Google destroys Atari heritage

[eggplant_casserole]

I'm not sure whether anyone else has noticed, but Google have been buying a lot of property in Sunnyvale with some rather disappointing consequences for those who want to make a pilgrimage there.

 

Firstly, there was Moffett Place, a 55 acre tech campus approved in December 2013 and built on the land south of 1265 Borregas Ave.  Thus we lost the former Consumer Engineering, Consumer Sub Assembly, Consumer Final Assembly, Coin-Op Printed Circuit and 400/800/Pinball Manufacturing buildings at 1173, 1195 and 1215 Borregas Ave, 155 Moffett Park Drive and 1180 Bordeaux Drive.  This was mostly leased to Google by Jay Paul after they already took all of the 26.5 acre Tech Corners just down the road and at least part of the 52 acre Moffett Towers next door as well as Moffett Gateway.  Just last year, they signed leases on the units in Moffett Place and Moffett Gateway that they didn't already occupy.

 

In 2017, Google started buying property in the area, particularly around the old WeirdStuff Warehouse.  This included:

 

1190 Borregas Ave

1196 Borregas Ave (second Sunnyvale HQ / Computer Operations / ASRL)

1265 Borregas Ave (first Sunnyvale HQ / Coin-Op Engineering)

1272 Borregas Ave (Consumer Engineering / Microelectronics / Coin-Op Engineering)

 

1212 Bordeaux Drive

1330-46 Bordeaux Drive (including Consumer Chip Programming, Coin-Op Customer Service and Consumer Customer Service)

1360-68 Bordeaux Drive (including Maintenance Department and Board Games Division)

1323 Borregas Ave

1383 Borregas Ave (Consumer Warehouse? marked 1385 on the Atari map)

1393-95 Borregas Ave (Consumer Warehouse)

 

160 Gibraltar Court

165 Gibraltar Court (the latest acquisition, formerly TI)

 

140-146 West Caribbean Drive

360-394 West Caribbean Drive (including Consumer Warehouse - Components, Consumer/Coin-Op Warehouse and Consumer Warehouse - Finished Goods)

 

...as well as more property on First Avenue, Java Drive, Bordeaux Drive and North Mathilda Ave, bought from Verizon, and 16 acres from NetApp (about where the Atari logo is on the map).  In fact, they've spent a staggering $1.4 billion on property in Sunnyvale in the past four years - 50 buildings, apparently... although I think it's more than that.  This is what their acquisitions looked like in 2017 - there are more since:

 

There are two further planning applications of particular interest:

 

1. Google Caribbean Campus (Project 2017-8042)

In June 2018, Study Session 18-0536 proposed "to allow the redevelopment of a 40.5-acre site for two new 5-story R&D office buildings totaling 1,041,890 s.f. including a 4-level parking structure resulting in 59% FAR. The existing 679,225 s.f. of office & manufacturing buildings will be demolished." This was followed by Study Session 19-1153 in October 2019, Report to Board 20-0263 in February 2020, Report to Council 20-0356 in March and Report to Council 20-0433 in May, when the project was approved.  More details are on the project page as well as the sites of designers Michelle Kaufmann Studio and BIM Designs.  The decision is here.

 

2. 1265 Borregas (Project 2019-7507)

In January 2020, Study Session 20-0160 proposed "the demolition of existing buildings and the redevelopment of four (4) parcels, including the construction of a new 5-story, 182,500 sq. ft. building (1265 Borregas Avenue), a lot line adjustment between 1265 Borregas Avenue and 160 Gibraltar Court, and construction of open space and surface parking (1190 and 1196 Borregas Avenue) serving 1265 Borregas Avenue. Phase 2 will include the demolition of the building at 160 Gibraltar Court and the construction of sports fields."  It seems there is audio of the meeting.  There was also Report to Board 20-0516, which appears to have been approved in May.  The decision is here.

 

 

Yes, they're demolishing the original HQ building.  It would seem there's not enough car parking provision, so I believe they want to demolish the second HQ building and 1190 to use as the car park.  A bit of a sad end to both buildings, really... but particularly one becoming the other's car park!

 

Anyway, you can see the previous refurb plans and have a look at how the building appears today.

 

This will leave the map of Atari buildings rather depleted:

 

 

However, it's not all bad news.  As you can see, they're introducing some greenery and the Moffett Park Special Plan is for an eco-friendly Smart City and a presentation was given in June on the Green Link and Manila Avenue Bikeway Project.  So it would seem Google are thinking about sustainability.  

 

It is, of course, a shame that nobody bought one of the HQ buildings to use as a museum... but that's understandable, considering they paid $24 million for 1265 and $25 million for 1196!  Perhaps an Atari super fan could contact the developers and ask to keep a piece of Atari history when they knock it down?  What would you go for?  The reception desk?  The doors?  The street number?

 

I had a search and couldn't see anything about this on the forums.  Sorry if this is the wrong section, but I don't see a general Atari chat - mods feel free to move it somewhere more appropriate.

[zzip]

3 minutes ago, eggplant_casserole said:

 

That building is hideous!

[eggplant_casserole]

36 minutes ago, zzip said:

That building is hideous!

Yeah.  I guess the original isn't the prettiest building, but it still had a certain charm.  I quite like 1196, though. 

 

It makes sense to build higher... it's funny how Atari built low-level across a wide area.  You'd think it would have been more cost-effective to do several floors.

[zzip]

28 minutes ago, eggplant_casserole said:

Yeah.  I guess the original isn't the prettiest building, but it still had a certain charm.  I quite like 1196, though. 

 

It makes sense to build higher... it's funny how Atari built low-level across a wide area.  You'd think it would have been more cost-effective to do several floors.

My guess at the time Atari settled there, land in Silicon Valley was relatively cheap.

[eggplant_casserole]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

My guess at the time Atari settled there, land in Silicon Valley was relatively cheap.

Quite probably, and plentiful.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find title deeds going back even 15 years, so I haven't been able to determine the original land value.  I should imagine even JTS did OK from the sale of the buildings.  Somehow, the value of 1265 dropped from $15 million in 2010 to $6 million in 2011, but pretty much rose $3 million each year after that.  1196, on the other hand, was only valued at $4 million in 2010 and remained steady until a sharp jump to $25 million in 2017.  Very odd!  Perhaps Google paid well over the odds?

[+davidcalgary29]

I made the `pilgrimmage` to 90 Gough Drive, Markham, Ontario, many times in the `80s to have my 1050 fixed. It was a hideous multiunit lowrise in an industrial park north of Toronto. Let`s see some pictures of Atari Canada!

[Gregory DG]

Anyone know when the demo is planned to start?

[jaybird3rd]

On 9/2/2020 at 2:24 PM, eggplant_casserole said:

Yes, they're demolishing the original HQ building.  It would seem there's not enough car parking provision, so I believe they want to demolish the second HQ building and 1190 to use as the car park.  A bit of a sad end to both buildings, really... but particularly one becoming the other's car park!

Thanks for all the research you've done on this!  I don't have much to add except to say that this is all incredibly sad.  It's especially poignant that this news comes as close as it does to Curt Vendel's passing.  Time marches inexorably on ...

[1265 first floor guy]

Sad to hear, having worked at 1265 Borregas. It was the home of Atari’s IT department as well, so we had all the good and bad detailed info first.  VP’s used to come to our department to try and pry month end results from us ahead of official release.  
 

The stories about herbal smells coming from the 2nd floor (executives) about 4:00 occasionally are true.  Well, prior to Warner anyway. Many other stories are also true.  It was definitely the most fun place I experienced in my career.  But I sure learned life lessons about how not to run a company that I took with me.  It’s all about the product stupid, not the brand!   I could go on for days.

 

Glad a friend sent me a link to this so I finally joined!
 

Here are some pix from my last visit there about 3 years ago. 
 

 

[jaybird3rd]

^ Welcome, and thanks for posting the pictures!  It's amazing to me that they're looking to knock that building down; it's not that old, relatively speaking, and still seems to be in good shape.  So much history there.

 

(I'm sure it won't happen, but I'd love to somehow get a hold of the street number.  I'm in the process of building a new house, and my street number just happens to be 1265, so I'd put it to good use.)

[1265 first floor guy]

Yes.  If I wasn’t 2,000 miles away now I would see when demo'ition begins and gather some momentos for sure. Maybe someone who still lives there will.  
 

I still have some bricks from the original farm building that was torn down for the “new” (not the current) Apple HQ in the 80’s. 

[pacman000]

[1265 first floor guy]

By the way, it was a tan color building, not off white when I worked there. 
 

Funny story for the day:

When Tramiel bought the company, He came to visit and he parked his Rolls Royce In the number one spot at the front.  A handicapped spot.  An engineer on my team called and had it towed.  ?

