Google Plans R&D Hub in San Jose's Alviso District

While the timeline for Google’s 80-acre Downtown West campus in San Jose has been pushed back, the tech giant is taking the first steps to establish an advanced research hub in a cluster of eight buildings it owns in the northern part of the city.

The eight properties, encompassing nearly 1.3M SF in the city’s Alviso district, were acquired during Google’s pre-pandemic acquisitions binge in San Jose.

Google has filed plans with the city to convert part of a vacant 233K SF industrial building at 5079 Disk Drive into an electronics R&D lab, according to documents submitted by the architectural firm AP+I Design, The Mercury News reported.

The site, which the documents describe as a “vacant cold shell space,” is one of three large industrial and advanced technology properties on Disk Drive that Google acquired in 2018 in a $117M all-cash purchase. The other two facilities are located at 5087 and 5083 Disk Drive.

The initial project, which encompasses nearly 90K SF of 5079 Disk Drive, will convert the space into thermal, mechanical and testing rack R&D labs. Google also will be adding significant electric power infrastructure in a utility yard next to the building, including electrical substations, cooling towers and chillers, the report said.

“We’re thrilled to see Google continue to expand their R&D footprint in San Jose,” Mayor Matt Mahan told Mercury News.

During its two-year shopping spree in the Alviso district, Google bought eight office and research buildings in proximity to each other, the equivalent of a 1.27M SF tech campus.

In October 2018, Google paid $154.5M to acquire two office buildings encompassing a total of 377K SF at 4300 North First Street and 4400 North First Street.

Seven months later, Google grabbed another 332K SF of space in the area, paying $137.5M to acquire office buildings at 4550 North First Street, 65 Nortech Parkway and 95 Nortech Parkway.

The search giant also owns an office building cluster on Tasman Drive in north San Jose and leases four office properties near the corner of North First Street and Brokaw Road.

After pulling back last year on its timeline for building an 80-acre urban village campus in San Jose, Google is focusing on the development of retail “placemaking” in the footprint of the Downtown West project site. It is partnering with Jamestown to develop a lively street scene in the area near the Diridon train station site, an experience-oriented strategy Google calls Creekside Socials.

“We have entered into a multi-year lease with Jamestown to expand the Creekside program by transforming sections of Barack Obama Boulevard and South Montgomery Street into a vibrant area with retail experiences,” Google said in a statement provided to SiliconValley.com.

When Downtown West was approved by the city council in 2021, the 80-acre transit-oriented development included plans to build 7.3M SF of offices, 4,000 homes, 500K SF of shops restaurants, a community center and 15 acres of parks.

In April 2023, Google slammed the brakes on the project a few weeks after laying off 1,600 workers in the Bay Area and announcing it was reassessing the timeline for Downtown West.

In November, Australia-based Lendlease ended its contract with Google to develop four new campuses in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View encompassing 15M SF, including the Downtown West project.