By George Avalos, San Jose Mercury News, April 7, 2021
“[In 2018, Google acquired three properties near SAP Center.] At the time, the transactions raised eyebrows because the properties were outside of the emerging footprint of the tech titan’s proposed Downtown West neighborhood. Property experts said the purchases primarily suggested that the Google transit village was expanding into new territories.
“Google intends to donate the land to the city for the development of affordable homes at that site, according to Google, city officials, and municipal documents.
“The proposed development agreement for the Downtown West neighborhood that Google filed with city officials on April 6 included plans for 4,000 homes to be developed on Google-owned lands within the transit village’s footprint.
“[…] 1,000 would be affordable, according to the development proposal Downtown West, a mixed-use village of offices, homes, shops, restaurants, hotel facilities, entertainment hubs, cultural centers, and parks where Google could employ up to 20,000 people.
“Receiving land from Google for affordable development is crucial because Google’s increasingly visible interest in the creation of a dramatic new neighborhood on the western edges of downtown San Jose near the Diridon train station and the SAP Center has also shoved real estate values higher in the vicinity.”
Read the full article here. (~3 min.)