It’s not a done deal, but San Jose’s negotiation with Google for a downtown campus near Diridon Station could beautifully pull together the disparate strings of downtown revival.
We are trying not to count our chickens just yet, as the Google plan for a campus in downtown San Jose has not precisely hatched. But we can’ t help giving a quick, hopeful cheer — and not just for the 20,000 jobs Google could bring to the city.
Besides roaring growth, Google is known for something in short supply in San Jose: Imaginative architecture. The urban iteration of a GooglePlex could bring that elusive essence — character — to a downtown whose newer buildings, with a few exceptions, are devoid of it.
Mayor Sam Liccardo and local business leaders announced the proposal Tuesday, providing context to recent rumors and reports of developers and investors snapping up land near Diridon Station and the SAP Center. The city will negotiate exclusively with Google to sell city and former Redevelopment Agency land in the area, which once was planned to include a ballpark for the As.
Big plans for downtown come and go, but the fanfare around this indicates a healthy degree of commitment. The announcement was an interesting convergence with Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) , back in San Jose for the first time since 2002.
Adobe Systems was the pioneer technology company downtown, building two high rises in the 1990s. We hoped others would quickly follow, but tech remained enamored of more sprawling campuses between San Jose and San Francisco downtowns.
Then the tech presence in San Francisco grew — millennials wanted to be there — and companies snapped up land near Caltrain stations along the Peninsula. The Diridon Station area, with light rail, Amtrak and the soon-to-be electrified Caltrain line, was an obvious next step, especially with BART and possibly high-speed rail on the way.
Thousands of high-rise apartments and condos recently have opened or are under construction within walking distance. San Jose’s economic development department under Kim Walesh has nourished and promoted the downtown arts scene, focused along South First Street, and dining and social hubs like San Pedro Square to appeal to companies with young employees.
Shared work spaces like WeWork and NextSpace have been growing. Amazon is moving its Lab126 research and development unit into at least one floor of the office tower at Second and Santa Clara streets.
All of this raises hopes for a stronger downtown identity and economy. The addition of Google, and the retail and restaurants that will be part of a mixed use project, could be what pulls it all together.
We’ re still not counting our chickens, of course. But we’ re keeping an eye on those eggs.
