Google creates mega campus in north San Jose of 1 million square feet with new purchase

SAN JOSE — Google has quietly assembled what would be one of the largest office campuses in the Bay Area with a fresh purchase of several office buildings in north San Jose near the Alviso community.

With its latest acquisition in the northernmost section of San Jose, Google now controls eight big buildings and has cobbled together a vast campus where several thousand of the search giant’s employees could work.

All told, over nearly one and a half years, Google has paid $409.3 million to buy the buildings in north San Jose and now owns a mix of office and industrial buildings in the area that together total 1.27 million square feet.

“When innovation economy employers are continually ‘wined and dined’ by out-of-state Governors and foreign heads-of-state, it is reassuring to witness respected employers like Google double-down on San Jose and Silicon Valley,” said Carl Guardino, chief executive officer of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a business organization.

The purchases have occurred in an area north of the interchange of State Route 237 and North First Street, and the buildings front on North First, Nortech Parkway, and Disk Drive.

“This infill acquisition will have a long-term beneficial impact to San Jose’s fiscal health,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land use planning and consulting firm.

Google’s latest deals mean the tech titan now has made major commitments for three huge employment hubs in San Jose: the Alviso district of north San Jose, the north San Jose area near the city’s airport, and downtown San Jose.

“It’s exciting to see Google continuing to expand in the newly minted ‘Uptown San Jose’ while planning their efforts in the downtown,” Staedler said.

The eight properties consist of five office buildings and three giant industrial buildings. The buildings are so new that at least six have never been occupied.

In the most recent deal, Google paid $137.5 million to acquire three office buildings that together total 332,000 square feet and have addresses of 4550 N. First St., 65 Nortech Parkway and 95 Nortech Parkway, according to official records filed May 15 with Santa Clara County. The deal was arranged by commercial real estate brokerages Avison Young and CBRE.

These come on the heels of Google’s purchase, in separate transactions, of building clusters that flank the three buildings.

In January 2018, Google paid $117.3 million for a trio of giant industrial buildings that together total 563,000 square feet. These buildings would be suitable for a unit such as Google Hardware, which includes Nest, a Google organization oriented towards smart homes. These buildings are at 5079, 5087, and 5093 Disk Drive.

In October 2018, Google bought two curving office buildings, located at 4300 N. First St. and 4400 N. First St., paying $154.5 million. These buildings together total 377,000 square feet, a realty marketing sign showed last fall.

Yet Google’s shopping spree in north San Jose is far from the only major beehive of activity for the search giant in the Bay Area’s largest city.

In downtown San Jose, Google, acting through a partnership with developer Trammell Crow, has spent at least $319.5 million buying an array of properties near the Diridon train station and SAP Center. The purchases are creating a footprint where Google plans a transit-oriented village of office buildings, homes, restaurants, and shops where 25,000 could work, including 15,000 to 20,000 of the search giant’s employees.

“It’s good to see north San Jose rebound from the significant office vacancies we have seen in other uptown sites in recent years,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said Friday. “It’s always encouraging to have corporate buyers of office space.”

What’s more, near San Jose International Airport, Google has leased four buildings — three have yet to be constructed — totaling 479,000 square feet that would be part of a vast campus being built by legendary Silicon Valley developers John Arrillaga and Richard Peery. That campus has been approved for as much as 2.03 million square feet of offices.

Some experts believe Google might eventually lease the remainder of the space, or even purchase the entire site at some point.

“Google’s commitment to innovation and local job creation underscores their commitment to our local communities,” Guardino said.

Share this: Print

View more on The Mercury News