Google’s plans emerge for the large campus north of San Jose Midpoint

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SAN JOSE – Google has unveiled preliminary plans for a pedestrian-friendly technology campus that would bring a lush, green office center north of San Jose with features designed to emulate the characteristics of nearby estuaries.

The research giant intends to renovate a five-building campus near the corner of North First Street and Nortech Parkway in the Alviso district of San Jose.

Google will retain all five buildings and make major improvements within the new campus, which will be called Midpoint.

Among the main changes proposed: A new pedestrian and cycle bridge on Nortech Parkway that would create access between two of the buildings on one side of the parkway with three others on the other side of that road.

Yet the cycle and pedestrian bridge is intended as more than a link for buildings, Google said in a preliminary proposal presented to planners.

“The project proposes the construction of a new elevated walkway over Nortech Parkway to create a unified campus and a more unified neighborhood,” wrote in the proposal Vini Bhargava, a project executive with Google’s real estate and employment services organization.

The new bridge would be accessible to Google workers, as well as residents and visitors.

“The elevated walkway will be open to the public providing safe passage on the busy road for both campus employees and residents and community members visiting surrounding civic services or the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge to the north,” says the proposed Google.

Despite the significant changes that will actually create a new campus, Google will not build new office buildings or remove existing facilities.

“Importantly, the proposed design does not include any changes to the use, density or physical envelope of any of the existing buildings located at the Midpoint site,” Bhargava said in the presentation.

All five buildings are flanked by large surface parking lots. Sections of these paved surfaces would be transformed into open and natural areas as part of creating a green campus.

“The project intends to unify the different buildings of the Midpoint Site through a cohesive and coordinated plan of landscaping and circulation of the site, with particular emphasis on pedestrian and cycle access, as well as on outdoor gathering and meeting areas to serve employees on site. “the Google plan said.

Parts of the existing car park and concrete surfaces would be redeveloped into landscaped and pedestrian areas. Green areas would complement nearby San Francisco Bay, Google said.

“Enhanced wildlife habitat and pollination opportunities as well as natural cooling features through shade trees and outdoor shaded structures set in this natural environment” would be key features of the new campus, Bhargava wrote in the proposal.

The five buildings together total 708,600 square feet. This means the offices could potentially house 2,800 to 3,500 Google employees.

Google intends to fully occupy the five office buildings, a company spokesperson said. Google has bought the big five buildings in multiple transactions over the past few years.

“Some real estate observers have claimed that Google is a local bank,” said Bob Staedler, chief executive of Silicon Valley Synergy, a land use consultancy. “I don’t think that’s the case at all. I think they will occupy the buildings ”.

Google’s Alviso complex would be one of many major hubs in San Jose for the tech titan.

Specifically, the company is developing Downtown West, a mixed-use neighborhood of offices, homes, shops, restaurants, hotel facilities, cultural centers, and service sites on the western edge of downtown San Jose, where Google could employ up to 25,000 workers.

“They are a plan-oriented and results-focused organization,” said Staedler. “Their real estate relationships have proven this over and over again.”

Google also hopes to reduce single-vehicle trips to campus with a commuter shuttle, carpooling, transit pass, and bicycle parking. The closest light rail stops are on the corner of North First Street and Tasman Drive. The closest BART stations are located in Milpitas and in the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose.

“The proposed improvements will benefit the environment by facilitating better connectivity for bicycles and pedestrians, increasing landscaped areas, enabling better on-site stormwater management, providing natural site cooling through the provision of shade trees and reduction. asphalt that produces heat. expanses, “Google said in preliminary plans.

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