San Jose city council voted unanimously on Wednesday to sell 10.5 acres of publicly-owned land to Google near the city’s downtown core. The tech giant will use the land to build a new mixed-use corporate campus, featuring office, retail and residential spaces. (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
Talking point: The controversial vote came after around 10 hours of deliberation, community testimony and protests. Ahead of the vote, Google acknowledged it is expected—and reaffirmed its commitment—to help with issues like homelessness, job training and investment in educational programs for the city’s youth. The project is expected to bring 20,000 new tech workers downtown over the next 10 years. San Jose is one of the few Silicon Valley-area cities with more employed residents than jobs. It currently has 0.81 jobs per employed resident; the new campus could be a boon for the city. Meanwhile, nearby in Mountain View, LinkedIn was green-lit to redevelop its HQ—meant to more than double its workforce.