[widowsson]

Has anyone attempted to contact the developer and see if it can be found who is handling the demolition of the bldgs? Usually, they (whomever the developer contracts with to perform demolition) will have the "salvage rights" to the property being demolished.

 

My former Jr. High school was being torn down, and the school district provided me the name of the wrecking company. I was able to contact that wrecking company and ask them if I could buy a bank of a couple lockers, that included my old locker, and a few other small odds and ends. To my delight, I was told I could just have the items. They even pulled the bank of 6 lockers out for me!

 

 

[sirlynxalot]

I imagine the interior and things like desks have been remodeled and probably aren't the same as when atari was there, but I think something small like bricks from the building would be neat mementos for some of us die hard atari fans. Anyone live in the vicinity to help make this happen?

Edited January 17, 2021 by sirlynxalot

[KevinMos3]

Today, I finally got to visit the neighborhood I've been wanting to see for decades.  Not much left.  I hope I'm wrong, but from what I can tell of the Atari buildings listed in this thread, only one seems to remain and it's fenced off for demolition as well.

 

Here's the site of 1265 Borregas Ave, all gone:

  

 

And here's the remaining building at 1196 Borregas Ave:

  

The building to the north of 1196 (not photographed) looked like a different and newer construction, so I don't know if it was part of Atari or not.

 

South of the 1265 lot, google parking etc:

 

 

 

The area by Caribbean Drive is gravel mounds (1385 and 1395).

[pacman000]

Breaks my heart.

[starfighter1314]

Sniff. Why!!!?

[doctorclu]

[DoofusMan]

On 9/15/2020 at 3:30 PM, 1265 first floor guy said:

Sad to hear, having worked at 1265 Borregas. It was the home of Atari’s IT department as well, so we had all the good and bad detailed info first.  VP’s used to come to our department to try and pry month end results from us ahead of official release.  
 

The stories about herbal smells coming from the 2nd floor (executives) about 4:00 occasionally are true.  Well, prior to Warner anyway. Many other stories are also true.  It was definitely the most fun place I experienced in my career.  But I sure learned life lessons about how not to run a company that I took with me.  It’s all about the product stupid, not the brand!   I could go on for days.

 

Glad a friend sent me a link to this so I finally joined!
 

Here are some pix from my last visit there about 3 years ago. 
 

 

What stories? Would love to hear them! 

 

On 8/24/2022 at 9:29 AM, starfighter1314 said:

Sniff. Why!!!?

What building was this picture taken in? Another Atari building? 

[dwh]

--Prepare for rant--

Google ,Facebook, all these high-tech (corporate spy agencies, gov control facilitators) companies in CA that are just shuffling electrons around, In a state that got very close to maxing out its electrical grid in last summer's heatwaves several times.

When Atari, Hewlett Packard, Apple , the Silicon Valley were there in the 1970's the electric company (PG&E) would give a company a lower rate for using more electricity at their business, factory.

Now we live in an era of no infrastructure improvements and electric rates that were increased in CA three times in one year.(criminal conspiracy anyone?)

And on top of all this, the states across the land want everyone to use electric stoves, heaters, cars, without any reliable alternative to making all this electricity.

--End rant--

As for the history of Atari as a business, they could have been Apple. Instead the east coast suits and their wall street brokers ruined it.(Sorry the rant really wasn't over)

 

P.S. That Futurama bit with the aliens wiping out NYC, then the upstart medieval castles, is one of my favorite scenes.

Edited April 30, 2023 by dwh
Futurama

[Krystone]

I've stumbled upon this topic while looking up the address of 1196 Borregas Ave as I was browsing through some of my older photos today. I've realized the building isn't there anymore. In 2015, I've taken a trip to Sunnyvale, CA while at was at TechCrunch in San Francisco... I wanted to see where Atari during J. Tramiel's era was located. I thought I'd post those photos here for posterity. I've taken them around noon on September 24, 2015. I sat on that bench by myself and had a quick lunch while contemplating about Atari... It was serene.

Edited January 29 by Krystone

[captainblack]

On 9/3/2020 at 10:45 AM, davidcalgary29 said:

I made the `pilgrimmage` to 90 Gough Drive, Markham, Ontario, many times in the `80s to have my 1050 fixed. It was a hideous multiunit lowrise in an industrial park north of Toronto. Let`s see some pictures of Atari Canada!

I work nearby there, during snowstorms I stay at the hotel 2 mins down the road. Never paid any attention to the industrial buildings between the hotel and the 407. I wonder if the current building is the same one from back then.