Google Plans New Boulder Campus to House 1,500 Employees

By Ioana Neamt, Associate Editor

Pearl Place development

Tech giant Google Inc. plans to triple its office space in Boulder by basing its new campus on a 4.29-acre redevelopment site at the southwest corner of 30^th and Pearl streets. The Boulder Planning Board has conditionally approved the proposed Pearl Place development project, which consists of three four-story office buildings of 110,000 square feet each, the Denver Post reports. Google’s plan is now in the hands of the Boulder City Council, which is expected to deliver its decision in the following week.

Google plans to triple its current office space in Boulder and house a total of 1,500 employees at its new campus, pending approval from the City Council. The company is proposing the construction of three four-story buildings, outdoor and indoor event space and 620 underground parking spaces. Additionally, the project includes a public area with and integrated bike path, and the conversion of a ditch into a flood-control zone. The $100 million first phase of the Pearl Place development project could begin in the summer of 2015, if approved by the City Council, with employees moving into the new offices in the first half of 2017, according to the Denver Post. A date has not yet been set for the second phase of the construction.

The Boulder Planning Board approved Google’s proposed plan Dec. 5 after many hours of discussion, but not without conditions. According to The Daily Camera, board members requested that Google set back one of its four-story buildings by 60 feet on one side and 30 feet on another, although the company had planned for three uniform 55-feet office buildings. Officials were also concerned about the lack of retail and commercial space on the ground level, given that the site chosen by the tech company is located in the heart of Boulder’s commercial district.  Other concerns revolved around the traffic congestion and rise in housing prices that could result from the expansion of a large, high-ranking company such as Google in a city where small businesses and startups make up the tech core. When the 4.29-acre site was acquired by Pearl Associates LLC in 2013, several small businesses were forced to find new locations.

Google currently occupies three office buildings at Pearl and 26^th Street in the city, and recently leased a fourth building to accommodate 100 employees, according to the Denver Post. Google Boulder employees focus their work on Google Now, Google Drive, and Google Geo. If completed, the company’s new campus would become one of Google’s largest in the country.

Rendering courtesy of Google via the Denver Post