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Google eyeing Mayfield Mall site for Glass division?
- Nathan Donato-Weinstein
- Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal
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If you buy the latest chatter, it just might. Numerous sources say the search giant is strongly interested in leasing San Antonio Station, the 500,000-square-foot former mall that was once home to Hewlett-Packard Co.
Google is reportedly eyeing the office project for its Glass division. That kind of space could fit more than 1,500 employees, based on very conservative space planning estimates. It is located at 100 Mayfield Ave., at the intersection of San Antonio Road and Central Expressway, directly across the street from the Caltrain station.
Details are sketchy and could still shift. But I’m told Google is contemplating a three-year lease with an option to buy after the term is up with owner Four Corners Properties. Google has been shifting its real estate strategy from a leasing model to an ownership strategy.
Google declined to comment. Jack Troesdon and Kevin Cunningham, brokers with Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank who are marketing the site, did not return multiple inquiries. Four Corners also didn’t return several phone calls and emails by publication.
It’s been rumored for months that Google was eyeing the site to house the Glass team, with the on-again, off-again storyline providing a major topic of discussion within the commercial real estate world. Now Google may be ready to make a move, several sources said.
Other sources suggest Google isn't the only party interested, with cloud storage site Box also shopping the site.
If Google takes the space for Glass, it would be a major sign that the tech giant is planning to ramp up that division. Google has so far only released the high-tech eyewear for about 8,000 testers, but a consumer release is tentatively planned for 2014, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told the BBC in April.
Nathan Donato-Weinstein covers commercial real estate and transportation for the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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