SAN JOSE — Google has now spent well over $400 million buying properties in the Alviso district of north San Jose after the search giant’s purchase of a big office building that expands the company’s holdings in that area.
The tech titan has paid $25.2 million to buy an office building at the corner of 4500 North First St. in San Jose, according to documents filed on March 6 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
Nine buildings owned by Google in the Alviso district of north San Jose, with locations on North First Street, Nortech Parkway, and Disk Drive, shown within the outline. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)
Google’s purchase of the office hub at North First and Nortech Parkway means the company has now acquired nine buildings in the Alviso district north of State Route 237 over a period that stretches back to early 2018, county real estate records show.
Six of the buildings that Google bought are office spaces. Three of the buildings are large industrial structures, better suited for research and development activities than office workspaces.
4500 North First Street, an office building in the Alviso district of north San Jose, seen on March 9, 2026. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)
The tech titan could potentially employ 3,200 to 4,000 people in the six office buildings that it owns. The three large industrial buildings are configured for significantly fewer employees per square foot compared with the office sites.
Google’s purchase of the building is a deal that shows the tech company has deepened its ongoing investment in San Jose, Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont said.
The tech company has spent a combined total of $434.5 million in a series of purchases of buildings on North First Street, Nortech Parkway, and Disk Drive, according to the property documents.
The nine buildings Google owns in Alviso total 1.35 million square feet.
The 4500 North First building totals 83,900 square feet, according to a leasing sign posted by Newmark commercial real estate executives Mike Saign and Mark Garner, who were marketing the property at the time of the purchase.
In January 2018, Google paid $117.3 million for a trio of giant industrial buildings that together total 563,000 square feet. These buildings are at 5079, 5087, and 5093 Disk Drive.
In October 2018, Google bought two curving office buildings, located at 4300 North First St. and 4400 North First St., paying $154.5 million. These buildings together total 377,000 square feet.
In May 2019, Google paid $137.5 million to acquire three office buildings that together total 332,000 square feet and have the addresses 4550 North First St., 65 Nortech Parkway and 95 Nortech Parkway.
Google has also spent an estimated $459 million to buy many properties in downtown San Jose, where the company has proposed a neighborhood of homes, offices, shops, restaurants and hotel facilities near the SAP Center and Diridon train station. The neighborhood is called Downtown West.
In 2023, however, Google announced that it had decided to reassess the timeline for the Downtown West neighborhood due to the company’s uncertainty about just how much office space it would need in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Google is operating large office clusters in two north San Jose sites besides its big hub in Alviso.
One major Google office hub in north San Jose consists of several Google-owned buildings along West Tasman Drive near Champion Court and Vista Montana. The other is a Google-leased office hub near the corner of North First Street and East Brokaw Road.
“This shows that Google continues to invest in San Jose projects,” said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy.