I was thinking mid-high rise buildings constructed in Mountain View near the train station. I'm going to use Apple as a comparison because we have more information about their costs. Their new $5 billion complex provides about 3 million square feet on 175 acres. Northwestern's medical campus in downtown Chicago, near where I used to live, is 4.25 million square feet across two small city blocks (9 acres). Mid-rise 20-25 story buildings provide a lot of floor space!
Just to put things into perspective: the two blocks bounded by Evelyn, Franklin, Dana, and Bryant near the Caltrain station in Mountain View, which is currently just nondescript strip mall, is 8.5 acres. We're not talking about SF or NYC where it might be hard to find that much contiguous space.
Is the trend in tech companies to have sprawling campuses or has it gone back to multi-story office buildings with the latest fad of packing everyone into a big open office?
Castro Street a non-descript strip mall? Not on your life - it is crowded and busy. Even Monday nights are getting busy. The problem with your redevelopment idea is that there are many different landowners. Each parcel of land will have to be individually redeveloped. Not impossible. The city should encourage it but the city can't force it.
I'm confused, or you haven't been there in a while. In those two blocks, there's a brand new class 1 office development, a large condo complex, a popular bar, and a 1 star Michelin restaurant.
I believe the parent's point may have been that it is an utter waste to keep areas steps away from major mass transit hubs zoned for low density commercial use.
Just to put things into perspective: the two blocks bounded by Evelyn, Franklin, Dana, and Bryant near the Caltrain station in Mountain View, which is currently just nondescript strip mall, is 8.5 acres. We're not talking about SF or NYC where it might be hard to find that much contiguous space.