Commercial Real Estate Blog

Microsoft has launched a $45B unsolicited bid for Yahoo! Combined, the two would be a more formidable competitor to Google, both in terms of search market share, as well as ad inventory. What will be interesting to see is that if the acquisition is indeed successful, to what extend Microsoft will embrace open-source technologies and how it integrates the two companies.

From a real estate perspective, in Silicon Valley, Microsoft may elect to keep things seperate but also has the option of utilizing Yahoo!’s 50-acre campus site in Santa Clara it purchased two years ago to combine operations. Yahoo! is currently leasing most of its Santa Clara facilities on leases which expire roughly 2-3 years from now. Given the current job cuts and overall woes with the company however, it is unlikely that they would break ground on a new campus anytime soon. Microsoft recently renegotiated for a longer term on its 450,000 SF Mountain View campus.

Also today, Kara Swisher revealed financials from Facebook based on a company-wide conference call held by Mark Zuckerberg. Some numbers are below:

• 2007 Revenues: $150 million
• 2008 Revenues: $300 to $350 million (projected)
• 2007 Headcount: 450
• 2008 Headcount: 1,000 (projected)
• 2008 Capital Expenditures: $200 million (i.e., servers)
• 2008 EBITDA: $50 million
• 2008 Cash Flow (EBITDA - CapEx): negative 150 million.

Based on the above, it would indicate that Facebook will likely be out in the market very soon looking for at least 100,000 SF of space. They are also hiring an executive chef which implies that they are emulating Google in many regards and it will likely push their requirement north of 100,000 into the 200,000-250,000 SF territory to accomodate growth simply beyond the 2008 mark.

The French have selected Mountain View as one of the cities to inspire eco-friendly towns of the future. An article in the Mountain View Voice indicates that French official Jacques Attali has selected Mountain View as one of five cities representing the best role models in the world for this vision.

What is the vision?, eco-friendly villages of less than 50,000 people which embody social diversity, public transportation, open space, and a friendly business environment.

Interesting, but I doubt Mountain View’s business friendliness really had that much to do with Google’s ability to grow into the 500 lb. gorilla it is. They were simply growing at a time when others generally were not.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Google was the third largest acquirer of land in Santa Clara County last year. The two ahead of Google in the race were real estate companies.

The article also points to plans by Google to develop a hotel and conference center on the east side of 101 in Mountain View, something that has been sorely lacking on the stretch of 101 from Sunnyvale up the Peninsula.

4,500 Square Feet
800 West El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA

• Class A
• LED 11/2009
• 9 Offices, Conference, Open Space
• Partially Furnished
• $3.75 Full-Service

Menlo Park Office Space - 70,000 SF Class A -$1.75 NNN - Plug N’ Play

Mountain View Office Space - 440,000 SF Class A - Corporate Campus Opportunity

Palo Alto Office Space - 6,800 - 10,300 SF Class A - Downtown Location - Awesome Space

Palo Alto Office Space - 11,000 SF - Downtown Location - Plug N’ Play

San Jose Office Space - 3,000 SF - Class A Office Space - Plug N’ Play

Sunnyvale Office Space - 5,000 SF - Class B R&D - $1.50 NNN