Google has suspended the expansion of the San Jose office park
Google announced in 2017 its plans to expand its office space by acquiring real estate, including the original Yahoo headquarters, from Verizon. The company aimed to construct an 80-acre (approximately 600,000 square meters) office park in San Jose, California. However, recent internal restructuring and layoffs seem to have placed the project on hold.
According to CNBC, Google has disbanded its campus development team due to extensive layoffs, and freezing construction projects without informing contractors of an anticipated resumption date.
In a subsequent statement, Google expressed its desire for the new office park to better align with future hybrid work models and engage with local community needs. The company is still considering how best to plan the San Jose office park while supporting local development.
Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
Documents submitted by Google revealed plans for an 80-acre (approximately 600,000 square meters) office park in San Jose, with a total office space of 680,000 square meters, an increase from the previously planned 600,000 square meters. Additionally, the company sought to build 5,900 residential units.
Following approval, Google will provide 15,000 housing units in Silicon Valley and allocate $200 million for community development, including support for local businesses, while designating over half of the campus area for public use.
Initially scheduled to commence in the second half of this year, the project’s completion was expected to take 10-30 years. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered traditional office work, with many employees growing accustomed to flexible or remote working arrangements. Consequently, the desire to return to office environments has waned. Coupled with Google’s extensive hiring in recent years and the subsequent decrease in demand for advertising and cloud development, the company has had to adapt by implementing large-scale layoffs, which has also diminished the need for office space.
Nevertheless, Google emphasizes that it will not abandon its plans to construct a new office park in San Jose, though the timeline may be further delayed.
