The fast-growing Internet search company will lease 42.2 acres of land at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. to construct up to 1.2 million square feet of office and research and development space. The property lies between Google’s headquarters and Moffet Field on the NASA property.
Google and NASA have collaborated on several projects since September 2005, including establishing the Planetary Content project that makes it easier for scientists to publish planetary data online. That project has provided high-resolution imagery and maps to the Google Moon Website.
The relationship also includes a controversial deal between NASA and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt to land a Boeing 767 and two smaller planes at Moffet Field, according to a Reuters news agency story.
Under terms of the 40-year lease Google will pay NASA an initial base rent of $3.66 million per year. Google can incrementally extend the lease up to a total of 90 years, the company said. Google has even provided a view of the property at http://maps.google.com/googleameslease.
"This long-term lease agreement is a key component of Google’s strategy for continue growth in Silicon Valley," said David Radcliffe, Google vice president for real estate and workplace services, in a statement.
Construction of the new campus will take place in three phases with the first phase beginning by the end of September 2013, the second phase by 2018 and the third by 2022. Most of the development will be office and R&D space, although it will include conference, housing, dining, fitness, and child care facilities, as well as parking and infrastructure improvements for NASA’s use. NASA will actually retain control of the project during the construction phase.
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