14 DAY TRIAL // Yahoo may be moving out of Sunnyvale and into the heart of Silicon Valley, just about ten miles away from its search rival Google. The Santa Clara city council approved Yahoo's plan for an office complex on 5010 Old Ironsides Drive, made of 13 six-floor buildings.
The 42.5 acre $112 million property was bought by Yahoo back in 2006, and, according to the present construction plans, will host around 2.9 million square feet of office space, just 0.2 million square feet smaller than Google's high-tech HQ. The new buildings will host 12,000 employees, 85% of Yahoo's entire staff of 14,000.
Despite this positive decision from the Santa Clara council, Yahoo has not yet confirmed the go-ahead of the construction plans, much changing since their inception in 2006.
Yahoo stock plummeted and many of their services were shut down or sold to third-party companies, so a favorable decision could weigh in on other factors as well.
One that could postpone the start of construction works could be the 53% office vacancy rates recorded in Sunnyvale that will make life a bit difficult for Yahoo in renting or selling their current headquarters after the new buildings are finished.
With office vacancy rates at around 20.5% in Silicon Valley and California going through one of its harshest economic periods, Santa Clara officials weren't put in front of a tough decision, since the construction project would generate jobs for city residents. They were in such a good mood that a few hours later, they approved a new hotel tax to raise money in aiding the San Francisco 49ers football team build a stadium in their town as well.
According to the Santa Clara Director of Planning & Inspection, Kevin Riley, "Yahoo wanted to locate in an area of high corporate visibility."
Pictures of the proposed office campus project can be seen on this page hosted by Business Insider.