior Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, Interior Architects, HOK, SmithGroup, and Perkins&Will top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest workplace interior and interior fitout architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Jan 29, 2024
Top 100 Office Core and Shell Construction Firms for 2023
Turner Construction, AECOM, DPR Construction, Clark Group, and Clayco top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest office core and shell general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Mixed-Use | Jan 29, 2024
12 U.S. markets where entertainment districts are under consideration or construction
The Pomp, a 223-acre district located 10 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and The Armory, a 225,000-sf dining and entertainment venue on six acres in St Louis, are among the top entertainment districts in the works across the U.S.
Office Buildings | Jan 24, 2024
Office designs need to lean in on wellness, says a new HMC Architects report
The firm highlights seven recent design projects for public-sector clients as examples.
Industry Research | Jan 23, 2024
Leading economists forecast 4% growth in construction spending for nonresidential buildings in 2024
Spending on nonresidential buildings will see a modest 4% increase in 2024, after increasing by more than 20% last year according to The American Institute of Architects’ latest Consensus Construction Forecast. The pace will slow to just over 1% growth in 2025, a marked difference from the strong performance in 2023.
Adaptive Reuse | Jan 23, 2024
Adaptive reuse report shows 55K impact of office-to-residential conversions
The latest RentCafe annual Adaptive Reuse report shows that there are 55,300 office-to-residential units in the pipeline as of 2024—four times as much compared to 2021.
Giants 400 | Jan 23, 2024
Top 70 Medical Office Building Construction Firms for 2023
PCL Construction Enterprises, Swinerton, Skanska USA, Clark Group, and Hensel Phelps top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest medical office building general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Jan 23, 2024
Top 50 Medical Office Building Engineering Firms for 2023
Jacobs, Salas O'Brien, KPFF Consulting Engineers, IMEG, and Kimley-Horn head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest medical office building engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
