Online search giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been given approval to build a new “mega campus” in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley.
Officials with the City of San Jose, California have approved a plan for Google to proceed with its “Downtown West” project that will develop 80 acres of land in the downtown core, including 7.3 million square feet of office space for 20,000 workers and thousands of housing units.
Downtown West will be Google’s first mixed-use campus and will be one of the largest corporate spaces in the world when completed.
Google aims to shift away from closed-off technology campuses to stem the growing alienation of tech companies, whose success has contributed to a shortage of affordable housing in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs.
The Downtown West campus will include 4,000 housing units, 1,000 of which will be designated for “affordable” housing. Downtown West will also include up to 300 hotel rooms and 800 residences for short-term lodging of Google’s corporate guests.
While Google will own all 80 acres, more than half of the project will be allocated for residential and public spaces and include features such as parks, restaurants, retail space, entertainment space and ecological viewing stations.
Construction on the project is scheduled to begin early next year and is expected to take between 10 and 30 years to complete.
Not including office space, Google will pay more than $1 billion U.S. for infrastructure features such as parks, walkways and the preservation of historic sites. The company will also pay $265.8 million U.S. in land and infrastructure fees as well as $200 million U.S. in “community benefits” that include anti-displacement and job readiness programs.