Oooo! Google offices! How novel and unique, especially in that part of town!
If this were Let's Make a Deal door #2 would open away to reveal a goat nibbling on some hay on the floor coupled with the "Zonker" theme song: Whaa-Whaa-Whaa-Whaaaaaaa.

Can we at least get a version of the home game?

The city was to put up about $30 million of the $80 million cost of the project, or almost 40% of the total cost. In return it would get maybe $2 million a year but also have to shoulder the risk on the investment going bad and having to deal with all the associated issues (such as labor issues).

That sounds like way too much risk for such a measly ROI. How much could they make just investing that $30 million away in relatively safe financial tools (govt bonds, etc.)? I don't think $1 million a year would be too much of a stretch.

A really nice hotel in the Shoreline area would be very nice and that maybe should be a long-term goal. But not on those terms. Too risky... and it's just the wrong economic times to be talking about it.

Land for sale to the highest bidder. Mountain View city officials will make sure there is no shore left for its longtime citizens. every open land is availble to be bulldozed for hotels and office complexes. The officials don't believe in any open space. I sincerely hope there is a gigantic earthquake and takes down this whole town and the other towns run by ultra , ultra greedy group of people.

Who are you calling greedy? Or are you just trying to be racist?

Think of what a $30M investment in our schools could do...

When will Mountain View city council quit spending money they do not have on real estate ventures. Building low income housing and hotels when there is a deficit is ridiculous. If there is a need and it make sense private businesses will build it.

Tea Time, your commnents are usually really bad. But I totally agree with you on that.

When is the city going to decide that, gosh, commercial real estate ventures are not something we as a community and city need to keep being a part of?

Or better yet, here is a challenge to our city 'leaders': for once, just TRY to invest in something that wouldn't allow you to crow and point at as you try to get elected in the future. We have enough monuments to politician vanity (Light Rail, city hall, etc.) as it is.

Oh those new funds that the city manager says would be great would never help our schools or benefit city employees. It would help the businesses out there with development. I'll say it again...let Google build this hotel convension center / mini Santana Row like area to benefit them and all the visitors that will come and spend money there. Sales tax...very nice. On the up side you'll have more concerts, with a hotel there, resturants, etc...I rather see the city push something like this through then BMR housing.

My staff sources tell me the hotel deal was weakly supported by council. Staff did not want the deal to go public because of the huge subsidies. Millions of dollars to pay off special interest groups. Google offered the best deal without using city money.

John the Man and MV Mom seem to remember that Shoreline District (the fund the subsidy would come from) is a tax diversion district. The money for subsidies would mainly come from money that is permanently (peculiarly) diverted from the local schools share of the 1% Gann limit (Prop 13) on property taxes out at Shoreline. I'm glad to see this fail. The ROI (return on investment) was really small, the risk great. And the $30 million best invested in Mountain View schools IMO. Now - to get that pesky odd state law changed! (it takes $2.2 M a year to service the former dump and Shoreline diverts a total of $22 M from General Funds for the schools, city and county)