Google Reportedly Building Three Floating Retail Stores on Barges

Google (GOOG) is building three floating retail stores, starting with a barge it is converting at San Francisco’s Treasure Island, in a $35 million project to construct and dock the outlets also in Los Angeles and New York, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The newspaper obtained a budget report from Turner Construction—the builder of the first of what is said to be three of the flat-bottom boats—detailing the operation code-named Hangar 3, likely a reference to the Treasure Island location where construction is underway. According to the document, each barge will house some 80 shipping containers and will be enveloped by rows of large sails. The construction report specifically refers to the barges as “floating retail stores,” the Chronicle said.

Google evidently has positioned the barge construction a little differently to San Francisco authorities, at least to this point. According to the Chronicle, barge designers said the vessels would serve as “temporary technology exhibit space,” in applications to the Port of San Francisco for waterfront berth permits.

The Chronicle report said that Mirian Saez, Treasure Island Development Authority director of Operations, said Google reps told her the barge "would be an important opportunity for the launching" of its Google Glass project. In turn, city officials may have been attracted to the prospect of increased visitors to the waterfront that a Google technology showcase might deliver.

The Chronicle pointed out that if Google’s intention turns out to be a floating retail store, the vendor’s attempt to gain a permit from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission to house the barge in San Francisco Bay for an extended period of time may not sit so well with authorities.

Larry Goldzband, a Commission executive, is quoted by the Chronicle as saying Google isn’t conveying the entire picture.

"The Commission is going to ask, 'Is there an alternative (land) location for this program to occur?' " Goldzband said, via the Chronicle. "If there is, then the Commission is going to have a very difficult time convincing the public there should be something happening on the Bay."

In an emailed statement to the newspaper, Google said its “current plan, as we've stated before, is to use [the barges] as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology."

Guess we’ll see soon enough.