Mountain View's City Council unanimously approved giving LinkedIn five more years to finish redeveloping its campus near the Sunnyvale border, the Mountain View Voice reported. LinkedIn will pay the city an additional $1.6 million.
Why it matters: The deal shows how hybrid work is slowing Silicon Valley office projects. The money is going straight to affordable housing.
The deal
LinkedIn now has until February 2034 to begin building a pair of six-story office buildings and a parking structure on its nearly 29-acre site at East Middlefield Road and State Route 237. The amendment stretches the original 10-year agreement to 15 years. The council approved it Oct. 13.
LinkedIn finished one six-story building and a parking garage in 2021. LinkedIn executive Victor Sanchez said fewer employees come in every day because of hybrid schedules. "It's not sustainable to build space when it's not needed," he told the council.
He said LinkedIn has enough capacity for its current headcount to 2029, but not necessarily to 2034. Earlier this year LinkedIn announced 411 layoffs in Mountain View.
Where the money goes
Staff recommended $1.1 million for parkland in East Whisman and $500,000 for affordable housing. In a 5-2 vote, the council put the full $1.6 million into the affordable housing fund, as Councilmember Lucas Ramirez proposed. Council members Chris Clark and John McAlister dissented.
"It's the urgent need of the community that we have to address," Ramirez said.