A step forward with the city of San Bruno
Oct 13, 2021 – [[read-time]] minute read
YouTube is home to creators and artists from around the world, and more than 2 billion people come to our platform every month to learn, to laugh, and to find community.
Since 2006, YouTube employees have been working to support the platform from our headquarters in San Bruno, California. And today, we’ve grown to offices located across the globe. We’re committed to giving back to the cities where we’re based, just like we’re committed to our mission to give everyone a voice and show them the world.
Yesterday, we made a major step forward with the City of San Bruno.
The San Bruno City Council approved a 20 year framework to guide development around the office park where our headquarters are based, including an expansion plan for YouTube’s offices.
The City of San Bruno’s decision this week builds on years of planning to ensure our growth benefits the entire community. YouTube’s first offices were located above a pizzeria in San Mateo, a nearby Bay Area city. Fifteen years ago, our move to San Bruno was made possible because of the City’s decision to design a land use plan that provided for the development of offices near major freeways, public transportation hubs, and an international airport.
Over the years, as our company grew we started to meet with the City Council and City staff to develop a plan for our expansion that would also create opportunities for San Bruno to thrive.
Yesterday’s vote was the culmination of that planning, and I’m grateful to the City Council, City Manager Jovan Grogan, and Community and Economic Development Director Pamela Wu and their teams for the work they have put into this plan.
At YouTube, we believe development isn’t just about building the best offices, it’s about doing our part to solve challenging problems and help our neighborhood thrive. Over the past year, we’ve seen the impact of the pandemic as local businesses closed, communities were disproportionately impacted, and many were forced to search for new jobs.
Through the full development plan, YouTube’s expansion project will directly provide more than $130 million in revenue to the community. The City’s leadership and the community will determine how best to use these funds for the benefit of everyone in San Bruno - from education to infrastructure - and $25 million will be dedicated to the creation of affordable housing.
Over the lifetime of the project, we expect that our expansion will stimulate the regional economy and help create thousands of construction jobs. We’re also continuing to build and operate sustainably in this development, with all-electric buildings, pedestrian and bicycle improvements, a target of no net new greenhouse gas emissions, and a goal of reaching LEED Platinum.
To kick off the next phase of our work in San Bruno, today we’re announcing a new $200,000 grant for the San Bruno Education Foundation to train teachers and provide equipment to the school district. This grant builds on our efforts to deepen our ties with local organizations like Skyline College and the San Bruno Community Foundation. For the past five years, we’ve provided a $100,000 annual grant to the Community Foundation to fund local nonprofit groups providing support for literacy programs, domestic violence survivors, people experiencing homelessness, and to help address other regional challenges.
We’re investing in San Bruno for the long term, and look forward to putting into action the steps approved by the City Council this week.