The company said it’s working with Lendlease, its development consultant for Downtown West, to review the scope of work for the project. Multi-decade projects of the size and complexity of Downtown West go through cycles when they slow down and moments when they speed up, a Google spokesperson said. The reductions in office space leases as well as the decisions on how quickly to proceed with Downtown West are both components of Google’s overall assessment of its future real estate needs and how quickly to proceed with its projects. The departures relate primarily to floors or even entire buildings that Google has yet to occupy, spread around Silicon Valley, even when the company had already signed a lease with a property owner, a company spokesperson said. Soon after the layoff disclosures, Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said Google and Alphabet were “optimizing how and where we work.” She told Wall Street analysts during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter financial results that it expects to incur approximately $500 million of costs “related to exiting leases to align our office space with our adjusted global headcount look.” “This short-term blip is not going to influence their long-term thinking.” “San Jose should be a pretty attractive part of those (Google’s) plans. They’re thinking years in front of them,” said Gary Dillabough, an active developer in downtown San Jose and a principal executive with real estate firm Urban Community. “I can’t get in Google’s head but they play long ball. The company intends to eliminate 1,600 Bay Area jobs.
In recent days, Google owner Alphabet revealed plans to cut 12,000 workers, or about 6% of the company’s workforce. Google has intensified the in-house scrutiny of its real estate because the company has announced it would significantly reduce its employee levels. “We’re working to ensure our real estate investments match the future needs of our hybrid workforce, our business and our communities,” Jivan said Monday. Nevertheless, the Downtown West development must comport with the company’s overall real estate strategy, which is shifting as work patterns shift, Jivan said. Google’s interest in downtown San Jose became a centerpiece for the city’s future plans when it emerged several years ago. “With the state recently completing funding for Caltrain electrification and adding $375 million to the BART to Silicon Valley extension, the rationale for Google to invest in Downtown West is stronger than ever.” “We’re glad that Google remains committed to Downtown West,” Mahan said Monday. The tech titan’s eventual pace for the project, construction of which has always been expected to take many years, could affect many other plans for the downtown district, whose vitality has been sapped by business shutdowns - some of them related to the pandemic - as well as recent trends toward remote work throughout Silicon Valley.Īlex Stettinski, chief executive officer for the San Jose Downtown Association, said he hopes Google will resist a lengthy delay that leaves the western side of the downtown in its current under-utilized state.
GOOGLE TIMELIME HOW TO
“We’re assessing how to best move forward with Downtown West,” Sheela Jivan, Google’s Downtown West Development Director, said Monday in comments the company emailed to this news organization. Now, Google is saying only that it remains committed to the project. In recent weeks, Google had indicated it was pushing ahead with the development and would break ground by the end of the year, following significant demolition in recent months. The company offered no specifics about the future of Downtown West, a planned transit-oriented neighborhood surrounding Diridon Station and SAP Center that would consist of office buildings, homes, shops and restaurants and could employ up to 25,000 people. SAN JOSE - On the heels of moves to cut jobs and slash office space, Google said Monday it is reassessing the timeline for its highly anticipated San Jose transit village, a shift that could have a major impact on the city’s beleaguered downtown.
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