ByGEORGE AVALOS|gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com
PUBLISHED:December 15, 2015 at 7:11 am| UPDATED:August 11, 2016 at 10:56 pm
SAN JOSE — Google and Apple said Tuesday that they have completed fresh realty deals in San Jose, transactions that broaden the footprint of digital titans in North San Jose.
The North San Jose deals underscore the emergence of that part of Silicon Valley as a major hub for tech company expansions or beachheads.
What’s more, the push for office and research facilities in the city by Apple, Google, Samsung, Broadcom and other organizations, including real estate developers, will transform not only North San Jose but also downtown and sections on the west side of town such as the area around Santana Row.
“From iconic Silicon Valley employers like Google and Apple to fast-growing gazelles like Splunk and Silver Spring Networks, San Jose is increasingly the place for tech companies to scale,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in an interview with this newspaper Tuesday.
Mountain View-based Google, which has been on a major expansion surge throughout the Bay Area, leased two buildings totaling 174,000 square feet at North First Street and East Trimble Road. That’s part of a block with an array of modest-size buildings.
Google spokesman Aaron Stein confirmed the leases but said Google didn’t have an extensive comment about the rental deals. The 75 E. Trimble Road building totals 96,000 square feet and the 2600 N. First St. building is 78,000 square feet.
Meanwhile, Cupertino-based Apple has struck a deal to buy a research-and-development chip factory once operated by Maxim that totals 70,000 square feet. The deal, recorded in Santa Clara County property records, totaled $18 million. The tech facility is at 3725 N. First St.
The Google and Apple transactions were first reported in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
“As we continue to grow, we’re planning to build R&D facilities and some additional office space in San Jose,” Apple said in an emailed statement to this newspaper. “The property isn’t far from the future home of our new campus and we’re looking forward to expanding our presence in the Bay Area.”
The Maxim site is about three miles from a major campus that Apple has assembled into an 86-acre site that the company now owns. Up to 4.15 million square feet of offices and research space could be built on that site. That means potentially 20,000 Apple employees could work on the campus.
Despite these expansions, Apple’s primary center for global operations will remain Cupertino, where the company is constructing a huge “spaceship” facility that will become a future headquarters. Apple will employ up to 13,000 at the new Cupertino head offices.
Apple is working on a development plan with city officials, who eventually would have to formally endorse the proposals for the vast North San Jose campus.
“We have land, room for offices, infrastructure, particularly transit, and a wealth of talent in our city,” Liccardo said. “All of those make San Jose a great proposition for companies who feel that their growth is not welcome elsewhere.”
The mayor pointed to the major new office complex for Samsung on North First Street as an example of San Jose’s inclination to embrace major high-density sites for tech companies.
“That is the fundamental difference between a big city and smaller towns,” Liccardo said. “We welcome the scale and are happy to promote tech companies.”
Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167. Follow him atTwitter.com/georgeavalos.
