Yahoo! wants to come back to the city where it all got started

By Sam Scott

Internet giant Yahoo! has taken a major step toward making Sunnyvale its home.

Sunnyvale's Planning Commission on Jan. 25 unanimously approved the corporation's plans to relocate its headquarters from Santa Clara to a 34-acre site near the Lockheed campus, at the corner of Mathilda and First avenues. Lockheed sold the land in August.

The Yahoo! plan now awaits the City Council's approval on Feb. 8.

Assuming the plans pass through council unaltered, the completed campus will house five office buildings and a three-level parking garage.

An estimated 3,000 employees will work within the four- and five-story high-rises, city reports show. Company spokeswoman Shannon Stubo said Yahoo!'s Santa Clara employees currently number about 1,000.

Passing by a 6-0 vote, the project garnered high praise from the commission.

"I was very pleased with all aspects of the application," said commissioner Yolanda Brown. "I was especially pleased with the architecture and the landscaping."

Commission chairman John Howe said Yahoo!'s efforts to cut traffic impact stood out as noteworthy. Howe said Yahoo! will urge at least 18 percent of its employees to get to work by bike, bus, light-rail or carpool. "Eighteen percent. That's the highest ever in Sunnyvale," he said.

Bob Hutchison of Higgins Development, the project's developers, said building will begin as soon as the city gives the green light. "We would hope to start construction in the spring and start grading immediately after receiving approval from the city." Hutchison estimated the project will take just over a year. "Yahoo!'s needs are such that they'd like to take the entire thing complete," he said. "We're looking at second quarter of 2001."

Only the Friends of the Fremont Pool, a group trying to raise $1 million for a new public pool, seemed less than enthusiastic about the proposed development. Three speakers from the group presented arguments that Yahoo!'s presence would not benefit the city as a whole and would cause traffic problems, road-wear and general depletion of resources.

The group said Yahoo! should be forced to contribute to a community resource--namely the pool.

Trudi Ryan, the city's planning officer, said the move will benefit the city as a whole. The 3,000 well-paying jobs brought to Sunnyvale by Yahoo! will create another 9,000 support jobs in other companies, she said.

The city also estimates it will receive more than one million dollars in building fees and construction taxes, and about $180,000 in property tax during a five year period.

The move to Sunnyvale will be a homecoming of sorts. Jim Nelson, Yahoo!'s vice president of finance, said the company had been located in Sunnyvale when it went public in April 1996. Yahoo!'s IPO price, according to the company's website, was $2.17 adjusted for splits. Yahoo! stock as of Jan. 26 was $328.

"We're thrilled about being back," Nelson said. "What a difference three years makes."

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