Google Abandons Middlefield Park Housing Plan

Google is selling 40 acres in Mountain View previously planned for a mixed-use development.

Ryan Lamont, a spokesperson for the tech giant, told The Mercury News the company is exploring the sale of its Middlefield Park site where the company had approval to build a mixed-use neighborhood. The land, located at the corner of Ellis Street and East Middlefield Road, is steps from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Middlefield station.

“We continue to focus on investing in real estate efficiently to meet the needs of our hybrid workforce and business,” Lamont said. The company is hoping to find a buyer with the experience and capabilities to build residential housing.

Mountain View city officials approved 1,900 homes with 2.4 acres of land for the development of up to 380 units of affordable housing. The plan also includes 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Middlefield Park would’ve also brought 1.3 million square feet of offices. To make way for the development, 14 existing industrial, office and research buildings would be torn down.

While the move might be seen as a sign of the company admitting defeat amid layoffs last month and high office vacancy rates in the Bay Area, Lamont told the Mercury News that Google isn’t backing away from its home. “We remain committed to our long-term presence in Mountain View,” he said.

The retreat from the Middlefield Park project marks the latest instance of Silicon Valley companies shying away from lofty housing goals set just a few years ago after Meta quietly abandoned its own housing plans.

In 2019, Google pledged $1 billion to address the Bay Area’s housing shortage, using the company’s expansion in Silicon Valley as a driver. In total, the company planned to build four new mixed-use neighborhoods that would have room for 15,000 new homes. The city of Mountain View is on the hook for 11,000 new homes by 2031 under its Regional Housing Needs Assessment.

The plan hinged on land owned by the company across Silicon Valley. It planned to use $750 million worth of suburban office parks in its possession as the site of the planned developments.

Whether Google is pursuing one buyer or multiple companies to snap up the Middlefield Park land remains to be seen. If any buyer wanted to develop on the plot, it would be beholden to Google’s already-approved plan, according to the East Bay Times.

— Chris Malone Méndez