With Google in full swing on acquisition spree, the search engine giant will also need more buildings to house its growing family of engineers. The latest reports that have surfaced point to 298 Alabama Street in the Mission district of San Francisco as the latest property that will be leased by Google.
The property is a 1920s building that has around 35,000 square feet and was used before by a printing company. The catalogue and newspaper printer firm Howard Quinn occupied the property for half a century until it closed in 2012.
"The space, which is large enough to hold 200 people, is being earmarked by the search group as a place to house the start-ups it buys, according to several people familiar with the situation," reported the Financial Times.
There are speculations that the property will be used by the teams of its most recent acquisitions, such as robotics company Boston Dynamics, smart thermostat maker Nest Labs, and SlickLogin, which has developed the technology to kill passwords as we know them.
Google has its main headquarters in Mountain View and bought six buildings in 2013 to add about 400,000 square feet of office space to expand its operations in the area. FT reported that the company has an office in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco and is expected to open up another site in South Park.
While the latest move might save its engineers from the long commute to the Googleplex, some locals do not welcome the idea of having a big technology firm in the neighborhood.
"Google, we feel, has no business moving into the Mission because it is an enormous disruption to the lives of people who've been here for decades," a resident said.
Some locals are also open to what might happen.
"I really love the fact the Mission has a diverse population...hope that doesn't change things. On the other hand, it's not condos being built, which was a fear of mine," another local said.
San Francisco is already home to other big technology firms such as Twitter and Pinterest. There are rumors that Facebook is also checking out the neighborhood.
Locals have also complained about the buses of technology companies that use the bus stops of the city when picking up employees that they need to bring to their campuses in Silicon Valley. Transportation authorities have agreed to charge a small amount of $1 per stop in a pilot program that will start in July. Of course, the locals are not satisfied with the low rates that will not even be felt by companies making billions of dollars each year.
There are also locals who grumble about the influx of big firms in the area that drives up rental fees and force low-income families out of the city.
Google has not issued any statement about the Mission District property.
