☆ CM Davis clarifies misconceptions about Google development and community fund disbursement
Google announced earlier this month that, given the changes in the office market, it may push back its development in Diridon West, aka the Google Village. Non profits and their supporters who are on the receiving end of more than $200m of Google largesse (in the form of community grants, public spaces, and property) started squawking. D6 CM Dev Davis sets the record straight in this exclusive interview with Opp Now.
Opportunity Now: Let's start at the beginning: When negotiations started, was Google even obliged to offer community grants as part of their development?
Dev Davis: None of this is standard because community benefits aren't a thing that most commercial developments have to pay at all. Google is distinct in this regard—they didn't have to agree to this. In fact, other companies often will play different cities off of each other to get *cheaper* development, as opposed to paying extra for development, as Google is doing with SJ.
The point of the community grants was to ensure that the benefits from the Google development were widely realized throughout the entire community. And that any negative consequences associated with the development could be addressed by a community grant fund.
ON: So it's linked to the development; it's not some open-ended gift to the nonprofits.
DD: If they don't develop, there are no negative consequences we'd like them to ameliorate.
ON: So what's the timeline for how the community funds will be disbursed? Google has already fronted some money, even before they start developing.
DD: That's right. It is a generous sign of good faith on Google's part. They already released $7.5m dollars to the city in cash—we have that in hand. And they also donated a parcel that will be used to expand a domestic violence shelter. When they break ground, they will release another $15m. And then the remainder of the $200m will be disbursed based on the square footage of development they have completed. It was never imagined that these grants could come all at once. Google was never going to write a $200m check, nor should we have expected it.
ON: Some of our contributors have worried about the precedent Google is setting with the community grant fund. Other companies that want to develop downtown won't have the resources to be so generous.
DD: The Google development is a unique situation, so it's not really setting a precedent. It's not just one plot: Google is coming in really, really big—a lot of people in the surrounding neighborhoods will be impacted by this development, both positively and negatively. There is a very legitimate concern that existing residents will be displaced as new development occurs to meet the new demand that Google will likely create. It just necessitates good planning to make sure we take moves to anticipate and manage these impacts.
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Image by Google LLC