Big Tech giant Google has abandoned plans to build 15,000 new homes in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the project no longer being “mutually beneficial.”
Google had agreed to invest $15 billion in the huge development scheme in Santa Clara County, according to Gizmodo.
The deal was originally struck in 2019 between Google and Lendlease.
The plan was to develop housing and commercial spaces in Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Mountain View, the latter being the home base for the tech giant.
However, Google and Lendlease have now jointly terminated their $15B deal.
The “Downtown West” project in San Jose was set to feature 4,000 affordable housing units.
It also included sufficient office space for 20,000 workers, a 300-room hotel, and 10 parks.
Instead, San Francisco now “gets nothing.”
Gizmodo wrote that in 2021 the San Jose City Council gave the green light for the Downtown West construction plans by Google and Lendlease.
According to an active post on Google’s site, the project was shaped through close collaboration with the city and community members to support community building.
The project’s progress was halted in April during the demolition stage, however.
The pause left the project’s future uncertain.
Many feared it would potentially become a blight on the San Jose landscape at a time when economic injections are sorely needed.
Compounding the issue, the San Jose Spotlight has highlighted that opioid overdoses in San Jose have seen a threefold increase since 2018.
In a press release issued Friday, Lendlease said:
“The decision to end these agreements followed a comprehensive review by Google of its real estate investments and a determination by both organizations that the existing agreements are no longer mutually beneficial given current market conditions.”
Alexa Arena, Google’s Senior Director of Development, gave a statement to Gizmodo, saying:
“We’ve been optimizing our real estate investments in the Bay Area, and part of that work is looking at a variety of options to move our development projects forward and deliver on our housing commitment.”
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