LinkedIn scored a huge real estate victory over Google this week, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
After a city council meeting, LinkedIn (LNKD) received permission to build on 1.4 million square feet of land in Mountain View, Calif., which is “the lion’s share of roughly 2.2 million square feet of available commercial square footage for the area,” according to the article. Google (GOOG), meanwhile, received just 515,000 square feet.
“To have one building — it’s a significant blow,” David Radcliffe, vice president of real estate and workplace services for Google, said ahead of the vote, according to the article. It continues:
The outcome is clearly a huge disappointment for Google, which had requested essentially all of the available office space in February under a new city land-use plan that saw way more demand than supply. While no one expected Google to get all of its request, the relatively small allocation clearly stung the search giant, and a visibly upset Radcliffe openly questioned the reduced project’s feasibility.
While LinkedIn received just 12% less land than it had originally requested, Google came away with 78% less.
“We are pleased with the city council’s decision to allow LinkedIn to build a permanent headquarters in Mountain View that will also create a sustainable mixed-use community destination,” LinkedIn said in a statement, according to the Business Journal. “We look forward to working with the community and the city council as the development proposal moves forward.”
The article clarifies, however, that construction can’t begin just yet:
Wednesday morning’s decision does not approve LinkedIn’s project; it merely gives the company the green light to turn in formal plans. LinkedIn is working with the architecture firm Studios, the design house that did the iconic Silicon Graphics headquarters at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway — now Google’s main headquarters building.
The meeting reportedly took six and a half hours with a 4-3 council decision in LinkedIn’s favor.
