Google Signs 60-Year, $1.16 Billion NASA Lease: Google to Renovate 3 Hangars and Use Them for Projects Involving Aviation, Space Exploration and Robotics

The Wall Street Journal

By Associated Press
Nov. 10, 2014 7:57 p.m. ET


SAN FRANCISCO— Google Inc. has signed a long-term lease for part of a historic Navy air base, where it plans to renovate three large hangars and use them for projects involving aviation, space exploration and robotics.

The Internet company will pay $1.16 billion in rent over 60 years for the property, which also includes a working airfield, golf course and other buildings. The 1,000-acre site is part of the former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Google plans to invest more than $200 million to refurbish the hangars and add other improvements, including a museum or educational facility that will showcase the history of Moffett and Silicon Valley, according to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration statement. The agency said a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures LLC will use the hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have a well-known interest in aviation and space. The company recently acquired several smaller firms that are working on satellite technology and robotics. But a Google representative declined Monday to discuss specific plans for the property, which is located a few miles from the company’s main campus in Mountain View.

NASA plans to continue operating its Ames Research Center on the former Navy site. Google will take over operations at the runways and hangars, including a large structure that was built to house dirigible-style Navy airships in the 1930s. NASA said the deal will save it $6.3 million in annual maintenance and operation costs.

Local officials praised Google’s promise to restore the historic structure known as Hangar One, which is a San Francisco Bay Area landmark. U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) called the lease agreement “a major win for our region.”

Google already has a separate lease for another portion of the former air base, where it wants to build a second campus. Messrs. Page and Brin also have used the Moffett runways for their collection of private jets, under another lease arrangement that has been criticized by some watchdog groups who say NASA gave the executives a sweetheart deal.

- Source:  http://online.wsj.com