Negotiations between the city of Mountain View and tech giant Google over the latter's plans to expand its headquarters recently took a strange turn.
"Google has backed down from a threat to deny badly needed housing in Mountain View if it isn’t given more office space for its futuristic new 'Charleston East' campus," reports Ethan Baron.
The ongoing evolution of the political situation surrounding Google's plans for its campus expansion shows the complicated nature of development in the Silicon Valley—where jobs are plentiful and housing is in short supply. Google's announcement last week was seem as an ultimatum from a bully, according to Mountain View politicians like vice-mayor Lenny Siegel.
At an attempt at reconciliation, Google sent a letter apologizing for the strong tone of the original statement. The letter also "proposed that city fees from development of housing and parks in North Bayshore could be used to offset housing costs, particularly for affordable homes," reports Baron. The plans for nearly 10,000 homes in the North Bayshore area has been a centerpiece of the plan since its original conception (the city even made space for the development in its plans for the North Bayshore area), so city stakeholders didn't react well to the proposal being treated as leverage for extra commercial space.
The article includes a lot more details about the planned development as it currently stands. The development is expected to go before the full Mountain View City Council in November.
FULL STORY: Google backs down from threat to cancel Mountain View housing
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