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Google Abandons Massive Plan That Would Have Built 15,000 Homes in San Francisco Area
Gizmodo ^ | Maxwell Zeff

Posted on 06/18/2024 1:43:22 PM PDT by Vendome

Google pulled out of a $15 billion investment in Santa Clara County after demolition had already begun. The company…

By Maxwell Zeff On Friday, Google and real estate group Lendlease called off plans to build 15,000 homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, as housing developers continue to exit the troubled region.

Google and Lendlease mutually ended a $15 billion agreement that was made in 2019 to build residential and retail space in Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Mountain View, where the search engine is headquartered. The plans for San Jose’s ‘Downtown West’ included 4,000 affordable homes, office space for 20,000 employees, 300 hotel rooms, and 10 parks.

“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,” Alexa Arena, Google’s Senior Director of Development, told Gizmodo in an email.

Construction on Downtown West was paused in April after the demolition phase had already begun, according to CNBC. The project risks becoming a permanent eyesore to the San Jose community, at a time when investments can’t come soon enough.

San Jose’s opioid overdoses have tripled since 2018, according to the San Jose Spotlight, and real estate sales in Santa Clara County have dropped 14% this year, according to NBC. Issues that are, unfortunately, common in California these days continue to batter the Bay Area, and Google pulling investments in the community does not help.

(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: are; california; family; google; housing; not; realty; we
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1 posted on 06/18/2024 1:43:22 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: Vendome

Don’t worry Frank!
I’ve got your back!
Hole.


2 posted on 06/18/2024 1:48:30 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (When I say "We" I speak of, -not for-, "We the People")
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To: Vendome

Google shadow bans 15,000 homes. Maybe my blog is freed up?


3 posted on 06/18/2024 1:48:45 PM PDT by urbanpovertylawcenter (the law and poverty collide in an urban setting and sparks fly)
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To: Vendome

$15 billion to build 15,000 homes. That comes out to $1,000,000 per home.

I’m betting that for a fraction of that amount, Google could pay 15,000 families to move away from California. Heck, for $10 I will promise not to ever move to California.


4 posted on 06/18/2024 1:51:09 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy ( Dementia Joe is Not My President)
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To: Vendome

They forced out REI, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy from the shopping center on E Charleston off of San Antonio. Now they are abandoning the project! Damn them.


5 posted on 06/18/2024 1:51:26 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“When exposing a crime is treated like a crime, you are being ruled by criminals” – Edward Snowden)
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To: Vendome

That’s a cost of $1 million per home. Were they hoping to flip them?

Try another state. They could build their own city of 50,000 homes from scratch in the midwest. Or just buy up all those vacant high-rises (I hear they are leaving 300,000 sq ft that owner might want to sell) at a 90% discount and convert them to multi-tenant housing.


6 posted on 06/18/2024 1:53:37 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: Vendome
Google Abandons Massive Plan That Would Have Built 15,000 Homes in San Francisco Area

The Googles, they are EVIL!

Google is the chief motivator of the policies that have destroyed Silicone Valley and the SF Bay Area.

Now they don't want to lose money betting on Bay Area housing.

7 posted on 06/18/2024 1:53:56 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (Celebrate Decivilization)
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To: Vendome

I was listening to Greg Kelly today on the radio, and I tuned in just as he was playing a tape of some guy running for Mayor of San Fran being interrogated by some reporter about “how many LBGT people he knows, how many drag Queens he knows” as if he had to pass a test.

Did I hear that right? I only heard part of it. This is the requirement now for running for office in San Fran?


8 posted on 06/18/2024 1:56:32 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free, the USA will never have equal justice under the law)
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To: Vendome

“Hold it tight there!”

Good meme for Pookies Toons.


9 posted on 06/18/2024 1:59:28 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (The media has one job and even with Constitutional protections they cannot do it.)
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To: Navy Patriot

I’m no expert on finance, obviously, so I will never understand in a billion years how a freakin’ website can be worth billions of dollars especially one that never plays ads. Seriously, how many advertisements have you ever seen on Google? So how are they making all this money?


10 posted on 06/18/2024 1:59:42 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free, the USA will never have equal justice under the law)
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To: Bubba_Leroy

I was thinking the same.

15,000 x $1,000,000 homes.


11 posted on 06/18/2024 2:03:59 PM PDT by Red6
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To: Vendome

I lived in Mountain View back in 1982 while stationed at Moffett Field. It was very nice at the time and so was San Francisco... Shxtholes now, like every liberal hellhole.


12 posted on 06/18/2024 2:09:16 PM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I lived in Santa Clara and San Jose for 20 years. I’ve looked at the map for the abandoned “downtown west.” I think generally that area could use some redevelopment. Alas, for now it looks like Barack Obama Blvd will still pass through a forlorn area


13 posted on 06/18/2024 2:15:36 PM PDT by j.havenfarm (23 years on Free Republic, 12/10/23! More than 8,000 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda
So how are they making all this money?

Google is selling YOU to advertisers, not advertising to you directly.

You are the product to be used, then discarded.

14 posted on 06/18/2024 2:16:14 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (Celebrate Decivilization)
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To: urbanpovertylawcenter

That’s funny...


15 posted on 06/18/2024 2:28:55 PM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

‘So how are they making all this money?’

“Google is selling YOU to advertisers, not advertising to you directly.

You are the product to be used, then discarded.“

When I so much as mention a product to my neighbor, I’m targeted. Ads for that product bombard my screen

They know my exact demographic

They invade my privacy

Advertising is different now but it is there


16 posted on 06/18/2024 2:32:19 PM PDT by stanne
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Shopping centers are doomed. They cost too much for the profits they generate as online sales replace them. It actually makes more sense to build condos in that area. Pretty soon even E. Palo Alto will be gentrified. And one mill per unit isn’t too far out of line given the property value. Question is will it sell at the market price or will some scheme to make them “affordable” at taxpayer expense kick in..


17 posted on 06/18/2024 2:32:37 PM PDT by RitchieAprile (available monkeys looking for the change..)
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To: Vendome

Something like that happened out here. Downtown Brea, Calif. once looked like one of those towns featured in Western movies. However, in the 1980s, it was bulldozed as part of a redevelopment project, which was abandoned following the demolition phase. Downtown Brea, where small businesses once thrived, was now a gigantic vacant lot, and It stayed that way for years. It was eventually redeveloped, although it now looks like a dime store version of the Las Vegas Strip.


18 posted on 06/18/2024 2:40:45 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: monkeyshine; Bubba_Leroy

It was only 4,000 homes. There were also plans to build office buildings, hotels, retail space, etc.


19 posted on 06/18/2024 2:42:59 PM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell>)
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To: RitchieAprile
Shopping centers are doomed. They cost too much for the profits they generate as online sales replace them.

I like shopping malls. I hate to shop online. You can't try on clothes and shoes through the computer screen, and when you shop at a brick-and-mortar store, you can take possession of your purchase immediately and not have to worry about porch pirates.

20 posted on 06/18/2024 2:45:20 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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