Google has signed a lease for nearly 60,000 square feet of office space in Sorrento Mesa, expanding its Southern California footprint into San Diego for the first time.

The Mountain View-based Internet search giant said it’s a tenant at 6420 Sequence Drive –— a four-story office building that’s part of the Verge complex.

It’s the first time the tech titan has leased space in San Diego. 

Under traditional office layouts, a 60,000-square-foot office could house 250 to 300 workers — though tech companies often prefer less dense working conditions in hopes of retaining employees.

It’s unclear what work Google will focus on in San Diego. The company has many far-flung businesses and research projects, ranging from Internet search to YouTube to Android.

The only local job listing on the company’s website is for a San Diego/Los Angeles based public affairs manager for Google Fiber, a high-speed Internet initiative. San Diego is one of several cities being considered for Google Fiber deployment.

"They could be here for a number of reasons," said Rory Moore, head of startup incubator EvoNexus. "One is access to talent. They are saturated up there (in Mountain View) and the cost of living up there is insane."

Moore added that Google also may want to be closer to the telecommunications and genomics/data science expertise that is prominent in San Diego.

Mike Krenn, president of the San Diego Venture Group, said it’s his understanding Google would be hiring for “high-caliber engineering jobs."

"I think it's fantastic for San Diego," he added. "The more we have these brand-name tech companies here, the better it is for the macro environment."

Google has been opening outposts in Southern California for several years. It has a large facility in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, which launched about five years ago. In 2014, it opened a 91,000-square-foot office in Orange County near UC Irvine.

In Los Angeles, Google engineers work on products for Ads, Chrome and YouTube. It also has as a digital advertising team there, according to its website.

The Irvine office specializes in massive data storage, forecasting, inventory management, optimization and search. It also has engineering and sales teams for Google Analytics.

Last year, Google bought San Diego sensor technology start-up Lumedyne Technologies for about $85 million, according to several news reports. Lumedyne, which makes MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) sensors, occupies about 9,500 square feet in Kearny Mesa but began looking for a larger office late last year.

"San Diego is known for its talented workforce so we’re a perfect fit for one of the world’s most innovative companies. Landing a heavy hitter like Google means we have one of the world’s largest companies contributing to our thriving innovation ecosystem" said Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

Source: sandiegouniontribune.com