It's so on. Mayor Tom Menino wants to bring Google across the Charles to his much-touted Innovation District in a changing-forever South Boston. This at a time when Google has run into opposition about expanding in Cambridge's would-be Silicon Valley East, Kendall Square. Hizzoner told The Business Journal yesterday: "I invite Google to come to Boston. I will be on the phone to them Friday morning, first thing."
Now the expansion in the Innovation District would not necessarily mean the search-engine behemoth would pack up shop in Cambridge. But it would likely signal an end to its expansion in that area. It wants to add 25,000 square feet in Kendall Square via a new building, but locals and pols have objected to it because it would gobble up public space (which Google and its developer, Boston Properties, said will be replaced). Such local skittishness re: expansion may also scare off other tech and life sciences firms with potentially large real estate footprints. After all, with major development under way or planned in the area, there is only so much space to build anew in Kendall Square.
Could it be, then, that Boston, where new construction has proven a Herculean task in the past, becomes the go-to friendly development alternative? Best add this whole story to your Google alerts.
· Menino to Court Google for Boston's Innovation District [Biz Journal]
· A Day in the Life of Kendall Square: Lobster and Smartphones [Curbed Boston]
· Hey, Something Big Could Be Built in the South End! [Curbed Boston]
· The Departed: South Boston to Change Forever This Year [Curbed Boston]