SCCAOR Supports the San Jose-Google Deal

The Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS® supports the proposed Memorandum of Understanding with Google, Inc. SCCAOR’s support for the MOU extends to support for the long-term vision laid out in the Diridon Station Area Plan originally adopted by Council in 2014. The plan, which includes a vision and strategy for a housing element in the Diridon area, articulates the importance and necessity of Google’s presence and the ability to move forward in approval of the proposed MOU. As a result of this articulated vision for the Diridon Station Area, and Google’s willingness to create a shared vision of benefit to the community and the City of San Jose it is critical to push this project forward into the next phase.

As a member-supported non-profit organization committed to the principles of equal-opportunities in housing, economic development, private property rights, and community building since 1896, SCCAOR identifies the following, specifically, as reasons to support approval of the MOU:

  1. Capitalize on Transit Synergy. Create a “whole greater than the sum of the parts” in the Diridon Station Area with new urban development, expanded transit service, and a new intermodal station in conjunction with transit partners Valley Transportation Authority, Caltrain, and the California High Speed Rail Authority.

  2. Optimize Density and Mix of Uses. Optimize development density and create a complementary mix of uses in order to create a vibrant, transit-oriented urban neighborhood and destination.

  3. Grow and Preserve Housing. Grow and preserve housing in the City to help address rising housing costs and displacement. Housing in the Diridon Station Area should include on-site units affordable to low-income households and “missing middle” households, and market rate homes in a combination that is financially viable for residential developers to ensure that planned housing is built. Affordable units can be built both integrated into market-rate developments and as stand-alone affordable housing projects.

  4. Create Broad Job Opportunities. Promote opportunities for San José residents of all skill and educational levels and diverse backgrounds to prepare for and secure jobs in the Diridon Station Area. Provide opportunities for existing and new small, local businesses to benefit from and/or integrate into the new development.

  5. Pursue Equitable Development. Develop the Diridon Station Area with intent to minimize potential negative impacts on people and place, and to maximize opportunity for local youth and adults to participate and benefit from job opportunities in the Diridon Station Area, through partnerships among the City, Google, and others.

We thank the Mayor and Councilmembers for their continued effort to bring the Diridon Station Area Plan into fruition and to staff for their dedication to making the Google, Inc. project process as inclusive as possible. SCCAOR feels that in the same spirit of collaboration and information gathering that the Station Area Advisory Group was created with, has been captured in the subsequent dialogue and interactions between Google and the community, and between Google and the City of San Jose.