Google is now getting into the home building business in addition to everything else the company is doing. CEO Sundar Pachai announced Tuesday that the internet company is going to invest a total of $1 billion to address the soaring price of housing in the Bay Area.
The pledge includes a $250 million in a fund to spur the development of more affordable housing and $750 million of company-owned land for the construction of 15,000 homes or more including low-income and middle-income housing. The goal is to address a problem that Google and other Silicon Valley companies are said to have helped create with the hiring of thousands of well-paid workers. Those workers, for example, have overwhelmed Google's home base of Mountain View, California, a city of about 80,000 residents, with demand for homes.
Democratic Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco applauded Google’s announcement. "Today, Google stepped up with a major investment in and commitment to housing in the Bay Area. To solve our housing emergency, all of us – government, business, housing advocates, neighbors—must work together. Today’s announcement is a strong step in the right direction," said Wiener.