It’s been six years since Google first bought a massive amount of property in downtown San Jose and on Thursday, there were new signs that the plan to transform the area into a giant business and residential village is moving forward.
The company’s Downtown West Project is underway, with site surveys by drone up above and walls being demolished down below.
"They need to see the progress, you know, week to week, because there's so many moving parts,” said Rod Spencer, drone operator.
This is along San Jose's Montgomery Street, where sunlight bakery, opened in 1933, is now being taken apart.
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Spencer is supervising the high-tech imaging.
"Which is basically creating hundreds, near a thousand images, and then the software will stitch those together to create a map plan,” said Spencer.
Eventually, Downtown West will feature a massive Google campus, along with housing and restaurants.
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"More people coming in, more people walking the streets,” said Janette Robertson, owner of the Greenlee Bakery.
Local businesses say they can't wait, especially after two lean pandemic years.
"Now I'm finally seeing more and more people come in, and with all that new improvement .. It will be great for business."
Even as Google looks forward, it's also nodding to the past, specifically to the facade of the Sunlight Bakery.
The plan there is to refurbish it, and then relocate it to another place within the Downtown West Project.
