Google pauses massive San Jose campus after first demolition phase

Ben Schoon | Apr 22 2023 - 8:03 am PT

In 2021 Google got approval for its “Downtown West” campus coming to San Jose, with the 80-acre campus set to be one of the company’s largest projects. But now, less than two years later, Google has paused the San Jose project after completing the first demolition phase.

Reported by CNBC, Google has paused all development on its “Downtown West” campus in San Jose, apparently following “gutting” the development team as a part of downsizing efforts that started earlier this year. The project was supposed to break ground before the end of 2023 with “no plan to restart construction” anytime soon.

Google apparently still plans to move forward with the project later on, but some sources familiar with the company’s plans are “concerned the project may not reach the scale promised in the original master plan.”

Downtown West was set to be a truly massive project for Google, with the efforts bringing new office space for Googlers, as well as bringing retail spaces, public spaces, restaurants, and thousands of units of housing. It was a multibillion-dollar project, which, of course, came with rough timing.

Since Google was given approval in 2021, the company has felt the effects from the broader economic downturn as advertisers have lessened spending and slowed Google’s growth. The company is also currently facing competition as it never has in the search space, with the advent of generative AI making waves. CNBC points out that the result of putting the project on pause could put the San Jose space “at risk of becoming a long-term eyesore and economic zero” for the city.